Gregorian (band)

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Gregorian
File:Gregorian in Freiburg 1010477.jpg
Gregorian and Amelia Brightman live in Konzerthaus Freiburg on 6 December 2009
Background information
Origin Germany
Genres Gregorian chant, new-age, crossover, symphonic rock
Years active 1991, 1999-present
Labels Edel
Website gregorian.de
Members Richard Naxton
Johnny Clucas
Chris Tickner
David Tilley
Gerry O'Beirne
Lawrence White
Rob Fardell
Daniel Williams
Brendan Matthew
Ashley Turnell

Gregorian is a German band headed by Frank Peterson that performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. The band features both vocal harmony and instrumental accompaniment.

Band history

Originally, Gregorian was conceived as a more pop-oriented group in the vein of Enigma. Under this concept, they recorded the 1991 album Sadisfaction, with lead vocals provided by The Sisters of Oz: Susana Espelleta (Peterson's wife at the time) and Birgit Freud. However, this was the only album in that style.

In 1998, Peterson and his team of Jan-Eric Kohrs, Michael Soltau and Carsten Heusmann re-invented the project to perform popular songs in the Gregorian style. The criteria for song selection were strict; in order to be considered, a song needed to be translatable into the 7-tone scale. For each album, songs were carefully chosen in addition to original songs written by Jan-Eric Kohrs, Amelia Brightman and Carsten Heussman. Twelve vocalists - previously acclaimed session and choir singers - were then hired to record the tracks.

Each Gregorian album is initially digitally tracked at Nemo Studios, Peterson's Hamburg studio. The vocalists then record their parts in a church atmosphere with dimmed lights and candles, in order to escape what Peterson referred to in a 2001 interview as the "cold and technical" studio atmosphere.[1]

The concept proved to be successful, and the group proceeded to record several more Masters of Chant albums in the same style. Their 2004 album, The Dark Side, was a slight departure from the others, featuring a darker repertoire consistent with the title.

In 2005, The Masterpieces, a compilation album with a live DVD, was released. A fifth Masters of Chant album was released on 31 March 2006. In 2006, a festive album was also released, titled Christmas Chants. A sixth Masters of Chant album was released on 28 September 2007. In 2009 a seventh Masters of Chant album followed.

File:Gregorian in Freiburg 1010533.jpg
Gregorian in 2009

On 8 September 2010 the next album, titled The Dark Side of Chant, was announced to be published on 15 October 2010.[2]

On 14 September 2012 a new album titled Epic Chants was published with the collaboration of the Russian newcomer Eva Mali.

It has been announced that the autumn of 2015 will see the release of the tenth album from the "Masters Of Chant" series, appearing with the title "Final Chapter". Their web page stated that this would be "the last chapter of an extraordinary success story" and they would "say goodbye indefinitely [to] their fans." There would, however, be a farewell tour in 2016.

Tours

Gregorian have toured parts of Europe, China, Russia and Japan. Live concert DVDs have also been released.

Band singers

All the male singers of Gregorian are Alain Bernard, Andrew Busher, Andrew Keelan, Adrian Coverdale-Hill, Alexandre Mack, Ashley Turnell, Benjamin Clee, Billy King, Brendan Matthew, Benoit Riou, Chris Goater, Christopher Tickner, Daniel Hoadley, Daniel Williams, David Chabert, David Porter-Thomas, David Tilley, Frederic Bernard, Gauthier Fenoy, Gregory Moore, Gerard O'Beirne, Jeremy Birchall, Jonathan Clucas, John Grave, John Langly, Karim Bouzra, Loic Boissier, Lawrence White, Mark Anderson, Mark Bradbury, Michael Dore, Matthew Long, Matthew Minter, Matthew Vine, Nicolas Kern, Paul Badley, Phil Conway, Pierre Kuzor, Rhys Bowden, Richard Collier, Richard Naxton, Robert Fardell, Robert Jhonston, Roger Lanford, Simon Baker, Simon Grant, Sion Lloyd, Stephen Miles, Stephen Weller, Stephane Werchowski, Thomas Barnard, Thomas Phillips, Ted Hands, Timothy Holmes, Timothy Lacy, William Purefoy and Yves Blanchrd.

All the female singers of Gregorian are Amelia Brightman, Sarah Brightman, Anette Stangeberg, Anna-Lena Strasse, Charlotte Cracht, Eva Mali, Joana Adu, Julia Dorandt and Marjan Shaki, Stefanie Hundertmark.

Discography

Gregorian have released ten albums in their Masters of Chant series and a number of other albums, including a Christmas album. They have also released two types of video album; live concerts and music video albums featuring the singers in various surroundings.

Masters of Chant albums

Other albums

CD singles

Video albums

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ The announcement of the new album, Dark Side of Chant.

External links

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