Taizé Music of Unity and Peace

Background

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of more than one hundred brothers, from Protestant and Catholic traditions, who originate from about thirty countries across the world. It was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz, who came to Taizé from Geneva. Guidelines for the community’s life are contained in The Rule of Taizé written by Brother Roger and first published in French in 1954.

Musical style

The music of Taizé emphasizes simple phrases, usually lines from Psalms, other pieces of Scripture, or from the liturgy, both Western and Eastern Orthodox, repeated many times and sometimes also sung in canon. Earlier Taizé community music was conceived and composed by Jacques Berthier. Later Joseph Gelineau became a major contributor to the music. More recent songs have been composed by brothers of the Community.

Recording

The recording took place in May and in July 2014. Most of the chants were recorded in the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé, by a few instrumentalists and a choir composed of young people from different countries who spent a week in the Community. Several chants were recorded by brothers of the Community, in the Romanesque Church in the village of Taizé. The recording was produced by Anna Barry.

The chants on the album are sung in seven different languages: Latin, French, English, Italian, German, Church Slavonic and Spanish. The Community considers that the songs in many different languages are appropriate for large international gatherings.