Nuns Sign Recording Deal

From the Guardian today:

A group of Benedictine nuns who live in complete seclusion in the South of France are set to become divas of pop after signing a deal with Universal Music, the leading record company behind Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse.

After a worldwide search for the finest exponents of the art of the Gregorian chant, the Nuns of the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de L’Annonciation have signed a deal with Universal’s Decca Records label. The enclosed order still communicates with outsiders through a grille to avoid intrusion into a life of religious devotion. As a result, the nuns in the abbey will have to photograph their own album cover, as well as provide the footage for their television advertisements.

The order, based near Avignon, dates back to the 6th century and follows a strict tradition of living behind closed doors once novice nuns have taken their vows. Sisters then remain inside the convent until death.

“We never sought this, it came looking for us,” said the Rev Mother Abbess. “At first we were worried it would affect our cloistered life, so we asked St Joseph in prayer. Our prayers were answered and we thought that this album would be a good thing if it touches people’s lives and helps them find peace.”

13 Replies to “Nuns Sign Recording Deal”

  1. Has there ever been a worldwide search for the finest exponents of the art of the St. Louis Jesuits?

  2. Michael, this is so true. The other music is subsidized by habit, industrial strength, and the pastoral power of an aging generation. But in time, this distortion will correct in favor of chant.

  3. would be a good thing if it touches people's lives and helps them find peace

    Not particularly ambitious. How about 'helps them find SALVATION', Sister?

  4. If you have ever dealt with the press, the reporter never says: we will print everything you say and whatever you say. Instead, they pick and choose. There is simply no way to know what the Sister told the reporter in full. I think we can be fairly confident that cloistered sisters in traditional religious habits believe in helping people find salvation.

  5. "Chant CDs sell exponentially more than Haas CDs yet people still say that chant is not relevant to the modern world. Cognitive dissonance?"

    But they do not outsell the whole oeuvre of contemporary liturgical music. David Haas has, at last count, released almost thirty cd's. I suspect his lifetime output will surpass that of the Nuns of the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de L'Annonciation.

  6. Here is a fuller picture of their views in this video

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10761655

    I really wonder, Todd, if you are correct about this. Haas CDs are certainly a niche market. There is money to be made even in small sales of many CDs: 200 copies, for example. Chant CD sales go viral every 10 years or so, as in selling in the millions. I would be curious about the actual data here.

  7. I'd be curious, too. We also have to consider that chant is popular in both religious circles (including among non-Catholics) as well as people who see it as "new age music."

    Liturgical music recordings are an even more specialized market. David Haas and others don't attract the new age crowd. Additionally, evangelical Christians have their own set of musical heroes–they also don't buy GIA, OCP, or WLP. But they probably don't buy much chant either.

    Back in the mid-80's, I heard the SLJ's best seller was Earthen Vessels–a quarter of a million albums and tapes. As for what David sells, I have no idea. Unlike the Jesuits, he's been a mainstay as a concert performer and workshop presenter for almost three decades. His recordings are always available at his appearances–GIA sees to that. I suspect his sales would be higher that the SLJ's–there's an apocryphal story that he financed a down payment on a house through one year's royalties from one new release.

    In the end, I admire the sisters for their effort. I don't need to diss other musicians to say a good word about them. They probably wouldn't either.

  8. That's a hilarious story about Haas in the downpayment! My impression is that most Catholic observers wildly exaggerate the financial rewards accruing to composers and the size of the publishing empire backing them. The Catholic music world is actually a very small world. The margins are very tight and the business model quite lean. As they say about academia, the smaller the stakes…

  9. Agreed, Jeffrey. If it helps the readers put things in perspective, I collaborated with another musician on one song in 1992 which landed in two GIA hymnals. My annual royalty check for about one-2000th of a hymnal was in the neighborhood of $200, sliding to $150 in the mid-00's. My first check, as I recall, paid for a 45,000 mile tune-up on my first car. Thanks to MR3 and a new hymnal edition, it's well into two figures now. I took the family out to lunch on this year's check.

  10. LOL! Yes, the only people who truly long for royalties are those who have never earned them. Once they start coming in, one wonders who this whole thing can possibly work! It is helpful to liken the copyright/royalty business to the state lottery – you have a much better chance at making a living buying tickets at the convenience store.

    Really, composers would be so much better off with a system that permits them to sell first-print rights and then puts the music in to the commons.

  11. Haas and their ilk is supported by an aging and greying progressive liturgical establishment, the same folks who purchase the National Catholic Reporter. But for these establishment purchases, they'd be history. There's nothing special nor transcendent nor universal about Haas that would compell anyone other than a member of the progressive liturgical establishment to buy his music.

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