You’ve got to hear this

A group of cloistered nuns has recorded an album of chant, and and the preview (see the video below) is just gorgeous.

From the press release:

They are young. They are hidden. They are extremely musical. And now they have a worldwide album distribution deal. But they don’t set foot beyond Northwest Missouri’s rolling farmland. Why? Because they are contemplative sisters who live an austere yet joyful life set apart from the world.

But on Nov. 20, Decca and De Montfort Music will release their voices to the world in ADVENT AT EPHESUS. The album features 16 tracks – a dynamic variety of traditional English and Latin hymns, polyphony, Gregorian chants and medieval harmonies. The album also includes Adjuvabit Eam, an original work of the sisters.

The order’s Prioress, Mother Cecilia, is a graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice and vacated her seat in the horn section with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio to enter religious life. She has arranged the songs on ADVENT AT EPHESUS.

“We are delighted to be a part of this collaboration with De Montfort Music and Decca,” she said. “From the very beginning, we knew that if the venture was pleasing to God, it would be made clear. And so it was, especially in the unheard of ease with which everything was carried out to make this CD possible.”

De Montfort enlisted Grammy® and Oscar® winning producer Glenn Rosenstein, who traveled to America’s heartland; set up a mobile recording studio on the 260-acre property the sisters call home; and captured all of ADVENT AT EPHESUS in only three days. Rosenstein, who has worked with a host of international stars and whose projects have generated sales well in excess of 250 million units (with artists from U2 to New York Philharmonic) calls this one of his 10 all-time-favorite recordings.

An early review:

The word “amazing” is true but far from enough. The word “beautiful” is also accurate and much closer to describing the sound. The word “necessary” suggests the importance of sacred music in our secular world. Individually, none of the above words do Advent of Ephesus justice. Together the adjectives merely come close to describing the wonder that is to be available on November 20.

Check out their Facebook page, too, and you can pre-order the CD at Amazon.com. But watch the video below, which gives a lovely sample of their work, and their voices.