| The best-selling record in Spain in December 1993 was a set of two compact discs entitled Canto Gregoriano (EMI Odeon 565217-2), sung by the monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in northern Spain. One disc, directed by Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta, was originally issued in 1973, while the other, directed by Francisco Lara, consisted of excerpts from three records issued in 1980, 1981 and 1982. All four records originally appeared on the Hispavox label, which was acquired by EMI about 1985. Oddly enough, four single CDs corresponding to the original four LPs had been issued on the international EMI label earlier in the year with little notice.
This unexpected success in the Spanish market resulted in airplay on radio stations that were not accustomed to even playing classical music, to say nothing of medieval liturgical chant sung in unison. This quickly led to the release of the Odeon compilation in the rest of the world. Three months later, Angel, EMI’s label in the United States, made a new edition of the chants on a single disc titled Chant (555138-2), assembled from all four of the original discs. The selections were edited out of their original order, there were no pauses between tracks, and the booklet contained no explanatory notes, texts or translations. Yet the disc sold two million copies within a few months. It reached as high as third place among all records on the U.S. market, and remained at the top of the classical chart for months. |
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