News Release

For Immediate Release April 27, 2002

Contact: Susan McGourty

Mission San Miguel

Ph: (805) 467-2131

Fx: (805) 467-2141

Health Benefits Linked to Attending Gregorian Chant Concert

Mission San Miguel, San Miguel, CA. . – Mission San Miguel is happy to announce that it will be hosting a Free Will concert Saturday, June 1st at 4 p.m. that could actually improve one’s life physically as well as spiritually. The Gregorian chant consort group, “The Chapel of Charlemagne” has agreed to perform another concert for the second time in the Mission’s historic adobe church. This will be only the second time in many decades that the melodious and soothing sounds of live chant will flow through these hollowed walls.

The program will also feature interludes of Renaissance Lute Music performed on the Lute by Dr. Michael Miranda, Professor of Early Music History and Lute of Loyola Marymount University.

In this busy, fast paced, “dot-com age” of “fast everything”, our minds wander in search for something more meaningful and comforting. We feel we need something more soothing – especially for our body and soul. Gregorian chant, in addition to mending spiritual illness, may provide tangible medicinal relief for hypertension, migraine headaches, ulcers and heart attacks. Chant slows our metabolism, it steadies our pulse and our breathing, and it quiets the mind.

In his paper “Gregorian Chant: Archaic Relic or Relevant Revelation?” music director and researcher Henry Doktorski documents how one researcher in particular, the French doctor Alfred Tomitas, pioneered research on the neurophysiological effects of chant on the minds and bodies of its listeners. According to his theory, there are two kinds of sound: “discharge” sounds (those that tire, fatigue and drain the listener) and “charge” sounds (those that give energy and health). According to Dr. Tomitas, Gregorian chant may be the most potent “charge” sound to promote strength and vitality.

In the mid-1960’s, Dr. Tomitas was called to a monastery in France which had been taken over by a new abbot. The new abbot, a young man, was something of a revolutionary and had changed the internal rule of the abbey by modifying everything in accordance with the Vatican II reforms. He tried to eliminate Latin from the monks’ vocabulary and replace it with prayers in their native language. The new Abbot had forgotten Saint Benedict’s Rule: “Seven times a day will I sing your praises.” (The Benedictine monks had normally chanted from 6-8 hours a day.) He succeeded in eliminating chanting from their daily schedule because he wanted to demonstrate that chanting served no worthy purpose. Of course the Abbot did not realize the benefits of what they were doing.

Gradually as the days passed, the monks started to get bogged down as they became more and more tired. In desperation the monks called a meeting to discuss what was causing their fatigue. They only slept a few hours each night; so they decided that they should start sleeping like other men --- go to bed early and wake up like everyone else did when they were no longer tired. After several days, they realized that this didn’t work--- they were more tired than ever! The monks were so worried that they decided to call in several medical specialists.

Over a period of several months, they saw a procession of doctors. They even tried specialists of the digestive system. One great French doctor thought they were ill because they were vegetarian. So they began to eat meat and heavier foods. The monks became worse!

Finally by the time Dr. Tomitas was called in June 1967, 70 of the 90 monks were slumping in their cells like limp dishrags. He examined them and began the treatment “of reawakening their ears” - he treated them with sound only. Dr. Tomitas understood what no one else did at the time: that the monks needed to chant in order to “charge” themselves. He insisted that they immediately return to their schedule of eight hours daily chanting. Within 5 months, Dr. Tomitas succeeded in giving back to the monks their health and energy without drugs or medication. Chant had proven that it heals the body as it comforts and calms the spirit. If this fast paced world is often stressful to you, why not join us at this concert and seek some relief? This has been a tremulous year for all of us. With Memorial Day weekend just the week before, what a better way to kick off your summer vacation and signal a more reflective and relaxing way to manage the angst of the world’s current turmoils!

This year, great pains will be taken to insure roomy seating for all spectators. In addition to limiting the number of people per pew within the church, the music will also be piped outside to the Mission’s inner courtyard (rarely open to the public) for those preferring to listen while lounging on the cool lawn in the shade.

The 30 member “Chapel of Charlemagne” consort performs frequently in the greater Los Angeles area as well as tours and studies summers at the famed Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes in France. Their director, Dr. Robert Fowells, founder of the Gregorian Schola of Los Angeles, is Professor Emeritus of music at CSULA where he taught choir and music history for 26 years. He is author of the books: “Chant Made Simple” and “Gregorian Semiology: The New Chant.” Dr Fowells’ book: “Chant Made Simple” will be offered for sale at the door. The chants that will be performed are in the process of now being taped. Reservations for the upcoming CD, which will be available late June, will be taken after the concert at the door.

For those interested in hearing a sneak preview of the group’s music and sound as well as more information, go to the Mission’s web site: www.missionsanmiguel.org - or call (805) 467-2131. This Free Will concert is scheduled for Saturday, June 1st, at 4 p.m. in the Mission church. Donations will be gratefully accepted for the Mission Parish Building Fund.

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