Taizé is an ecumenical movement
founded by Brother Roger Schutz in 1940
as a way of bringing both internal and
external peace to a troubled world.
The community in the town of Taizé
numbers more than one hundred brothers,
both Protestant and Catholic, from more
than twenty-five countries. It is centered
on a twelfth-century church in the tiny
village of Taizé in Burgundy
and is oriented towards healing rifts
both national and religious. In the
last forty years many young people have
found their way to Taizé from
all over the world and have taken back
with them to their own countries what
they have gained from the Taizé
experience.
You can learn more
from: http://www.taize.fr/en
The aspect of this
movement that will be of most interest
to music-lovers is that of the famed
"Taizé Songs", most
of them the creation of the French church
composer Jacques Berthier. This son
of a pupil of D’Indy had contributed
to the music for the Taizé community
early on, but with the aforementioned
influx of young people, was asked to
compose a body of simple songs especially
for the use of the young. Over twenty
years Berthier created a vast repertoire
of "congregational song".
The basic "Taizé Song"
is made of up of a simple musical phrase,
many times repeated. The texts can be
from the liturgy(ies) or from works
of Brother Roger and others. An interesting
example of Berthier’s skill is that
he eventually set texts in over twenty
languages which he did not speak, including
English, yet the words and music go
together very well.
The present CD might
be described as a Taizé "greatest
hits" album since it draws from
more than half a dozen previously released
CDs dating from 1993 to 2001. Ten of
the nineteen selections are by Berthier,
with one by his successor Joseph Gelineau
and several others the creations of
the Community. The
music seems a conflation of French liturgical
tradition with happy-clappy/charismatic
singing and a little folksong thrown
in. One would perhaps expect that any
music meant to appeal to so many different
types of people would sound like a mish-mash
or have no recognizable personality
and indeed, this cannot be described
as forceful or stirring music. But it
can be moving. I especially enjoyed
Tracks 4 (an Alleluia from the Orthodox
service) and 10 (Mon ame se repose)
both of which had a more serious sound.
Tracks 11-13 (an Alleluia, a Kyrie and
a Jubilate Coeli) sounded like bad Christmas
carols. The In Mana Tuas Pater, Track
17, was quite impressive.
To conclude, this CD
is mostly directed towards adherents
of Taizé or those interested
in what ecumenical church music can
sound like. It will insult no-one’s
sensibilities, but at the same time
will not appeal to those who expect
church music to be "traditional".
The CD comes in a small hardback book
describing Taizé and the people
there. It gives an excellent picture
of the atmosphere surrounding the music.
Finally, I should say that this CD made
a welcome change from the usual Christmas
fare.
William S Kreindler
Recorded
during services at the Church of Reconciliation
in Taizé, France, 1993-2001. 
