| Chant II | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos |
| Cover: | Chant II cover.jpg |
| Recorded: | June 21, 1972 |
| Genre: | Gregorian chant |
| Label: | Angel |
| Producer: | Maria Francisca Bonmati |
| Prev Year: | 1994 |
| Next Title: | Chant III |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
Chant II is a 1995 album of Gregorian chant, performed by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Burgos, Spain. It is a follow-up to the 1994 release Chant, the best-selling album of Gregorian chant. Like the first album, it included material which had been recorded by the monks some years previously.
The monks of Santo Domingo de Silos have been singing Gregorian chant since the 11th century (before that, they used Mozarabic chant). In the nineteenth century the French monks of Solesmes Abbey played a part in the reestablishment of Santo Domingo de Silos after the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. The Solesmes style of singing plainsong has influenced the Spanish monks.
Reviewers had expressed surprise at the success of the first album. Not only had Gregorian chant been a specialist market for record companies before the 1980s but also other choirs were probably technically better in this repertoire (for example the monks of Solesmes issued some notable recordings in the 1960s).[1] However, by the time Chant II was released the monks of Silos had eclipsed their rivals in terms of sales.
AllMusic gave Chant II a poorer rating than the first album, because of inferior sound quality.
Chant II was not the first follow-up to Chant, as was released 1 November 1994.[2] Chant II was followed by Chant III on 17 September 1996,[3] which itself was followed by Chant IV - The Millenium in 1997 as performed by Schola Cantorum of Cologne.[4]
In 2004, Chant was re-issued along with Chant II as Chant: The Anniversary Edition by Angel/EMI Classics.