Officium is a 1994 album by Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and early music vocal group Hilliard Ensemble. Based on 12th- to 16th-century liturgical works by composers including Cristóbal de Morales and Perotinus Magnus, the album was recorded at the monastery of Propstei St. Gerold in Austria.[3]
Officium | ||||
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Live album by Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble | ||||
Released | 1994 (1994) | |||
Recorded | September 1993 | |||
Venue | Propstei St. Gerold, Austria | |||
Genre | Jazz, Gregorian chant | |||
Length | 77:34 | |||
Label | ECM New Series ECM 1525 NS | |||
Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
Jan Garbarek chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic awards the album with 3½ stars and Richard S. Ginell's review says: "Recorded in a heavily reverberant Austrian monastery, the voices sometimes develop in overwhelming waves, and Garbarek rides their crest, his soprano saxophone soaring in the monastery acoustic, or he underscores the voices almost unobtrusively, echoing the voices, finding ample room to move around the modal harmonies yet applying his sound sparingly."[1] Marius Gabriel remarked that Officium is "what Coltrane hears in heaven."[4]
Brought together by Manfred Eicher, this collaboration has become one of the most successful releases on the ECM label, achieving sales of more than 1.5 million.[5] Following a number of successful concert tours, a second collaborative album, Mnemosyne, was released in 1999. Officium Novum, another sequel album, was released in September 2010.[6]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Netherlands (NVPI)[7] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Norway (IFPI Norway)[8] | Gold | 25,000* |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[9] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | Gold | 100,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Jan Garbarek | |
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Studio albums |
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Live albums | |
Compilations |
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Related articles |
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