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On Delerium’s Semantic Spaces album, there are a few songs that use samples of Gregorian chants.

I'd like to identify the following samples, so that I can find and listen to the full Gregorian chant songs:

Flatlands:

Metaphor:

I don't know Latin though, so I'm at a loss as to how to identify those Gregorian chants. Does anyone know what Gregorian chant pieces/songs the samples are from?

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  • you can check this list of samples although there's no specific mention of the three samples at this time: enigma-music.com/reviews/delerium/semantic-spaces
    – Herr_Schwabullek
    Sep 9, 2015 at 7:39
  • Notwithstanding the answer already given ("B. Monks of S. D. de S.), I think this is a really hard question to answer if you go off of just the aural evidence (i.e., you'd have to resort to interviews, album liner notes, etc.). The reasons why: * samples very short * samples very muffled; makes it hard to catch the latin, because you hear mostly vowels, few consonants * samples aren't necessarily continuous or even from the same chant * most gregorian chant groups sound pretty similar * most gregorian chant songs/melodies sound very similar
    – mlibby
    Nov 16, 2015 at 4:32

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I can't tell you the recordings or performers, but I recognize the chants.

The first is the incipit (beginning) of the Introit Roráte caeli de super, "Drop down, ye heavens, from above" (Isaiah 45:8), sung during the pre-Christmas season.

The second sounds like a mash of two samples. I can't make out the first ("oooh"), but the second ("aaah") is a clip from the opening word of the Offertory Ave María, "Hail, Mary". (Luke 1:28).

The third is from the Offertory De profúndis, sung in the requiem mass for the dead: "De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine", "Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord." (Psalm 129:1 Septuagint / Psalm 130:1 Hebrew)

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    Great answer, thank you! For the first sample, I had an easier time hearing it in this recording of Introitus: Rorate coeli. For the third sample, I had an easier time hearing it in this recording of De profundis after speeding it up.
    – pacoverflow
    Jul 17, 2016 at 7:02

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