ABSTRACT
Contrary to the popular perception of monks and nuns as plainchant-singing recluses, the music currently being played, sung and composed by monastics is not confined to chant, but extends into the folk idiom and even soft pop. However, this is rarely reflected in the recordings that provide an important source of revenue for monasteries and convents. Chapter 6 therefore explores whether, through chant recordings, we really are being sold the genuine article, or simply our received ideas of how monastic music should sound. What are the criteria for authenticity, and who decides? Does a perception of authenticity deepen the musical experience? Does it really matter? This chapter examines the commercial means by which present-day monastic communities present themselves to the wider world through their products, and presents the marketing of their music as an important signifier of authentic monastic identity and values.
