Eric Gill in Louvain - May, 1912

from Eric Gill: Autobiography, pages 186-187:

I dare say that, without my being aware of it, the chant really impressed me more than anything else ... At the first impact I was so moved by the chant, which you must remember I had never heard a note of in all my life before, as to be almost frightened. This was not ancient architecture such as the world had ceased to build. This was not the sculptures of Chartres or Easter Island such as the world had ceased to make. This was not the pictures of Giotto or Ajanta such as the world had ceased to paint. This was something alive, living, coming from the hearts and minds and bodies of …   more >>
cite as

Eric Gill, Eric Gill: Autobiography (London, 1940), p. 186-187. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1399982068306 accessed: 29 March, 2024

location of experience: Louvain

Listeners

Eric Gill
Sculptor and stonemason
1882-1940

Listening to

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Plainchant performed by Voices

Experience Information

Date/Time May, 1912
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, in private, indoors

Notes

Eric Gill was visiting the Abbey of Mont Cesar at Louvain. Hearing plainchant for the first time was a seminal moment in his conversion to Roman Catholicism


Originally submitted by lcc5 on Tue, 13 May 2014 12:54:28 +0100