FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vatican City (17 October 2000): Coinciding with the anniversary of Pope
John Paul's election as Bishop of Rome, the official
web site of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
(www.jubil2000.org) announced this morning the
addition of the Jubilee Audio Library in MP3 format. The
English-language page can be found at http://www.jubil2000.org/musicasacra/musicasacra.uk.html (versions in
Italian, Spanish, French and German are also on-line).

Initial music contributions were made for the most part by music
publishers, such as the Liturgical Press (www.litpress.org),
which made a noteworthy offering of Byzantine and other Eastern
liturgical music and other recordings, and the Daughters of
St. Paul (www.paoline.org). Searchable by langage, people/nation,
liturgical title, theme and musical genre, the Jubilee Audio
Library offers music through the ages and around the world. Liturgical
chants of the Eastern Churches complement the earlier
release of Gregorian Chant recordings from the monks of Solesmes (also
available on the Jubilee site). Themes include
Eucharist, Mary, Reconciliation, Jubilee, Family, Biblical themes. 31
languages are represented in genres such as poliphonic,
classical, contemporary, african, choral, instrumental.

Pope John Paul once commented, "The faith of countless believers has
been nourished by melodies flowing from the hearts of
other believers." Composers and recording artists are invited to submit
original recordings for the feature as a way of opening
all believers to the spiritual and cultural wealth that is still so much
a part of Catholic life and liturgy. Information on submitting
music can be found on the site.

Earlier reference: July 19 release of 21 complete sound files of key
Gregorian chants from the Solesmes recordings
(www.jubil2000.org/gregoriani/gregoriani.uk.html, www.solesmes.com).