The Saint Pierre de Solesmes Abbey Monks' Choir is one of the world's most renowned ensembles specializing in Gregorian chant, winning honors and recognition for its performances and its groundbreaking recordings. Ironically, the Benedictine monks' musical reputation comes as a by-product of their chosen form of prayer: Gregorian chant sung seven times each day. The Abbey of Saint Pierre de Solesmes was founded in 1833 by Dom Prosper Guéranger in Sarthe, France. A former priest, Guéranger's newer calling seemed to attract him to neglected structures worthy of salvage and restoration, for in addition to raising the Abbey on the ruins of an abandoned priory, he made it his life's work to revive the use of Gregorian chant in his monastery and also the editorial validity of Gregorian chant. This meant retrieving the scattered, disorganized remnants of that religious music legacy from across Europe and from centuries of neglect. Among the first of those now called early music researchers, Guéranger and his fellow monks drew together the various editions -- which often had been handed down in corrupted form -- into a coherent, scholarly, sound body of music. Their efforts formed the basis for the revival of the use of Gregorian chant in France during the late 19th century and resulted in the publication of chant books for use by the Congregation at Solesmes during the 1880s. Their efforts also resulted in the preservation of manuscripts and music that would otherwise have been lost to the ravages of two world wars in the 20th century. In 1930, the British-based record label His Master's Voice (later part of EMI) recorded a large body of the monks' repertory, including Ad te Domine and Alleluia Justus germinabit, under the direction of Dom Joseph Gajard. The Monks' Choir next recorded a major body of work in 1958, again under Gajard's direction, including the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and Good Friday Afternoon Services, for Decca/London Records. During the 1960s, they made further recordings, but it was for their 1976 Gregorian Chant LP, recorded under the direction of Dom Jean Claire, that the group received a Grammy Award nomination. The Saint Pierre de Solesmes Abbey Monks' Choir remains a highly respected and widely recognized performing ensemble, with an international following among devotees of Gregorian chant and religious music in general, just as the Abbey occupies a unique place in religious music scholarship and study.