Neumz – Gregorian Chant

Neumz is a Gregorian chant app from a recording project that's hard to overstate — over 7000 hours of complete Gregorian chant sung by the Benedictine nuns of Notre-Dame de Fidélité de Jouques in France. The app gives you the chants for each day of the liturgical year, with the square-note scores, Latin text, and an English translation alongside the audio.

For each day you get the Mass propers and the Office hours sung by the nuns. You can follow along with the score, read the Latin and English in parallel, and play the chant on its own as background prayer. The interface is uncluttered and respects the music — no autoplay, no notifications pushing you to next things, no distractions.

What strikes me is the discipline of it. The nuns at Jouques have been recording the entire year of chant in real time as they sing it. You're not getting a studio mix; you're listening to the prayer of a monastic community as it actually unfolds. There's a depth to that which a polished recording can't quite match.

Good for anyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours and wants the music behind the words. Excellent for Adoration in your home or parish chapel. Also a real gift if you teach catechism or RCIA and want to introduce people to the Church's musical patrimony without lecturing about it.

It's not for casual listening if you want background music while you work. The chant is prayer; treat it that way. The free version gives you a sample; the full subscription unlocks the whole year.

Free with subscription, by Odradek in partnership with the Abbey of Jouques. Available on the App Store: Neumz - Gregorian Chant. If you've ever wondered what Catholic prayer sounded like for fifteen centuries, this is it.