Lesiëm is a German musical project created in 1999 by the producers Sven Meisel and Alex Wende and active until 2005. The project's music combines elements of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, pop, electronica,

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

, enigmatic and ambient music, as well as

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

and other

choral music A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

. It is frequently compared to French project

Era An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, German musical project

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

and the Norwegian artist Amethystium. Lesiëm's website makes extensive reference to the group's mystical and spiritual influences."''Illumination'' review on AllMusic"
''AllMusic''. Retrieved 4 September 2016. Lesiëm released its debut album, ''Mystic Spirit Voices'', in 2000. When the album was released in the United States in 2002, it climbed to no. 10 at the U.S. New Age Albums Billboard chart."''Mystic Spirit Voices'' chart on Billboard"
''Billboard''. Retrieved 4 September 2016. Lesiëm's second album, ''Chapter 2'', was released in 2001 in Europe, and in the United States in 2003 under the title ''Illumination'', where it reached no. 7. at the New Age Albums Billboard chart. The first two albums were some sort of prelude for the pop-opera ''Times'', which was Lesiëm's third album (released as ''Auracle'' in the United States in 2004)."''Auracle'' review on AllMusic"
''AllMusic''. Retrieved 4 September 2016. The musicians started their work in March 2002 and finished it in the end of July. The single "Caritas" (featuring Scottish singer

Maggie Reilly Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", " Moonlight Shadow", ...

and

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the D ...

) was presented in December 2002 on the philanthropic TV-show of José Carreras, ''Carreras Gala''. In 2005, Lesiëm released its latest songs for a new version of ''Times'', "Morgain" and "Morgause", both also collaborations with Maggie Reilly.

History

Lesiëm was created in Germany by producers Sven Meisel and Alex Wende in 1999 as an eclectic combination of Gregorian chants and choral music with modern genres and soundscapes, especially rock, pop and electronic music. The lyrics in Latin are written by Thomas Pflanz and sung by the all-male Carl Maria von Weber choir in the first two albums and the

in the third. Its first album, '' Mystic Spirit Voices'', was released in January 2000 in Germany and 2002 in the United States, where it reached the number 10 at the Billboard New Age Albums chart. Lesiëm's second album, ''

Chapter 2 Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may refer to: Film, television, and theatre * ''Chapter Two'' (play), a 1977 play by Neil Simon * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play Television episodes * "Chapter 2" (''American H ...

'', was released in 2001 in Germany and 2003 in the United States under the title "Illumination", ranking at number 7 at the Billboard New Age albums chart. It presented strong ethnic influences with its use of instruments like the duduk, the bagpipe and a second collaboration with South-African singer Lawrence Sihlabeni (following ''Indalo'' from the first album) in the track ''Africa''. ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time speci ...

'', Lesiëm's latest work, was released in 2003 in Germany (with a reissue in 2005 featuring two new songs, ''Morgain'' and ''Morgause'') and 2004 in the United States under the title "Auracle". It is the only album to feature a mixed-gender choir.

Discography

Albums

* '' Mystic Spirit Voices'', Monopol Records, January 31, 2000 (US-release: ''Mystic. Spirit. Voices''; Intentcity Records, 2002) # "Lesiem" (5:05) - Wende, A. / Westland, H. / Pflanz, T. # "Occultum" (3:50) - Wende, Alex / Pflanz, Thomas # "Fundamentum" (4:46) - Wende, Alex / Pflanz, Thomas # "Vivere" (4:02) - Wende, Alex / Pflanz, Thomas # "Open Your Eyes" (4:12) - Wende, A. / Pflanz, T. / Beyers, B. # "Indalo" (3:54) - Wende, Alex / Pflanz, T. / Sihlabeni, L. # "Liberta" (4:26) - Wende, Alex / Planz, T. / Härtl, M. # "Miracle Eyes" (4:02) - Westland, Henning / Pflanz, T. / Pabst, D. # "Una Terra" (4:12) - Westland, Henning / Pflanz, Thomas # "Mater Gloria" (3:52) - Wende, Alex / Pflanz, Thomas # "Veni Creator Spiritus" (4:46) - Härtl, Matthias # "Lacrimosa" (4:34) - Härtl, Matthias # "Floreat" (5:08) - Westland, Henning / Pflanz, T. / Arison, M. # "In Taberna Mori" (4:00) - Härtl, Matthias # "Ave Fortuna" (5:08) - Wende, Alex / Pflanz, Thomas # "Liberta" (Choir version) (4:27) - Wende, Alex / Planz, T. / Härtl, M. * ''

'', Monopol Records, Koch, April 12, 2001 (US-release: ''Illumination''; Intentcity Records, 2003) # "Agnus Dei" (00:53) # "Pater Patriae" (04:07) # "Navigator" (03:48) # "Africa" (04:08) # "Roma" (04:07) # "Diva" (03:58) # "Aureus" (04:07) # "Coloris" (03:28) # "Paradisus" (03:27) # "Poeta" (04:39) # "La Rose" (05:08) # "Britannia" (03:58) # "Agnus Dei" (00:38) * ''

'', Monopol Records, Epic/

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

, April 4, 2003 (US-release: '' Auracle''; Intentcity Records, April 28, 2004) # "Humilitas" (4:05) # "Temperantia" (4:01) # "Caritas" (4:23) # "Fides" (5:25) # "Justitia" (4:21) # "Patientia" (4:17) # "Spes" (3:49) # "Prudentia" (4:47) # "Times" (4:24) # "Invidia" (4:00) # "Vanitas" (4:41) # "Fortitudo" (4:33) # "Bonitas" (5:53)

Singles

* ''Fundamentum'', Monopol Records, January 10, 2000 * ''Indalo'', Monopol Records, June 5, 2000 * ''Liberta'', Monopol Records, 2000; * ''Africa'', Monopol Records, March 21, 2000 * ''Navigator'', Monopol Records, 2001; * ''Caritas'', Epic/

, December 16, 2002

Audiobooks

* ''Der steinige Weg'', Monopol Records, October 21, 2005

References