00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Now this
00:06is exciting to be speaking to Sister Leo and Sister Gabriel, because we have the second
00:12album from the Poor Clares of Arundel. The first one was four years ago. Monster success.
00:18Now four years later, we have My Piece I Give You, released on Decca. Goodness, how exciting
00:25is this? And how do you explain why everyone, how everyone took that first album to their
00:31hearts? I think it's been amazing for us, you're right, that we did enter into the heart
00:37of everybody somewhere and we, on our second album, our Franciscan heart to meet the heart
00:44of each person who listens. We've been thrilled with the response, surprised, but delighted.
00:55We hope that this second album will take it deeper, take it to another level, explore
01:02the beauty of creation and the peace that we're so desiring.
01:07And the lovely thing, Sister Leo, is that the second album, just as the first album,
01:11is essentially you doing what you do day in, day out anyway, isn't it? It's your life,
01:18isn't it? Your musical life.
01:20Yes. I mean, they say to sing is to pray twice. And our life is based very much on prayer
01:28and silence and also living in unity. That's our life. We're hoping that this album, with
01:36the different quotes that we've taken from Francis and Claire and from scripture, will
01:42actually speak to people where they are today. Because even four years is, in one sense,
01:49how the world has changed in those four years.
01:53Absolutely. But the lovely upshot of singing twice, praying twice, is that your record
01:58company is now describing you as the highest charting nuns ever. How does that sound?
02:05It sounds very amazing, unbelievable, but I don't know who we're in competition with.
02:12Not that we're in competition with anybody, but we're delighted, absolutely delighted,
02:18that who we are and the music that we share with you is speaking to the hearts of people.
02:26We're just so pleased.
02:28And Sister Gabriel, you were saying there are two key things for the new album,
02:32and one of those is in the title, isn't it?
02:35Absolutely, two key. In my piece, I give you, I mean, in our world where there's so much
02:41violence and war, when we look at the situation between Gaza and Palestine, the Russia and
02:47Ukraine, Haiti, the Sudan, it's endless. It's somewhere to be ourselves, the peace
02:53has to begin with us, to be women of peace, to share that peace. Perhaps through listening
02:59to our music, we find a place of peace within us, and then we can share that. It's waves of
03:06peace that we'd like to just channel through everywhere, and we can all do it. We can all
03:14do it.
03:14And the second point, which is also so important, is that in the middle section of the album,
03:23is this, we call it a chronicle of creation. It's the words of Saint Francis, and he's
03:28speaking about our planet. He says, brother sun, sister moon, mother earth. And it's about
03:36being in relationship with, I think for so long we've dominated the planet, we've used it,
03:42exploited it, and we have to really find this way of being in relationship with it.
03:49So we hope that through the music, this can happen.
03:52And you were saying about the peace, you found that with the first album too, that
03:56babies were soothed, that people suffering dementia were soothed, that
04:02hospital were comforted. That's remarkable.
04:05I think a lot of people these days listen to music with a sort of a background,
04:10and they don't kind of participate in it. But I feel that what we were hoping for,
04:17which has happened, is that the music has taken people to a deeper level,
04:22that in themselves, and please God, the deeper level is more peaceful, and they receive
04:27consolation for the struggles that they're going through. And certainly people that have contacted
04:33us, haven't just, they're not writing to say thank you for the album, they're writing to say
04:39thank you for the music, because, and sharing part of their story with us. And that actually
04:44is really touching. And in a sense, I think that's also what gave us the courage to take
04:51the plunge and do it again. Because we feel, you know, the more people that can,
04:58they can feel that, find that place within themselves.
05:03So might you be thinking about a third album at some stage?
05:07Who knows? That's enough for the day, one day at a time and step by step, we're seeing. Yes,
05:13because the thing is, we want people to really enjoy, enjoy this new album. It is different,
05:20although this, you know, similar, it's a similar way of doing things. We're trying to help people
05:27just breathe slower, breathe deeper. And it is, it is difficult. The different messages, Sister
05:34Gabriel has said, there are different points in this one than there were in the last one.
05:40Fantastic. Well, lovely to speak to you both. Sister Leo, Sister Gabriel, and congratulations
05:46on the album. Thank you so much. So we just, just want to say that we hope that whoever
05:53reads your article, or whoever's listening to this, that they can have a great enjoy,
05:59just enjoy it. In the moment, in the moment, yes, yes. So thank you, John.
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