TCHAIKOVSKY: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
PYOTR ILYITCH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41

Tracks:

Russian Cathedral Bells
Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Great Ektenia
Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Hymn of Praise
Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Hymn of the Cherubim
Bortniansky / Hymn of the Cherubim (excerpt)
Kedrov / Our Father
Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Fervent Supplication
Rospev / The Noble Joseph
Tchaikovsky / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Amen. And with Thy Spirit
Russian Monastic Vespers (excerpt)
Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Bless the Lord, O my Soul
Tchaikovsky / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Hymn of the Cherubim (excerpt)
Christov / Hymn of the Cherubim (excerpts/edited)
Tchaikovsky / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Our Father
Gretchaninov / I have Chosen the Blissful
Lvovski / Hymn of the Cherubim
Final Bells

Product Description

1. Russian Cathedral Bells
2. Great Ektenia
3. Hymn of Praise
4. Hymn of the Cherubim
5. Hymn of the Cherubim
6. Our Father
7. Fervent Supplication
8. The Noble Joseph
9. Amen. And with Thy Spirit
10. Russian Monastic Vespers
11. Bless the Lord, O My Soul
12. Hymn of the Cherubim
13. Hymn of the Cherubim
14. Our Father
15. I Have Chosen The Blissful
16. Hymn of the Cherubim
17. Final Bells

Format: CD

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

Although this collection intends to transport the soul, it has a tremendously potent low-end depth to it that earns high marks indeed in the worlds of vocal and liturgical music. Dmitri Bortniansky's "Hymn of the Cherubim" is performed with a gracefulness that gets a warming fatness from the production, as does Alexander Gretchaninov's "I Have Chosen the Blissful," which travels with a ringing resonance. In a year of fine choral works--check out Sequentia's Hildegard cycle box, 900 Years or Arvo Pärt's Kanon Pokajanen for a "something old, something new" mix--this collection is highly valued for its sonic integrity and its excellent anthological mix. --Andrew Bartlett

Amazon.com

Words cannot describe poignantly enough the exquisite, angelic voices that permeate the heart and exalt the soul on Sacred Treasures. The most highly regarded Russian and Bulgarian choirs sing the hymns of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Lvovski, and other composers in the Russian Orthodox Church's tradition of "Divine Worship" (worship through chant). From the first tolling bells that open the CD with a willowy, floating piece from Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St. John, to the final bells closing the door on "Hymn of the Cherubim" (Grigory Lvovski), this CD creates a gentle, distinctly Byzantine glory. The rhythms slowly wisp along while the choirs' baritones, tenors, and sopranos mesh into one expansive blessing. Meant to comprehensively gather not all Russian liturgical pieces but rather hymns that emote an inner tranquility and celestial grace, Sacred Treasures plays like a piece of heaven on Earth. --Karen Karleski

Customer Reviews:

Inner beauty.......2007-02-07

The sense of beauty emerge within us as these chorals fill the space of our head and heart. A music written by real masters and interpreted by voices rarely heard. Beautiful.

Music for the soul.......2007-01-10

One of the best renditions of the Orthodox Liturgy most famous hymns.

Hauntingly beautiful.......2006-12-28

A terrific production...a wonderful selection; great phrasing. See also "Holy Love" by 'Rossica Choir'

Divine Beauty and Peace! .......2006-12-03

I am the producer of this CD and also of "SACRED TREASURES III: Choral Masterworks From Russia and Beyond" as well as "SACRED TREASURES IV: Quiet Prayers" and "CELTIC TWILIGHT 7: Sacred Spirit". In each case, my intention was to bring together the very best performances of exceptionally beautiful, slow and peaceful sacred music. Most of the pieces on this compilation (as on the other compilations mentioned above) are filled with lush harmonies sung by large mixed choirs. All the selections are deeply nourishing to the soul.

In many cases, I chose to use excerpts from longer pieces, omitting the exultant huge crescendos and very fast sections that are typical of Russian sacred music, presenting only the slow and quiet verses. One reviewer complained about the omission of the final (loud and fast) part of the Cherubic hymns, saying this is the best part, but I completely disagree! I feel that the slow "adagio" sections are by far the most beautiful parts, and that is what you will hear on these CDs.

Different types of music serve different needs, and in today's stressful and fast-paced world, one of the most important and often neglected needs is for time out from that world--to "lay aside all earthly cares" (as the "Cherubic Hymns" on this CD prescribe) and to rest in a magical, quiet space of slow, peaceful, beauty. That peaceful beauty is available to you on all of these albums, including this one, "SACRED TREASURES: Choral Masterworks from Russia"!

A Soviet version of Russian music.......2006-05-29

I admit to some strong bias here, having sung on the recording of Tchaikovsky's Liturgy available here from the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York. I was in that choir for five years, and our conductor's view of how to properly interpret Russian music became my own.

Because of Stalin's efforts to cleanse the country of the influence of religion, many musicians and composers were sent to Siberia. They were replaced with those from peasant backgrounds. The result was a huge change in how classical Russian music was performed, becoming less subtle, more interested in brute power and flash.

This recording features a massive and powerful choir. But the listener mostly hears a series of vowel sounds, with the consonants lost in the shuffle. Dynamic range is not as large as it could be. Phrasing is largely absent and we hear a steady wall of sound instead. Precision of rhythm is spotty, what consonants we do hear are frequently smeared. Pitch and richness of tone are good, but on high notes, inevitably given the size of the choir, some members strain.

Having performed and recorded Tchaikovsky's Liturgy I am very familiar with the piece. But listening to this recording of excerpts from it I sometimes barely recognized it as the same work. Tchaikovsky gives us great artistry, frequently crecendos and decrecendos on a single phrase. Each choral voice comes and goes like a wave, not all together like a tsunami in all but a few places. The balance of voices is constantly moving.

I encourage you to listen to the samples available here of the Russian Chamber Chorus's recording of Tchaikovsky's Liturgy, compare the same pieces. This recording is more a Vegas neon version of this great artwork than the fine art it deserves to be shown as. James Oestreich, the New York Times critic, put the Russian Chamber Chorus recording at #4 on his top ten list of classical releases for 2001, and said that if you had not heard it "You only think you know Tchaikovsky."

I hope you give the real Russian classical tradition a listen. It deserves your time, and it will pay you back with a huge amount of pleasure.

Average customer rating:

Best of the best

Essential Tchaikovsky

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Best of the best.......2004-03-14

There's something for every Tchaikovsky lover on this disc. From Swan Lake to Onegin, many of Tchaikovsky's most-known melodies are on this disc. I'd have preferred more than an excerpt of the first movement of Piano Concerto No. 1, but this disc is a great introduction to Tchaikovsky's works.

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Most neglected Dichterliebe by Fischer-Dieskau.......2001-04-06

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In this live-recording he is supported by no other than Vladimir Horowitz! And the inspiration between these two artists works wonders. Horowitz' playing in crucial moments of the cycle fx "Ich Grolle Nicht" adds a spiritual dimension to the interpretation that you do not get from Moore, Brendel or Demus. We are dealing with the best interpretation of this cycle ever conveyed to disc.

So many years in the catalogue (22years?) - why is it overlooked? Because it is a part of Live Concert from Carnegie Hall and on two discs. The rest of the program is much less interesting - though other artists contributing include Bernstein, Stern and Menuhin - and it is not apparent at all from the cover what treasure is enclosed. Sony, please get some sense and re-arrange this Dichterliebe on a single disc, a nice photo of Horowitz and Fischer-Dieskau on the cover and you will have a best-seller of a CD.

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Mystery of the East: Music from Russian Churches and Monasteries.......2007-04-10

An excellent recording-with exception of the engineering. Having attended a concert of choral music from the Ukraine, I find this recording faithfully follows all the whisper quiet to needing earplugs in your ears volume. The music is performed admirably, and the diction is good - I would be able to understand the words if I understood Russian. In the Russian tradition, the pieces are all acapella, and well done. In my humble opinion, this is a very good buy if you are interested in Russian choral music.

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Contemporary Russian Orthodoxy

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Contemporary Russian Orthodoxy.......2005-12-13

This album is for sophisticated listeners who already know their way around Russian music, and specifically around the Russian sacred choral tradition, at least more than just a little. (NOTE: By `sophisticated,' I do not mean to hint that the music on this album is obscure, dissonant, weird, inaccessible, etc. With the exception of Nos. 1 - 4 and 8 - 11, however, these selections are just lesser known - and undeservedly so.) This recording serves as fitting evidence that the Russian Orthodox choral tradition did NOT die when the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917. To the contrary, this tradition was maintained and revived by many of the composers represented on this album. The album's producers thoughtfully begin with some better known selections: a traditional chant, Tchaikovsky, Arkhangel'sky, Chesnokov and Ippolitov-Ivanov. But even in the case of Chesnokov - who makes a fitting bridge between the `choked off' tradition of the Soviet era and the present - the selections include a triptych of para-liturgical choral essays. (His `Angel Cried,' selection No. 10 on this album, is worth the purchase price alone. If you've never heard this work before, prepare to be transfigured!) Recording No. 11, the best known liturgical composition of Ippolitov-Ivanov, represents this choir's final genuflection to the `traditional' Russian sacred choral tradition, and then we're off! Agafonnikov, Lebedev and Kikta are all living composers who continue to make contributions to this genre. The late Alfred Schnittke, better known for his symphonic, operatic and other modern classical (secular) achievements, is also represented here - given possibly more than his fair share on this CD because of name recognition. If anyone who should be here is missing, that would be Georgiy Sviridov, who wrote a number of stunning para-liturgical pieces in the Russian Orthodox style; but Sviridov's choral work is well-represented elsewhere in the Russian Orthodox (and related) discography. I could raise other quibbles, but that would be unfair. Finally, the performers are equal to the music - suffice it to say that this is one of the finest professional choirs in today's Russia. If the Russian Orthodox liturgical tradition speaks to you, and if you've already become acquainted with the big names (Bortnyansky, Tchaikovsky, Rakhmaninov, etc.) then this recording is definitely for you.

Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrystosom

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NOT THE 1812

Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrystosom

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Customer Reviews:

NOT THE 1812.......2004-12-01

When Tchaikovsky produced his Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in 1878, despite a legal challenge from the Imperial Chapel whose permission he and his publisher had neglected to obtain, the Tsar remarked to him that he was surprised Tchaikovsky had not done more church music. Tchaikovsky no doubt knew which hints were worth taking, and he turned out a number of other items in 1884-5 and 1887, 10 of which are on this disc.

The `Liturgy' equates more or less to the Catholic Mass. Like the Mass it comes in a `standard' version and a number of others for special occasions, the St John Chrysostom version being the standard one. The 10 choral numbers from it are given here, with the solos for the celebrant and deacon, and the litanies sung antiphonally by celebrant and choir, being omitted. Preceding these on the record you will find the other 10 items mentioned above, mostly isolated items from the Chrysostom Liturgy in fresh settings. These are slightly more elaborate and more solemn in tone than the main setting, with a little more polyphony and a little more word-repetition, but in general Tchaikovsky's a capella music is easy to grasp and much less severe in style than the unaccompanied motets of Bach and Brahms. There are no fugues or anything of that kind, and the longer sequences such as the Creed and the Lord's Prayer are despatched very briskly indeed. The Orthodox Liturgy is a lengthy affair, and I dare say that even the most devout congregation would have thanked the composer for restraining his muse to some extent.

I would very much have liked to give this disc 5 stars, but I find I can't quite make myself do it. The articulation is very clear, and some of the singing is very good indeed, particularly sustained bass notes although even here I found myself yearning slightly for some `real' Russian bass timbre. The recording may be part of the problem, and it could be that the intention was to provide a churchy acoustic, but the overall result is a certain dullness in the tone. I found it helped to boost the volume a little, but what I couldn't edit out was some very indifferent soprano sound on the higher notes, which are not even all that high. I refer to the choral sound. In the item with three soprano soloists these perform reasonably well, although I could not say I thought their voices were wonderful.

The liner note provides a very good little introduction to the music, and the Russian is very sensibly given in Roman script with English translation. Nothing at all is said about the performers, the introduction is also translated into French and German but the texts are not, at least in the version of the note issued in England and, I can only suppose, in America.

Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41

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Cherubims' Song in C Major for Chorus
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, For Chorus, Op. 41: Milost' Mira (A ...)
Angel Crying, For Chorus
Hymn in Honor of St. Cyril & St. Methodius, For CH
O Tebe Raduyestia (All of Creation Rejoices in You
Svete Tihiy (Radiant Light), For Chorus No. 1
Hvalite Imia Ghospdne
O Mother of God Vigilantly Praying (Sacred Concert
Litany of Supplication
Our Father (Otche Nach)

Album Description

Over the past thousand years, Russian composers have created an immensely rich and varied body of choral music and chant to express the sacred texts of the liturgy. Sacred Songs of Russia portrays the musical legacy of the Russian people, which comes as a response to the depth of their faith.

Among the noteworthy works on this recording, which contains previously released material, are two stirring works by Rachmaninoff including Bogoroditse Devo (Rejoice, O Virgin) from his All Night Vigil, opus 37, and V molitvah (The Mother of God, ever-vigilant in prayer). Perhaps most significant are the Three Choruses of Georgy Sviridov (1915-1998), composed during a time when sacred music was still actively suppressed by the Soviet regime. The three works by Peter Tchaikovsky, Milost' mira (A Mercy of Peace), Angel Vopiyashe (The Angel cried), and Hymn in Honor of SS. Cyril and Methodius, are also strong statements of the Russian faith and expression through music.

| Gloriæ Dei Cantores first toured Russia (then part of the U.S.S.R.) in the spring of 1990 to re-introduce Russian sacred choral music to their concert halls for the first time since the Russian Revolution of 1917, and participated in several liturgies of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the request of Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, now Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, Gloriæ Dei Cantores toured Russia a total of three times, returning in 1992 and 1998 to sing in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and throughout the Golden Ring. Gloriæ Dei Cantores were also among the first Western artistic groups to tour Siberia.

Customer Reviews:

I've heard better.......2006-10-04

This is not a recording that you must buy. If you really enjoy russian liturgical music, you won't hate it, but there are a lot of recordings that you would be better served with. It is true that for an american choir, they do a fine job with the language especially. Their general tone and vocal quality was a little bit lacking for me. Their basses were "ok". I thought the singing was just a little too "shouty", even for russian music. I would recommend getting a copy of the vespers as sung by the Dale Warland Singers. Another american group. . . This is the most accurate recording I have heard, and it was done live which impresses me even more!

The Mother Lode.......2005-12-13

If you are looking for a comprehensive survey of the best of the Russian Orthodox liturgical tradition, your search is over. This is the mother lode. First point: I must admit to being something of a purist, and I was at first skeptical that an American choir could perform music of this genre so convincingly; but hearing is believing. Yes, they clearly have included a few honest-to-God Russian basso ringers (and maybe one or two altos); but this is an American choir performing Russian Orthodox liturgical music the way it's supposed to sound - only better. Second point: The selection of pieces is fabulous. This choir's artistic director, Elizabeth C. Patterson, consulted with Vladimir Morosan, the Last Word on the Russian Orthodox choral tradition. The results of this collaboration are reflected in both the breadth and quality of pieces selected. This is literally a millennium of music, beginning with a sample of ancient znamenny chant and ending with three stunning meditations by the late Georgiy Sviridov. Each selection is both accessible and interesting, and a prime example of its composer and/or period. Third point: The individual pieces, with very few exceptions (such as No. 3, Rakhmaninov's `Ave Maria'), are NOT the most well-known and frequently performed warhorses of the Russian Orthodox liturgy. This is not a `Top Ten' recording. That makes this collection all the more interesting. In at least one instance (No. 15, the other Rakhmaninov offering) this may be the only recording available if you're not prepared to dig deep in the discography archives of several dozen universities and conservatories. Fourth point: This is not a new recording, but it marks a standard of quality that few performers in this genre - including native Russian choral ensembles - have since met or surpassed. Elizabeth Patterson has an innate feel for this music. In her previous life, she must have been a Russian monk. Final point: For serious musicians, musicologists and aficionados, this is a perfect gateway to a deeper understanding of this tradition. Buy it!