Tchaikovsky: Liturgy / Hymns

On this CD:

1. Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, for chorus, Op. 41
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

2. Sacred Pieces (9) for mixed chorus No. 3 in C major
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

3. I, a blessed one, choose (No. 4 of "6 Church Songs"), for chorus or chorus & piano
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

4. Today the heavenly powers (No. 6 of "6 Church Songs"), for chorus or chorus & piano
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

Tracks:

Nine Sili Nebesniye
Vo Iskhode Israileve
Slava. Edinorodnii Sine
Maloie Slavosloviye
Retche Gospod Gospevi Moyemu
Slava Vo Vishnikh Bogu
Voskliknite Gospodeve
Velikoye Slavosloviye
Khvalite Imya Gospodne
Gospod Prosveshcheniye Moyo
Deva Dnes
Veriu
Slava Vo Vishnikh Bogu
S Nami Bod

Customer Reviews:

Glorious.......2006-07-31

I have listened to a great deal of Orthodox music and I think this is by far one of the most beautiful collections I have ever heard. Actually, it is one of the most georgeous pieces of music of any kind I have heard.

Awesome... heavenly... ethereal Russian Choral Music.......2006-05-21

This Awesome, ethereal, heavenly ANCIENT ECHOES was a gift of my friend, Dick Talley last year. Seldom does my early awakening miss listening to these choral chants of the Orthodox Monastery!

If I could choose the more interesting, comforting, fasinating polyphonic chants, they would be No.3 "The Only Begotten Son" of Golovanov, No.5 "The Lord Speaketh" and No.6 "Glory be to God in the highest" both by Bortnyansky!

Only Russian Choral Treasures are equally awesome, spiritually refreshing. When I awaken every morning around 4:00, I began listening to both these recordings, before reading or praying for friends, such as, Dick and Anita Talley.

Upon becoming 75 years of age, I tend to simplify my habit of listening to Choral Music. Most fondly reviewed by Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood, "Barbara377" (Fayetteville, GA USA)

The Might of the Russian Male Choral Sound.......2005-10-03

The Russian liturgical music, especially that for the high holy days of Christmas and Easter, owns a mystery all its own. This splendid recording by the Chorovaya Akademia conducted by Alexander Sedov is a fine a sound as any produced on recording. Though few of the composers (with the exception of Tchaikovsky and Grechaninov) are well known outside Russia, the works are all beautifully composed and hauntingly performed. There is somewhat of a sameness to these religious works (little variation in tempi, expressive range, dynamics) but the overall effect is one of humble spirituality.

This is a fine example of the Russian choral music that is growing in popularity one the recorded repertoire and it is for this listener one of the best. Grady Harp, October 05

Compare These 3.......2004-04-19

There are 3 different CD's about Russian Choir "A Cappella" music which can be discussed & reveal a certain enjoyment to different people with different needs or means:

"Ikon" sung by the Holst Singers on Hyperion is the middle ground that gives a well balance & beautiful music from an English choir group. If you did not know they were English, you would think of them as Russian. Most songs are Russian classics from Sviridov, Gretchaninov, Kalinnikov, & Tchaikovsky with modern versions from Part, Gorecki, & Nystedt. The highlight is from the female sopranos which give an angelic & awl inspiring spiritual uplift that must not be missed.

"Sacred Treasures" sung by several groups including The Russian State Symphony Cappelle, The Leningrad State Academic Choir, The Bulgarian National Choir, & a few other groups on Hearts of Space give the most authentic Russian that to English ears may sound slow & uneventful. Yet to a person that knows Russian, this CD will cause the most goose bumps due to its rightful intensity with music from Rachmaninov, Bortniansky, Kedrov, Gertchaninov, Tchaikovsky, Christov, Turchaninov, & Lvovski.

"Ancient Echoes" sung by the Chorovaya Akademia on RCA Victor may give the best first impression due to its well made production that will give a serious work out to any professional stereo system, yet with further study will reveal an over dramatized style that may get in the way. Songs from the composers Sheretiev, Nikolsky, Golovanov, Strokin, Bortnyansky, Grechaninov, Riutol, Tchaikovsky, & Chesnokov.

If your into Russian "A Cappella" music, give these 3 CD's a try & decided for yourself.

Quite genuine but lacking in contemplative mellowness.......2004-01-05

The fantastic cover of this cd notwithstanding (the monk in red habit is a Catholic monk, probably a Carthusian, Orthodox monks wear a different habit), this is a cd of authentic Russian religious music for Christmas and Easter composed in the last 200 years and sung by an all-male choir: the Choravaya Akademia under the direction of Alexander Sedov.

The total length of this recording is 63:25 minutes.

Compared with other such cds available on Amazon.com like Sacred Treasures I and II, Ancient Echoes has a more vigorous and folk-song style. I do not want to sound sacrilegious or cynical in the least but many of the chants sound like Red Army songs.

Tracks:

Lumen
Bring Us, O Lord God
Ehtoohymni (Evening Hymn)
Nyinye otpushchayeshi (Nunc dimittis)
O Lux beata Trinitas
O coruscans lux stellarum
O nata lux
Te lucis ante terminum
Hymn To The Creator Of Light
Hail, Gladdening Light
Christe, qui lux es et dies
Nunc dimittis
Christe, qui lux es et dies
Nunc dimittis
Svyetye tikhii (Hail, Gladdening Light)
Svyetye tikhii (Hail, Gladdening Light)
Lucis Creator optime
Lux aeterna

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful ensemble tone.......2002-09-07

Most people who are used to the boy-treble sound of Kings College, wince at the thought of women-sopranos as members of the choir for English church music. But this Clare College performance would win over the most die-hard traditionalist. The program is a collection of familar and more interesting works spanning several centuries of the genre. The performances are measured, controlled and have a true ensemble tone. Although it would be unfair to treat this disc as just background music, it can be a wonderful oasis of calm after a busy day.

heavenly.......2002-02-13

I didn't think there was a group out there that could outshine the Cambridge Singers, but this group has done it. (Their shared history with John Rutter could have something to do with it!) "Bring Us, O Lord God" and "Hymn to the Creator of Light" are among the all-time great choral moments. Their sound is a shade warmer than the Cambridge Singers, which is an asset when moving outside Renaissance choral literature. The choir can sing with the pristine purity needed for Palestrina and the warm lushness needed for Rachmaninoff and Rautavaara. Every track on this album is stunning. This is now the first CD I send to people looking to start or augment their choral music collection. I can't recommend it highly enough!

Unbelievably beautiful.......2000-10-29

With this disc, their first recording for John Rutter's Collegium label, the Choir of Clare College in Cambridge prove themselves worthy to stand alongside the best in this country - and then some...

At the outset, I have to admit that I'm not wholly impressed by the programme. The title "Illumina" treads on ground that countless choirs have covered over the last ten years, and the music includes several items that fit in with that title, despite having been 'done to death' on other choral compilations: I have already come across dozens of CDs with "O nata lux" by Thomas Tallis, "Hymn to the Creator of Light" by John Rutter and "Hail, gladdening light" by Charles Wood, for instance, and it is as if having yet another recording of each detracts from the value of the others in my collection. The programme also includes a number of excerpts from Russian masterworks: specifically, canticles from the Vigil settings of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Gretchaninov all appear (indeed, the last two composers are represented by their different settings of the same canticle!). In a similar vein is the inclusion of the Evening Hymn from Rautavaara's "Vigilia," sung in Finnish. Dense and rich polyphonic works of the Renaissance and late Romantic schools nestle side by side (cantus firmus motets by Thomas Tallis and Robert Whyte are paired off with soupy and familiar anthems by William Harris and Gustav Holst); these are contrasted by monodic plainchants and a hymn by Hildegard of Bingen. A Nunc Dimittis by Josquin also makes an appearance (it is the third setting of that particular text on the disc!) before the programme ends with Gyorgi Ligeti's striking and ethereal "Lux Aeterna."

So, a very predictable programme that might not seem worth purchasing, particularly as choral music lovers are bound to have all these tracks on previous releases. However, when it comes to actually listening to the disc, one finds it definitely worth adding to a choral collection. The Choir of Clare College have made recordings in the past, but not one of them is nearly as stunning as this. Timothy Brown draws the most amazing quality of sound from the singers: every note is precise, every word is clear, every texture is sonorous to the right degree, the balance is superb, the dynamic control is exquisite... The choir was obviously having a good year in terms of basses, who negotiate the infernal notes in the Rachmaninov and Rautavaara tracks with incredible power and admirable precision. Similarly, the sopranos and altos (Clare College Choir is mixed rather than all-male as at King's College) have a beautiful tone in the high registers of their voices. Completing the package are the scintillating acoustics of the recording venue: the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral. This lends a wonderful glow to all the music, even the Ligeti (I've never heard it sung as well as this).

Tracks:

The Russian Soil: Chants Dedicated To Russian Saints
Prayer Of Repentance For Russia
The Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom: Eucharist
I Cried Out To The Lord
Three Chors From The Cycle Days Of Battle, Op.45: On The Sickbed
Three Chors From The Cycle Days Of Battle, Op.45: Deliver Us From Evil
Three Chors From The Cycle Days Of Battle, Op.45: Mother Of God
O Praise Our Lord
Blessed Is The Man
The Angel Cried
Praise The Lord, O My Soul
Vespers: Joyful Light
Vespers: Lord Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart
Vespers: Rejoice, Virgin, Mother Of God
Funeral Mass: Angel
Funeral Mass: Prayer
Funeral Mass: Requiem: Upokoi, Bozhe (Let Them Rest In Peace, O Lord)
Funeral Mass: Requiem: Trisiyatelnoye
Funeral Mass: Requiem: With Thy Holy Ones Let Them Rest In Eternity
Funeral Mass: Requiem: God, Have Mercy On Us - Victoria Smirnova/Denis Khramov
Funeral Mass: Requiem: Blessed Assumption - Victoria Smirnova/Denis Khramov
Funeral Mass: Requiem: Eternal Memory - Victoria Smirnova/Denis Khramov
St. Dmitry Rostovsky's Psalm Of Repentance
Hymn To The Holy Virgin
Three Sacred Chorales: Rejoice, Pure Virgin, Mother Of God
Three Sacred Chorales: O Lord Jesus Christ
Three Sacred Chorales: Our Father

Customer Reviews:

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.