Notes and Editorial Reviews
This is a repertoire that's been surprisingly well represented on disc, benefiting from the glasnost/perestroika-inspired revival of liturgical music in Russia in the early 1980s and the coincidental CD-fueled resurgence of the classical recording industry. One of the beauties of the unique, harmonized chant forms that characterize Russian church music is the attention this music received from some of the country's finest composers, some of them well known--Grechaninov, Bortnyansky, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov--and others more obscure but nevertheless highly skilled. Most of the composers represented here are among the latter category, but the music is first rate and the choir, from Moscow's historic Novospassky Monastery, is equal
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to the best on disc. It's also a plus that most of the selections, by Lvov, Arkhangelsky, Smolensky, Kastalsky, and others, aren't duplicated elsewhere. The program follows a service of the Divine Liturgy, which includes hymns, antiphons, the Great Litany, the Trisagion, Nicene Creed, a psalm, and the Doxology. I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional quality of the singing, set in shimmering, vibrant sound made in a Moscow studio but with the kind of (artificial?) resonance that could just as well have come from the wood and stone environs of an ancient church. There are many excellent choices for recordings of Russian religious music, but if you want to hear what the real thing sounds like, you won't go wrong with this--and its budget price makes it especially attractive.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Great Litany by Stepan Smolensky
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 3 Minutes 19 Secs.
Language: Russian
2.
The only begotten son by Alexander Gretchaninov
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 58 Secs.
Language: Russian
3.
Prokeimenon by Alexandr Kastalsky
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 28 Secs.
Language: Russian
4.
The Creed by Alexander Arkhangelsky
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 5 Minutes 24 Secs.
Language: Russian
5.
Great Doxology by A. Strumski
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 9 Minutes 33 Secs.
Language: Russian
6.
Come, let us worship by Anonymous
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 0 Minutes 58 Secs.
Language: Russian
7.
Alleluia by Anonymous
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Medieval
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 32 Secs.
Language: Russian
8.
Cherubic Hymn by Pyotr I. Turchaninov
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 8 Minutes 9 Secs.
Language: Russian
9.
A Mercy of Peace by Anonymous
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 6 Minutes 50 Secs.
Language: Russian
Notes: Arranged: Archimandrite Matthew
10.
Praise the Lord from the Heavens! by Ledkovsky,
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 3 Minutes 20 Secs.
Language: Russian
11.
Meeting and Vesting of the Bishop by L'vov,
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 10 Minutes 15 Secs.
Language: Russian
12.
Blessed by the name of the Lord by Alexander Arkhangelsky
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 52 Secs.
Language: Russian
13.
Eis polla eti, Despota by L'vov,
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 2 Secs.
Language: Russian
14.
Bless the Lord, o my soul by Anonymous
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 28 Secs.
Language: Russian
15.
Hymn to the Theotokos by Anonymous
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 2 Minutes 48 Secs.
Language: Russian
16.
Trisagion by Grigor F. Lvovsky
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1995
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 2 Minutes 9 Secs.
Language: Russian
17.
Psalm 120 by Mironisitsky,
Conductor:
Father Mitrofan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novospassky Monastery Choir Moscow
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1998
Venue: Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia
Length: 3 Minutes 39 Secs.
Language: Russian
Sound Samples
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Meeting And vesting Of Bishop
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Eis polla eti, Despota
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Great Litany
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Bless the Lord, o My Soul
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: The only begotten Son
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: The Trisagion
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Prokeimenon
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Alleluia
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Cherubic Hymn
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: The Nicene Creed
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: A Mercy Of Peace
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: The Hymn to the Theotokos
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Praise the Lord from the Heavens!
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Psalm CXX
Meeting and vesting of Bishop: Blessed by the name of the Lord, henceforth and for ever more
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