Russian Sacred Music ~ Celestial Litanies

"We didn't know whether we were in heaven or on earth."

According to medieval Russian chronicles, this is how a Russian delegation visiting Byzantium in the 10th century described the mystical splendor of the music and pageantry of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. After hearing the delegation's report, Kievan Grand Prince Vladimir (ruled 980-1015) decreed that the young Russian state would adopt Eastern Orthodoxy as its official religion. Almost immediately, church personnel from Greece and Byzantium arrived in Kiev to provide instruction in the writing and performance of music. The singing in the Orthodox liturgy was a form of monodic unison chant performed without accompaniment and usually by male choirs. Occasionally, for purposes of dramatic contrast, a drone was used, or the choir was divided into two antiphonal groups. Over time, the chant imported to Russia began to evolve independently. External political factors led to this divergence: the conquest of Russia by the Mongols in the 13th century and the fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Both events served to isolate Russia almost completely from the outside world until the late 17th century. During this period, Russian Orthodox liturgical music flourished in the many monasteries, reaching a high level of professionalism and stylistic individuality. The form of chant that developed in Russia is known as znarnennv raspev—znamenny chant, from the Russian word znamenny. or "sign," referring to the primitive symbols used in notation.

As spiritual and political leaders of Muscovy, the Russian Tsars took a leading role in musical matters. Some of them, including the fanatically devout Ivan the Terrible (ruled 1533-1584), were accomplished performers and composers of liturgical music. This phase ended around 1700, when the aggressive policies of Westernization introduced by Tsar Peter I ("The Great," ruled 1596-1725) started to influence Russian religious and musical practice. Initially written down in complex "neume" notation, which could be deciphered only with great difficulty, Russian unison chant began to be transferred to western-style notation in the late 18th century. The anthology produced Dy the Moscow Synodal Typography in 1772 was particularly important. It served as the basis for the many western-style harmonizations produced by suc­ceeding generations of professionally trained "secular" composers, including Dmitri Bortnyansky, Piotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Arkhangel'sky, Pavel Chesnokov, Sergei Rachmaninoff and others.

In their settings usually for mixed chorus, the serene, other-worldly beauty of Orthodox chant has found an even larger audience in the concert hall.

tracks

01. Ode Of The Nativity (1:17)
02. Christ Is Risen (1:09)
03. Kontakion (8:39)
04. Hymn To St.Euphrosyne (2:35)
05. Hymn For The Exaltation Of The Cross (2:29)
06. Stikhira(Sacred Song)To Basil The Great (2:56)
07. Greatness Of The Episcopate (4:10)
08. We Bow Before Your Cross (1:07)
09. Stikhira In Honor Of Peter,Leader Of Moscow And All The Russia (4:44)
10. O Holy Son (1:48)
11. O King Of Heaven (1:41)
12. Come,Sing,People Of God/Liturgy Of St.John Chrysostom,Op.41 (7:40)
13. O Come,Let Us Worship (4:42)
14. Hymn Of The Cherubim (8:59)
15. Concerto For Chorus:I Think Of The Dreadful Day/Liturgy Of St.John Chrysostom,Op.42 (7:40)
16. Grand Litany/Liturgy Of St.John Chrysostom,Op.31 (5:30)
17. Grand Litany Of Supplication (3:34)
18. Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord (0:38)
19. Glory Be To The Father (0:50)