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9002
Russian Orthodox Hymns and Chants
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This selection of liturgical items is taken from the general
repertoire which was (and still is) current in the Russian
Orthodox Church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The all male choir has continued to flourish, under great
difficulties, in Russian Churches, Monasteries and Seminaries,
and with the current relaxation of the restrictions on religious
worship is experiencing something of a renaissance. On this
compact disc the great tenor Nicolai Gedda sings the top
part of the score (on tracks 1 -5, 7, 11, 12, 15 & 17)
with the male section of the London Cathedral Choir, and
the male choir of the Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki. Behind
the harmonic structure of this music, which is of South-Western
Russian provenance, lies an important melodic tradition
which has its roots in the earlier period of Christianity
in Russia and beyond it - in the Byzantine liturgy of the
late 9th and early 10th centuries.
The Byzantine hymn texts and melodies, along with their
modal system and notation were transferred, almost in toto,
to the Russian liturgy. The modal system corresponds to
that of Roman Chant and is based on a series of eight tones.
Each tone has stock melodic figures that are only used for
chants written in that particular tone. Three of the main
collections of early Byzantine Chant, including the Stikherarion,
have direct Slavic equivalents and were probably transcribed
in the 11th or 12th centuries. The early melismatic chants
fell out of use by the 13th century, when the medieval Znamenny
Chant, while moving away from its original Byzantine influence,
retained its importance. Notation of the Znamenny was improved
by A. Shaidurov in the 16th century, and in 1668 reformed
by A. Mesenetz who undertook its notation on to a five line
stave. Towards the end of the 17th century the Russian Orthodox
Church officially adopted polyphonic music and, until its
harmonisation |
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| N |
TRACK NAME |
LENGTH |
| 1 |
Come and let us bless Joseph (Trad, harmonized Bortniansky):
Sung at the end of Matins on Holy Saturday - Soloist:
Nicolai Gedda |
4.13 |
| 2 |
Give rest with the righteous (Trad, harmonized Smolensky):
Sessional Hymn for the Service of the Departed - Soloist:
Nicolai Gedda |
2.10 |
| 3 |
Cherubic Hymn (Old Chant, harmonized Lvovsky) -
Soloist: Nicolai Gedda |
4.50 |
| 4 |
Let my prayer be set forth (Greek Chant, harmonized
Glinka): From the Divine Liturgy of the presanctified
Gift in Great Lent - Soloist: Nicolai Gedda |
7.36 |
| 5 |
I see thy Bridal Chamber (Bortniansky): Exapostilarion
at Matins on the first four days of Holy Week - Soloist:
Nicolai Gedda |
2.17 |
| 6 |
The Resurrection, O Christ our Saviour (Trad, harmonized
Kastalsky): Sunday Apostikha, Tone 6 first Stikhera:
Sung in the procession at the beginning of Easter
Matins: Let God arise and Christ is risen (Trad, harmonized
Kovalevsky) |
5.35 |
| 7 |
Cherubic Hymn (Melody of the Simonov Monastery,
harmonized Kastalsky) - Soloist: Nicolai Gedda |
4.24 |
| 8 |
Vespers (a) Lord, I have cried unto thee (Trad.)
(b) O gentle light (Dvoretsky) (c) Priest: Wisdom!
(Trad, harmonized Smolensky): The Prokeimenon in the
6th Tone |
5.31 |
| 9 |
Cherubic Hymn (Melody called The Archers', harmonized
Smolensky) |
4.11 |
| 10 |
God is with us (Znamenny Chant, harmonized Kastalsky)
- Soloist: K. Hakkala |
4.22 |
| 11 |
Dogmatic, tone 6 (Valamo Chant, harmonized Mirolybov)
- Soloist: Nicolai Gedda |
3.49 |
| 12 |
To the Mother of God (Valamo Chant, harmonized Mirolybov):
Canon, 6th Ode, Stikhera, tone 6 - Soloist: Nicolai
Gedda |
2.51 |
| 13 |
Hymn in Honour of SS Sergius and Herman (Valamo
Chant, harmonized Mirolybov) - Soloist: N. Kriisia |
2.20 |
| 14 |
Troparion of St. John Chrysostom (Valamo Chant,
harmonized Balakirev) |
1.37 |
| 15 |
Dogmatic, tone 8 (Valamo Chant, harmonized Mirolybov)
- Soloists: Nicolai Gedda and K. Hakkala |
4.32 |
| 16 |
Holy God . . . (The Trisagion) (Tchaikovsky) |
1.33 |
| 17 |
O come, let us worship . . . Save us, O Son of God
. . . Alleluia . . . Glory be . . . now . . . (Tchaikovsky,
arr. for Gedda by Jaroff): Exapostilarion of the Dormition
of the Mother of God - Soloist: Nicolai Gedda |
4.07 |
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and restoration in the early
20th century, Znamenny Chant was only kept alive by the
'raskolniki' or Old Believers. Between the 17th and 19th
centuries a number of lesser chants appeared and developed
including the Kiev Chant and the Greek Chant as well as
a large number of local and monastic chants. Many of these
melodies do not have the elaborate line of the Znamenny
Chant, though they are, in the main, derived from it. The
relative simplicity of their melodic pattern allows them
to be given a fluent easily-sung harmony. Both melody and
harmony, in their turn, happily interrelate with the words
of the text, and heighten the character and expressiveness
of the latter.
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PLAY
MUSIC SAMPLER
from Track 10
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MP3
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Audio: sound average / download fast |
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