The Tree of Poison (Anchar)

PS036
Russian
satb
$2.90

An evocative musical re-telling of a famous poem by Alexander Pushkin, which speaks of evil in the world and the manner in which people use it to wield power over others.

Daybreak Glimmers (Teplitsia zor’ka)

PS034
Russian
satb(div)
$2.40

This is Chesnokov at his most Romantic--bordering on the Impressionistic--as he uses rich, lush harmonies to evoke images of nature capable of giving solace and inspiration to the weary soul.

Do Not Reject Me in My Old Age
(Ne otverzhï mene vo vremia starosti)

V1-38
Church Slavonic
satb(div)   $3.95

Berezovsky was a fellow-student of Mozart’s at the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna. This, the most famous work of his short life (1745–1777), is a dramatic multi-movement sacred concerto for unaccompanied chorus. Chesnokov used the last movement (with the sacred text removed by the Soviet censors) as an illustration of how to interpret a fugue.

In Winter
(Zimoy)

PS035
Russian
satb(div)
$1.85

In the spiritual wasteland of the Soviet Union, Chesnokov used this Romantic setting of an inspirational poem by Grand Duke Konstantine Romanov (who wrote under the pseudonym K.R.), which uses images of winter as metaphors for the purity of the soul, to present his detailed analysis of nuance and interpretation.

It’s Not a Flower Wilting in the Field
(Ne tsvetochek f pole vianet)

PS033
Russian
satb(div)  $1.85

A peasant lad has fallen in love with a girl who is above him in social class. Chesnokov uses Russian folk motifs and countervoices to express the mournful longing of unrequited love in this soulful choral miniature.

Sunrise
(Vos’hod solntsa)

PS037
Russian
satb(div)
$2.90

Taneyev, the Russian master of counterpoint, paints one of the most vivid and dramatic musical depictions of a glorious sunrise. Chesnokov uses a passage from this work to illustrate his “registro-timbral” system in which 27 sub-sections of an 81-voice choir are deployed in a quasi-orchestral manner.