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From St. Vladimir’s Seminary, long known for its traveling Seminarians’ Octets and recordings of all-men’s choirs, comes this lovely album sung by an all-women’s ensemble, comprised of six fine voices—faculty, students, and community members—who fortuitously assembled and were able to record together before going on to other life’s destinations and ministries.
Superb blend, ensemble balance, and beautifully sensitive phrasing are just some of the musical qualities that serve to recommend this recording. Its other remarkable feature is the breadth and scope of the repertoire: spanning a multitude of styles—ranging from chant with ison to choral polyphony, and national origins—including Russian, Serbian, Georgian, British, and American, the roster of composers represented, most of them still living, reads like a Who’s Who of contemporary Orthodox liturgical music: composers from the Ecumenical, Moscow, and Serbian Patriarchates, the Antiochian Archdiocese, the OCA, and ROCOR. The musical diversity of the 23 tracks is, nonetheless, integrated by a remarkable consistency and adherence to a liturgically faithful aesthetic—whereby musical sounds serve as a vehicle for the sacred text, always intensifying and beautifying, never overshadowing or distracting from the spiritual and prayerful content.
There are two additional reasons why everyone interested or directly involved in Orthodox church singing would want to listen to this album frequently: 1) It offers a worthy model of how a small ensemble of good voices, particularly women’s voices, is capable of offering beautiful singing appropriate for Orthodox worship; and 2) It demonstrates the vibrant creativity, within the bounds of various traditions, that will surely shape the future face of liturgical singing in Orthodox North America and other English-speaking lands, where the focus is on mission and growth, rather than merely on preservation and survival.—V.M.
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Superb blend, ensemble balance, and beautifully sensitive phrasing are just some of the musical qualities that serve to recommend this recording. Its other remarkable feature is the breadth and scope of the repertoire: spanning a multitude of styles—ranging from chant with ison to choral polyphony, and national origins—including Russian, Serbian, Georgian, British, and American, the roster of composers represented, most of them still living, reads like a Who’s Who of contemporary Orthodox liturgical music: composers from the Ecumenical, Moscow, and Serbian Patriarchates, the Antiochian Archdiocese, the OCA, and ROCOR. The musical diversity of the 23 tracks is, nonetheless, integrated by a remarkable consistency and adherence to a liturgically faithful aesthetic—whereby musical sounds serve as a vehicle for the sacred text, always intensifying and beautifying, never overshadowing or distracting from the spiritual and prayerful content.
There are two additional reasons why everyone interested or directly involved in Orthodox church singing would want to listen to this album frequently: 1) It offers a worthy model of how a small ensemble of good voices, particularly women’s voices, is capable of offering beautiful singing appropriate for Orthodox worship; and 2) It demonstrates the vibrant creativity, within the bounds of various traditions, that will surely shape the future face of liturgical singing in Orthodox North America and other English-speaking lands, where the focus is on mission and growth, rather than merely on preservation and survival.—V.M.
TRACK LISTING
No. | Composer | Title | Sheet Music | Time | Buy | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Monk Martin | O Gladsome Light | 1:18 | |||
2 | Paul Jannakos | Exapostilarion for Annunciation | 0:45 | |||
3 | Monk Martin | Koinonikon for all times | 0:59 | |||
4 | Kurt Sander | Great Doxology | 4:16 | |||
5 | Peter Drobac | Canon Ode 9 Holy Saturday Matins | 2:24 | |||
6 | Archpriest Sergei Glagolev | Exapostilarion for Pascha | 1:28 | |||
7 | Priest Ivan Moody | Blessed is the man | 3:01 | |||
8 | Nazo Zakkak | The Angel cried | 1:46 | |||
9 | Deacon Sergiy Trubachov | Antiphon 15 Holy Friday Matins (arr. V. Morosan) | 3:31 | |||
10 | Byzantine Chant | Let my prayer arise | 2:58 | |||
11 | Priest Sergius Halvorsen | Song of St. Simeon | 0:56 | |||
12 | Johann Von Gardner | Exapostilarion for Exaltation of the Cross | 1:43 | |||
13 | Froyshov, Simeon (in the style of Byzantine Chant) | Hymn of Kassiane | 5:19 | |||
14 | Nazo Zakkak | Magnificat | 4:19 | |||
15 | Georgian Chant | Kriste Aghsdga - Paschal Tropation (arr. H. Majkrzak) | 1:05 | |||
16 | Richard Toensing | Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos | 1:53 | |||
17 | Peter Drobac | Koinonikon for Holy Saturday | 2:47 | |||
18 | Monk Martin | It is Truly Meet | 1:06 | |||
19 | Valaam Chant | Koinonikon for Presanctified Liturgy (arr. J. Erickson) | 1:54 | |||
20 | Richard Toensing | Kontakion Nativity of Christ | 2:23 | |||
21 | Nicolas Craig Custer | Kontakion Canon of St. Andrew | 1:43 | |||
22 | Monk Martin | The Lord's Prayer | 1:17 | |||
23 | Vladimir Morosan | Paschal Troparion | 1:09 |