2016 Packet of Secular Works for Mixed Chorus ~ 50% off

PS019(all) ARENSKY ~ Three Quartets (Tri kvarteta) satb $4.35

PS019-1 Serenade (Serenada)

PS019-2 To the Dying Stars (Ugas’shim zvezdam)

PS019-3 The Hot Spring (Goriachiy kliuch)

The Three Quartets by Anton Arensky, on texts by Afanasy Fet—one of Russia’s foremost Romantic poets—are in the finest tradition of Romantic vocal chamber music. They can be sung by four solo voices or SATB chorus, joined, in this instance, by a virtuoso cello part, which greatly adds to their originality and unusual appeal. Each piece can stand as a miniature on its own, and, taken together, the three make for a highly attractive program set between 7 and 8 minutes in length. This new edition features a beautiful singing translation in English by Mark Herman and Ronnie Apter, which captures well the spirit of Fet’s poetty, as well as the original Russian text in both phonetics and Cyrillic. Published both as a set and as individual pieces.

CMR016-2 SVIRIDOV ~ Balalaika (Balalaika) aka “Trendy Brandy” satb $2.45

No instrument is more closely identified with Russian folk music than the balalaika. In this charming piece Georgy Sviridov pays homage to this beloved Russian folk instrument, which he played as a child in a Russian folk orchestra. The chorus brilliantly imitates the characteristic manner in which the balalaika is played, by rhythmically strumming its three strings with a finger at the end of a loose wrist. This spirited piece makes an outstanding program or section closer that will have the audience on its feet—very much in the tradition of “Veniki” or “Kalinka.”