Lay Aside All Earthly Cares: The Sacred Choral Works of Fr. Sergei Glagolev

The sacred choral works of Fr. Sergei Glagolev (b. 1927), a portion of which are recorded here for the first time by a professional-caliber choir, can truly be considered seminal in the liturgical repertoire of American Orthodoxy. Drawing upon a variety of stylistic idioms, from Russian znamenny and common chant, to Byzantine chant, to the works of Chesnokov and Gretchaninoff, Fr. Sergei Glagolev creates choral settings that are, at the same time, unmistakably “American.” This is due largely to the fact that, unlike many “adapters” of liturgical music, he uses the sound and cadence of the English language as his starting point. This hallmark recording will surely serve to make these beautifully sung settings widely known and widely sung in Orthodox churches throughout America and other parts of the Orthodox world.