Of all the choral traditions
around the world, there is perhaps none
so rich in harmony and sonority as that
of the Russian and Eastern Orthodox
Churches. With its penchant for heavily
doubled voices (especially thirds, octaves
and fifths) and its generally homophonic
textures, this music is distinct and
immediately recognizable, and at least
to these ears, completely satisfying.
In addition to the simplicity, there
is an evident depth of meaning in these
ancient chants, skillfully harmonized
by a group of composers who have lived
primarily in the last two centuries.
The anachronistic orthodoxy of it all
speaks volumes of the deep allegiance
that these composers have to a centuries
old tradition. Especially gratifying
is the complete insistence upon retaining
the a cappella tradition in spite
of several calls over the years to add
instruments so that composers could
have a wider range of expression.
This release contains
some simply sublime singing. Archiprêtre
Johann Shenrock, has assembled a superb
ensemble, and he has refined it into
one of the most uniformly blended, consistently-in-tune
choirs that I have heard in some time.
There is often a tendency in this repertoire
for choirs to sing with overly heavy
vibrato and with an unwieldy and overproduced
tone that leads to massive ensemble
and intonation problems. Not so this
group.
Opening with Iaïtchkov’s
harmonization of the Hymn to the
Mother of God we are treated to
a serene prelude to an hour of music-making
that is bountiful in its delights. Tchesnokov,
himself recognized as a fine trainer
of choirs contributes a beautiful setting
of texts from the liturgy for the feast
of the annunciation. Set for male chorus
with a soprano soloist (who is regrettably
unnamed in the booklet) I was particularly
impressed by the ease with which the
first tenors handle their tessitura.
There is no sense whatever that these
singers are in anything but total control,
and there is never a hint of a strain.
The tone is meticulously matched between
the sections.
There follows a number
of "bleeding chunks" (to steal a phrase
from the Wagnerians) from Rachmaninov’s
justly famous All Night Vigil, a
work that has seen quite a resurgence
in popularity in the last decade with
some very fine complete recordings popping
up on the market at regular intervals.
It is in these performances that I have
a couple of issues, mainly, that there
is so much under-recorded music from
this repertoire that I question the
need to include this popular work. Secondly,
I found that for my particular taste,
Shenrock’s tempo choices lie on the
slow side, and I felt that the music
became more static than I prefer to
hear. Nonetheless, these are matters
primarily of taste, and the quality
of the singing remained extremely high
in spite of my objections.
The two discoveries
on this disc are the moving Grand
Doxology of Apostolov-Stroumsky
and the Martinov Apocalypse with
text taken from the book of "Revelations"
(sic). The former work relies heavily
on tradition and is satisfyingly sonorous,
with an again unnamed soloist (a bass
this time) contributing some wonderfully
priestly chanting. Martinov’s work,
although modern in every sense, depends
heavily on the traditional style of
Orthodox choral music, but ventures
considerably further afield in its harmonic
structure. A highly energetic and dramatic
work, we poor non-natives would have
benefited greatly from inclusion of
the texts and translations. Other than
that the music is appealing from a purely
aesthetic point of view, it is very
hard to discern the emotional or pictorial
intent of the composer when we haven’t
the slightest idea as to what is actually
being said.
Program notes are minimal
but generally informative. Sound quality
is above reproach. If there are faults
with this release, they lie in the realm
of the presentation and packaging rather
than in the music-making which is superb
overall. This and its companion volume
(to
be reviewed) are a fine introduction
to this literature and should certainly
serve as a gateway to further exploration
of this fine body of music.
Kevin Sutton
Hortus
Edition Catalogue
for details
Apocalypse, Missa Russica [30:32] 
