# Best russian choral works?



## Doommarine

I really like Vespers of Rachmaninov, The movement 2 is just awesome.






What's your favourite russian choral work?


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## PetrB

Stravinsky ~ Les Noces / Mass / Symphony of Psalms / Oedipus Rex / Threni


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## joen_cph

Nikolai Golovanov:"Troparion to St. Nicholas" 




Tchaikovsky:"The Nightingale" 




Georgy Sviridov:"Sadness of Immense Spaces", Hymn no.3 




Alfred Schnittke:"3 Sacred Hymns". Nr.3 




Valery Gavrilin:"Chimes Concerto", excerpts: 




Dmitri Bortnyansky: Choir concerto no.4


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## AegnorWildcat

I enjoyed singing Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky.


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## Delicious Manager

Some Russian Choral works that should be known by everyone interested in the genre:

Grechaninov - All-Night Vigil
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky (of course!)
Prokofiev - Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (far, far better than its title might suggest)
Prokofiev - Ivan the Terrible (arr from the film score by several people - well worth hearing)
Prokofiev - Seven, They Are Seven
Rakhmaninov - Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
Rakhmaninov - All-Night Vigil (Vespers)
Rimsky-Korsakov - The Song of Oleg the Wise
Schnittke - Requiem
Shostakovich - The Execution of Stepan Razin
Sviridov - Cantata: It is Snowing
Sviridov - Oratorio Pathétique
Sviridov - Spring Cantata
Tchaikovsky - Liturgy of St John Chrysostom


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Schnittke: Symphony no. 2, and a bunch of other stuff for choir
Stravinsky: Symphony of psalms, cantata, threni


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## SteveSherman

Tschesnokoff, Salvation is Created, especially on the days (mornings!) when I actually have the low Bb.


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## lupinix

Rachmaninov Anaphora


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## Il_Penseroso

Gretchaninov: Liturgia Domestica Op.79 

Ippolitov Ivanov: Liturgy Op.37 

But for the best samples of Russian choral music you need to come across the majority of Russian Operas (from Glinka to Rimsky Korsakov) or at least the film scores Prokofiev wrote for Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible.


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## Il_Penseroso

PetrB said:


> Stravinsky ~ Les Noces / Mass / Symphony of Psalms / Oedipus Rex / Threni


I'd add Cantucum Sacrum and The Flood to your list, but i think except Les Noces, the rest of the the works you mentioned, especially the later ones, are great works written by a Russian-born composer, of course, but not essentially in the traditional of Russian choral music style. Shorter works like Le roi des etoiles, Saucers and Pater Noster, mostly written before his Neoclassical approaches, sound more Russian than Mass or Cantata which have been obviously composed under the influence of ancient forms of polyphony.


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## Art Rock

Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky for me.


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## elgar's ghost

There's are a couple of choral pieces in Prokofiev's Ivan Groznyi soundtrack - the most interesting is near the end where you can hear a gentle liturgical piece being sung in the background during the ritualistic Oath of the Oprichniki song. Perhaps this was an analogy for Ivan's own character - pious devotion and bloodthirsty psychosis in turns.


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## Xaltotun

Shostakovich's symphony #13 should be mentioned here I think. It's a very peculiar and Russian atmosphere when the basses just ROAR the lowest of the low notes.


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## SteveSherman

Tongue only slightly in cheek I offer the national anthem of the Soviet Union, sung by the glorious Red Army Chorus, complete with English translation:






Further commentary is superfluous, 4645 user posts to the contrary notwithstanding.


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## stevederekson

SteveSherman said:


> Tongue only slightly in cheek I offer the national anthem of the Soviet Union, sung by the glorious Red Army Chorus, complete with English translation:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Further commentary is superfluous, 4645 user posts to the contrary notwithstanding.


Tounge in cheek? That piece is wonderful in its own right.


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## KenOC

stevederekson said:


> Tounge in cheek? That piece is wonderful in its own right.


When I was a kid, I used to tune in Radio Moscow at night to listen to it. A fine tune!


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## Wunderhorn

To me, one of the most beautiful works is Grechaninov - Passion Week. The recording with Charles Bruffy (Chandos) is absolutely stunning, if not outright otherworldly.


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## TxllxT

*Irina Denisova*











Irina Denisova is a nowadays woman (nun) composer from Belarusia


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## manyene

Not mentioned so far, Rachmaninov's 'The Bells', a veritable choral symphony of changing moods


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## Metairie Road

Roman Hurko. A Canadian composer whose choral works are very much in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

*Panachyda for the Victims of Chornobyl*





*Only Tchaikovsky.....*





KenOC


> When I was a kid, I used to tune in Radio Moscow at night to listen to it. A fine tune!


We had a radio - a big bugger as I remember it - complete with warm glowing tubes, dust and spiders. It had long wave, medium wave and short wave and the names of radio stations from all over the world printed right on the glass facia thingy. I'd sit for hours just twiddling the dial and listening to strange languages and exotic music. That, and an old batterd set of encyclopediae somebody gave me and I was good to go, didn't need a babysitter. Sounds like a lonely childhood, but it wasn't. It was just my way of escaping into solitude for a while - and I acquired a lifelong love for classical music and spiders.

Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## quack

That Hurko requiem was very beautiful. Reminded me that Bruno Letort (a French composer) also wrote a requiem about Chernobyl. Not especially Russian sounding though and a lot more dramatic.






Rodion Shchedrin - _The Sealed Angel_ is a really wonderful modern work. Missing the first part on youtube unfortunately.






Sofia Gubaidulina - _Johannes Passion_ was one of 4 by various composers modelled on Bach for the millennium. Has probably more epic, doomy Russian bass than choir but very good. Her _Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva_ setting the poet's works is also great.






Sergei Taneyev - _At the Reading of the Psalm_


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## Orfeo

Oleg Kozlovsky's Requiem (1798) is well worth mentioning. It's very moving at places and it depth is quite impressive. Glazunov's incidental score to the play "Tsar Iudeyskiy" (The King of the Jews) is also worth a mention, so beautifully scored it is. And let's not forget Dmitry Bortniansky (his Sacred Concerti are especially highly thought of).


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## AnotherSpin

If Ukrainans Bortniansky and Hurko are mentioned, here is more:


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## Wunderhorn

Taneyev's "John of Damascus" - despite being a Op.1 it is wonderful.


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## Metairie Road

Wunderhorn said:


> Taneyev's "John of Damascus" - despite being a Op.1 it is wonderful.


I listened to this on your recommendation. It is, as you say, quite wonderful. Thanks.

In fact, my thanks to all the posters here for making me aware of some great music. It's why I come here.

Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## starthrower

Some super low notes here!


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## John Kiunke

BORTNYANSKY BORTNYANSKY BORTNYANSKY


Did I mention Bortnyansky?


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## Pugg

John Kiunke said:


> BORTNYANSKY BORTNYANSKY BORTNYANSKY
> 
> Did I mention Bortnyansky?


Now you did :lol:

Which volume would you recommend ?


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## Delicious Manager

John Kiunke said:


> BORTNYANSKY BORTNYANSKY BORTNYANSKY
> 
> Did I mention Bortnyansky?


You forgot Bortnyansky!


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## Barelytenor

*Dmitri Bortniansky-Choral Concertos-Ensemble Cherubim*

Pugg, I sing in a Russian chorus and I can highly recommend this Naxos recording which was produced under thee artistic direction of the wife of one of our former conductors. It's absolutely top-notch! Dmitri Bortniansky (1751-1825) was Ukrainian-born and trained in Italy. He was conductor and composer at the Imperial Russian Court. Since the use of musical instruments was forbidden in the Russian Orthodox church, he wrote a lot of Italianate music but used voices in place of instruments (and with lots of Russkaya Dusha, Russian soul, русская душа).

For some reason I can't insert the link but go to Naxos.com or Amazon.com and search for Bortniansky - Choral Concertos or Sacred Concertos. It's titled "I cried out to the Lord" by Ensemble Cherubim conducted by Marika Kuzma.

I have the recording and find more to enjoy every time I listen to it.

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Vox Gabrieli

Do give DSCH Symphony No. 13 a listen as someone else mentioned earlier. 

I've yet to hear any mentions of "God Save The Tsar", or was that too obvious?


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## Huilunsoittaja

Silencing...


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## Barelytenor

*Tchaikovsky, Chesnokov, Bortniansky Sacred Music*



starthrower said:


> Some super low notes here!


Starthrower this is worth a redo on this Easter Sunday.

*Tchaikovsky-Hymn of the Cherubim*






*Chesnokov-To Thee We Sing*






*Bortniansky-Kol slaven nash [How great is the Lord in Zion]*

_*Ensemble Cherubim-Marika Kuzma*_






Enjoy and God Bless!

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Barelytenor

*One More: Nicolai Gedda Sings Kol Slaven at Age 80*

Gedda was invited to sing with the Helsinki Uspenski Cathedral in this famous Russian hymn (another version above) by Bortniansky. Gedda still has it!






:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Larkenfield

This is an old thread, but I would highly recommend these sacred Russian chorales... To me, there's nothing like the unique depth and richness of authentic Russian voices!

https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Treasures-Chorale-Mast-Various/dp/B000000X8J


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## Pugg

Larkenfield said:


> This is an old thread, but I would highly recommend these sacred Russian chorales... To me, there's nothing like the unique depth and richness of authentic Russian voices!
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Treasures-Chorale-Mast-Various/dp/B000000X8J


A whole new ( musical) world to explore, thanks for sharing.


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## Erik Scothron




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