# Orthodox Church Choral Music



## Arsakes

From Byzantine Empire, Georgia, Russia, Romania and Serbia.

Can anyone introduce/recommend some historical works belong to this church?

A few Georgian chants I heard several years ago were very oriental and spiritual and I liked them. I hope I find more.


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## Flamme




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## Aleksandar




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## science

Marie Keyrouz's _Chant Byzantin_ is one of my favorite albums of all time, any music, whatever. That is what heaven will sound like, if I get to be in charge.


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## Metairie Road

Without doubt the best general introduction to Russian Orthodox choral music is the series of CD's - *Sacred Treasures: Choral Masterworks from Russia* - issued by the NPR radio program 'Hearts Of Space'.

A stunner from Volume V:

Yeletskyh (arr.) Bless the Lord, Praise the Lord, Amen (Liturgy of Peace for Chorus) - Kyiv Chamber Choir.






Best wishes


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## Arsakes

Thanks everyone. I'll check them tomorrow.


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## Arsakes

@Metairie Roadm best one here.

@Flamme, I have a better version of it sung by female-male mass (it's kinda related to Ippolitov Ivanov I think)

@science, samples please.

@Aleksandar, they were long so I fast-forward-listen to them! The first one wasn't very impressive, I liked the second better.


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## Arsakes

I downloaded a few Georgian chants from a Classical music website with free music 10 years ago (well some of them were truly failure in performance! false playing, coughs here and there etc. !)

Two of them for example have these names:

ENSEMBLE_OF_OLD_CHURCH_MUSIC_SRETENYE-TO_THEE_WE_SING

ENSEMBLE_OF_OLD_CHURCH_MUSIC_SRETENYE-OLD_GEORGIAN_CHANT


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## Ilarion

Here is a sample of that which is sung during Holy Week - The composer is unknown:


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## science

Arsakes said:


> @science, samples please.


I don't know how to work that out for you. Perhaps you can find some youtube. Keyrouz has done several albums of music from various Christian traditions of the Levant, not only the Orthodox; I've heard three of them, and _Chant Byzantin_ is my favorite by very far.


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## science

Arsakes said:


> I downloaded a few Georgian chants from a Classical music website with free music 10 years ago (well some of them were truly failure in performance! false playing, coughs here and there etc.


Was it an amateur choir? After all, Orthodox music is usually sung by people who are in church, not by professional musicians. It's a living religious tradition, not usually regarded as performance art.


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## Guest

I don't know how accurate it is, but what about Rachmaninov's works?

There is his Op. 37 Vespers/All-night Vigil, as well as the Op. 31 Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. He may be best known for his piano concertos, but these religious choral works are spectacular.


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## BlackKeys

DrMike said:


> I don't know how accurate it is, but what about Rachmaninov's works?.


Can confirm, him and Tchaikovsky wrote great works for the Russian Orthodox church.


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## Ilarion

BlackKeys said:


> Can confirm, him and Tchaikovsky wrote great works for the Russian Orthodox church.


But their works are not sung in their entirety during the Divine Liturgy - Their works are considered pieces for the Concert Hall. One should also listen to Grechaninov's "Strastnaya Sedmitsa" - It is also a grand *A Capella* piece, which I include below:






However, if you can get your hands on Valery Polyansky conducting this work you'll be in for a treat...


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## Huilunsoittaja

Chesnokov was about the same age as Rachmaninoff. Incredibly profound choral piece:


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## TxllxT

A Youtube recording of the Book of Psalms, all 150, more than five hours!


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## Ilarion

TxllxT said:


> A Youtube recording of the Book of Psalms, all 150, more than five hours!


Hey,

Someone beat me to it - Drats!!! Oh well, Its great when there are others who think faster than oneself:tiphat:


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## Ilarion

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Chesnokov was about the same age as Rachmaninoff. Incredibly profound choral piece:


And poor Chesnokov who had been Director of Choral Music at Christ the Saviour Cathedral for many years became utterly heartbroken when he saw from his living room window how the godless Bolsheviks dynamited the Cathedral - He died shortly after witnessing the act.


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## Dimboukas

This is the best Byzantine chant series I have ever heard. They are very well recorded, austere, and with beautiful voices. The were made by monks of the Vatopedi monastery at Mount Athos and the University of Crete. I'm sure the fact that the University of Crete took part in this recording contributed to their value, which is both artistic and historical.


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## Gouldanian

Arsakes said:


> From Byzantine Empire, Georgia, Russia, Romania and Serbia.
> 
> Can anyone introduce/recommend some historical works belong to this church?
> 
> A few Georgian chants I heard several years ago were very oriental and spiritual and I liked them. I hope I find more.


Any work by Ephrem the Syrian (300 AD, composer of what is now known as the Orthodox church of the Levant.


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## KenOC

Gouldanian said:


> Any work by Ephrem the Syrian (300 AD, composer of what is now known as the Orthodox church of the Levant.


Do any works survive? How were they notated? Do we have any idea what the sounded like?


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## Biwa

Kassia (805-865) is one the earliest composers of the Byzantine/Middle Ages. She is sometimes called the "Byzantine Hildegard of Bingen".

Here's a little background on her... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassia

And here's a review and a little more on the beautiful music on this recording...http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/c/chr77308a.php


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## Gouldanian

KenOC said:


> Do any works survive? How were they notated? Do we have any idea what the sounded like?


Most of them did. They're a valued treasure of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Here's the music and arrangement he composed for the Our Father prayer:






Here's my personal favorite (start from 1:00). This piece is stunning...






Here's another beautiful one:






And a last one (there are several other ones):


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## SalieriIsInnocent

Wonderful album. I think this is what got me interested in Orthodox music.


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## TxllxT

*Boris Christoff & Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Choir, Sofia*


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## Arsakes

Rachmaninoff's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Op.31 is a good one. 
I liked _'First Antiphon'_, _'Trisagion Hymn'_ and _'Nicaean Creed'_ pieces the most.


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## Arsakes

KenOC said:


> Do any works survive? How were they notated? Do we have any idea what the sounded like?


I don't know too. Armenians may have saved something from that period. Armenians are the oldest survived branch of Christianity and also as people an ancient Civilization like China (not as old though).


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## science

Dimboukas said:


> This is the best Byzantine chant series I have ever heard. They are very well recorded, austere, and with beautiful voices. The were made by monks of the Vatopedi monastery at Mount Athos and the University of Crete. I'm sure the fact that the University of Crete took part in this recording contributed to their value, which is both artistic and historical.


Those _are_ good. Great find!


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## Klavierspieler

Here are a couple of chants in English:

God is With Us
Trisagion Hymn
This is the Day of Resurrection


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## TodorYankov

This is a work of the medieval Byzantine composer of Bulgarian origin John Koukuzelis. It is Axion Estin, a hymn to the Virgin Mary. The language is old Bulgarian.






This is his most famous work - "Polyeleos to the Bulgarian Woman", whitch he wrote for his mother.


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## Barelytenor

Ilarion said:


> And poor Chesnokov who had been Director of Choral Music at Christ the Saviour Cathedral for many years became utterly heartbroken when he saw from his living room window how the godless Bolsheviks dynamited the Cathedral - He died shortly after witnessing the act.


No question that he was heartbroken and stopped composing, but the cathedral was destroyed in 1931. Chesnokov died in 1944, according to what I read. @Ilarion, you are in Moscow. Surely you have been to the now-rebuilt cathedral. Do you like it? How does it compare to the original in your opinion?

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Classical Gas

I quickly found plenty of YouTubes of Marie Kayrouth. I never heard of her before -- amazing vocals. She also has recorded Maronite Christian music (from Lebanon), which is interesting.

This is the "Chant Byzantin" which science mentioned:


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## Sam Ealy Johnson Jr

Is anyone here familiar with Nouri Iskander's choir from Aleppo? This Syriac chant begins around 1:20. Apparently, it is actually in Aramaic. Does anyone know the name of the chant and whether it has been recorded?


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