Two very different all-night vigils

Religion suffered terrible oppression in the Soviet Union, and one of the post-Perestroika miracles has been the resurgence of faith in the region, despite the continuing political turmoil. One example of the religous resurgence is the Convent of St. Elisabeth in Minsk, Belarus which is seen in my photographs here.

The Convent was founded in 1999 and is now home to seventy-five nuns and novices. The buildings are new, and funding for the project is a continuing struggle in the tough economic climate that prevails in Belarus. The Sisters of St. Elisabeth raise foreign currency by selling crafts made in their workshops and recordings made by their excellent choir. Two of the lay Sisters from the Convent stayed with us here in Norfolk last week while fund raising, and their CD shown below is a real discovery.


Rachmaninov's concert setting of the Orthodox All-night Vigil is well known. But the choir of St. Elisabeth's Convent in Minsk give us a different take which combines Greek, Slavonic and Bulgarian Chants. It is something of a revelation to hear women's voices singing the Orthodox liturgy, and the Convent choir acquit themselves wonderfully. Their recording of the All-night Vigil is only available direct from the Convent, email monaster-nov at yandex.ru for more details.


There is an all-night vigil of a very different sort at 12.01am this Wednesday, December 5th when I will be playing Alvin Curran's Inner Cities complete. The four and a half hour performance will be not be interrupted by any announcements, commercials or news bulletins. More details of this broadcast premiere here.

Good to see An Overgrown Path featuring on the Virtual Guide to Belarus, and more on Russian Orthodox music here.
Listen by to Inner Cities at 12.01am UK time on Wednesday December 5 by launching the Radeo internet player from the right side-bar, or via the audio stream. Convert broadcast times to your local time zone using this link. Windows Media Player doesn't like the audio stream very much and takes ages to buffer. WinAmp or iTunes handle it best. Unfortunately the royalty license doesn't permit on-demand replay, so you have to listen in real time. If you are in the Norwich, UK area tune to 96.9FM. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Paul Hillier and mystery of missing movements

Hard on the heels of my post about concerts getting shorter comes the mystery of the missing movements in Rachmaninov’s All-night Vigil. On Friday (May 4) the 2007 Norwich & Norfolk Festival opens with a concert in Norwich Cathedral by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Paul Hillier (pictured above).

The first half of the concert is a treasure-trove of Orthodox church music, Kedrov, Pärt, Tchaikovsky and Kreek, although at 28 minutes it is not the most generous of programmes. But then comes the mystery. The second half is the Rachmaninov All-night Vigil Op. 37 with the first two sections of the Matins service (The Six Psalms and Praise the Name of the Lord) omitted. This cut removes just over four minutes of music from a 55 minute work.

The reason for the cut completely escapes me, and a call to the festival organisers came up with no explanation. The newly released recording of the All-night Vigil by the same forces on Harmonia Mundi is, of course, complete. Can any reader solve the mystery of the missing movements?

Stop press: just as I was about to upload this post the following email was received - I'll keep you posted:

Hi Bob, I’m chasing Paul Hillier, the Estonians’ conductor, for the answer to your question about the Rachmaninov.

Meanwhile, I’m delighted that you remain such an avid supporter and follower of the Festival! When I see articles like the one in the Guardian a few weeks ago bemoaning Norwich’s lack of arts festival – despite the fact that we are now one of the dozen largest city festivals in the uk – it takes the support of people like you to remind me why we do it. Thank you.

Best, Jonathan
Jonathan Holloway
Festival Director
Norfolk & Norwich Festival

* On the same path I offer you the ultimate time travel. After the Norwich concert Paul Hillier and the Estonian choir travel to the superb new Perth concert hall in Scotland. On Monday they give a lunchtime concert, the programme is the All-night Vigil!

Now read about another unorthodox take by Paul Hillier on a familiar work
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included for "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Celebrating Easter in music and pictures

Easter Sunday is the date of the annual celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The date of Easter is determined by the lunar cycle, with each Easter Sunday maintaining the same relationship to the preceding astronomical full moon as occurred at the resurrection in 30 AD. Because the Western Christian (Catholic, Anglican and Protestant) and Eastern Christian (Orthodox) churches use different calendars (Gregorian and Julian respectively) Easter is often celebrated on different dates by the two churches. 2007 is one of the exceptional years when the dates coincide, the previous one was 2004 and the next is 2010.

Orthodoxy was made the official religion of Russia in 988, and the photographs with this article were taken by me in the mother church of all Eastern Christians, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The Russian Orthodox Church followed the Byzantine musical tradition which excluded women’s voices and any instruments except bells. But while the Greek and Middle Eastern Orthodox Churches restrict their liturgical music to unison chant, the Russian and Balkan churches use polyphony. Large numbers of hymns are included in the Russian liturgy, and, except for several celebrated examples from 20th century composers, the church discouraged musical settings of the text. This means there is no Orthodox equivalent to the masses of Palestrina, Haydn and Mozart.


Easter is the most important festival in the Orthodox calendar, and the liturgical music for the festival combines ancient melodies with harmonisations, or original themes, from 19th and 20th century composers. An excellent overview is available on Apex’s super-budget CD, Russian Chants – Russian Easter Liturgy. The CD is sung by the Liturgical Choir of Moscow under Father Amvrosy, and was recorded in Moscow in 1992 by a Russian production team. The Liturgical Choir was an early product of glasnost, and was founded in 1987 to revive and carry on the great traditions of Russian Orthodox liturgical music. Their programme ranges from ancient monodies to harmonisations by Balakirev (1836-1910) and Kalinnikov (1870-1927), and includes the centrepiece of the Easter celebration, Christ is risen from the dead, sung in Greek, Latin and Slavonic.


The best known concert settings of the Orthodox liturgy are by Rachmaninov (Vespers and Liturgy of St John Chrysostom), Tchaikovsky (Liturgy of St John Chrysostom), and Alexander Grechaninov (Vespers). But there is another little-known gem from Grechaninov, who was a contemporary of Rachmaninov. The choral Passion Week cycle was composed in 1911/2, and was premiered in Moscow in 1912. It was only performed once more before Grechaninov fled to France and then the US following the 1917 revolution. Under glasnost the work was revived in Russia in the 1990s, but has remained virtually unknown in the West.

That is about to change as Chandos has just released a superb new recording with the Phoenix Bach Choir and Kansas City Chorale directed by Charles Bruffy. Grechaninov’s 74 minute setting of hymns and biblical texts may be monumental, but it is also meditative and mystical. The recording made in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Kansas City is demonstration quality, and the choirs more than counterbalance any linguistic shortcomings with their superb technique. The recording was made in just two consecutive days, a remarkable achievement for the choirs and soloists as this is a very big a cappella sing with no instruments to hide behind. Well done everyone, and well done Chandos for making their second recording of Grechaninov’s Passion Week. The first was made in Moscow in the 1990s with Valeri Polyansky conducting the Russian State Symphonic Cappella, the new one is already on my shortlist for best CD of 2007.

* Listen to samples and buy MP3 downloads of Grechaninov's Passion Week here.

Now read the good news from Kiev.
All the photos were taken by me in Hagia Sophia during our recent visit to Istanbul. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included for "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Western takes on Russian music

I am a Russian composer, and the land of my birth has inevitably influenced my temperament and outlook. My music is the product of my temperament, and so it is Russian music. I never consciously attempt to write Russian music, or any other kind of music, for that matter. I have been strongly influenced by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, but I have never consciously imitated anybody. I try to make my music speak simply and directly that which is in my heart at the time of composing. If there is love there, or bitterness, or sadness, or religion, these moods become part of my music, and it becomes beautiful, or bitter, or sad, or religious. For composing music is as much a part of my living as breathing or eating. I compose music because I must give expression to my feelings, just as I talk because I must give utterance to my thoughts.

These are the words of Sergei Rachmaninov, and his intense patriotism means that Russian performances of his sacred music in particular are considered as definitive. But today I will be looking at two Western performances which prove that there is life beyond the poor recorded sound and wobbly bass lines that are the hallmarks of many Russian performances of his liturgical works. Rachmaninov’s Vespers needs little introduction, but the 1999 EMI recording by Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge definitely does, so who better to do that than the Producer Simon Kiln?

‘There are of course many fine versions of Rachmaninov’s Vespers with mixed-voice choirs, both within the Russian tradition (for which the work was written) and outside it. This is the first to feature a choir of boys’ and men’s voices only. The result, whose point of departure was a particularly fine crop of low basses at King’s that year, blends one of the finest choirs in the English choral tradition with some of the finest music from the Russian tradition. Furthermore the beautiful acoustics at King’s College Chapel are ideal for this repertoire, since they are not unlike those of a Russian Orthodox cathedral. This disc also breaks new ground in that the recording was originally made in surround sound. Though release in that format awaits further developments in domestic audio technology, the listener should already derive some benefit in the enhanced stereo sound of the present CD.’

Those notes were written in 1997. The CD is still in the catalogue at full price, although there are some good deals from internet resellers. The performance is a serious work of scholarship with a credit given to language coach Xenia de Berner. Any recording made in the peerless acoustics of King’s Chapel is a joy to behold, this one is a double delight as it gives a fresh perspective on a very familiar work; shame about the ghastly cover though.

Much less well known is Rachmaninov’s other liturgical masterpiece, his earlier setting of the Russian Orthodox Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. I have previously written about a Russian recording of the Divine Liturgy, but one of the early delights of 2007 has been a new recording of this inspirational work by the Flemish Radio Choir directed by Kaspars Putnins. But it is not quite accurate to describe this as a ‘Western take’ as director Kaspars Putnins is a Latvian who graduated from that country’s Academy of Music, and who has worked extensively with Latvian choral groups.

This excellent new CD of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom comes from the enterprising Spanish independent label Glossa whose recordings have featured here before. Bonus marks for an excellent essay on the Divine Liturgy in the sleeve notes, but a black mark for the absence of any artist biographies. The acoustics of the Jezuïetenkerk in Heverlee, Belgium sound glorious, with engineering, production and mastering in the hands of Manuel Mohino who is also responsible for many of Alia Vox's glorious sounding productions. And while corporate EMI are still waiting for the new technology smart independent Glossa have it. If you have the replay equipment you can bask in the Divine Liturgy in five channel SACD Surround Sound, although you will need a microscope to find the SACD logo on the sleeve.

These two Western takes on great Russian liturgical music are both pure absolute delights. It is unfortunate that today Rachmaninov is in the shadow cast by the media spotlight on his compatriot Shostakovich. I certainly don’t agree that political persecution is a prerequisite of musical greatness, but if it is Rachmaninov is a fully paid up member, and was described by the Soviet regime as: the servant and instrument of the proletariat’s worst enemies.’ As a result of the Soviet religious persecution his 1910 Liturgy of St John Chrysostom was forgotten, and it is only in recent years that it has been revealed as a masterpiece. This new recording by the Flemish Radio Choir and Kaspars Putnins helps to restore it to its rightful place – unmissable.

* St John Chrysostom (c. 345-407) was a very rare person, he was both a music critic and a saint. He differentiated between good and harmful music with the words: 'Lest demons introducing lascivious songs should overthrow everything, God established the psalms, in order that they might provide both pleasure and profit.'

For more on Rachmaninov’s liturgical masterpieces, and some more beautiful images, read Brilliant Russian sacred choral music.
The three icons portray St John Chrysostom. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included for "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Brilliant Russian sacred choral music

A wonderful concert by the Hermitage Ensemble of Russian singing sacred hymns and folk songs in the beautiful little Sibton Church of St Peter in Suffolk (the ruins of a Cistercian Abbey can be seen close to the church) took me down the overgrown path of Russian sacred choral music.

Two outstanding recent releases from the innovative Dutch super-budget label Brilliant Classics are highly recommended. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris is famous for its tradition of Russian Orthodox chant. In 1967, under their director Evgeni Ivanovitz Evetz, they recorded an anthology of Russian Orthodox Church Music. Evetz was born in Poland of Russian parents, and his status as a Russian 'displaced person,' meant that he made his reputation as a refugee building and conducting choirs, first in Morocco and then in Paris.

The anthology features composers ranging from Rachmaninov and Arensky to many lesser-known figures, and has now been released as a double CD. The sound isn't demonstration quality and the documentation is minimal, which is a shame as it would be nice to learn more about some of the more obscure composers, but at around £7 (US$13) for two hours and forty minutes of outstanding, and authentic, choral singing this is yet another Brilliant bargain.


Rachmaninov's Vespers Op 37 for unaccompanied choir, based on the Russian Orthodox All Night Vigil Service, is one of the works on yet another outstanding Brilliant Classics release. The Vespers are sung by the National Academic Choir of Ukraine in a fine recording made in Kiev Cathedral in 2000. But it is the coupling of the lesser-known Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op 31 sung by the Russian State Symphony Capella directed by Valery Polyansky which makes this 3CD box so recommendable.

The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom was composed in 1910 and is the first of Rachmaninov's three major choral works, the others being The Bells (1913) and the Vespers (1915). In the Orthodox Church the term 'liturgy' is the equivalent to the Catholic Mass, and shares the major elements with the Roman rite. Full texts are provided, and at a price of around £10 (US$18) for almost three hours of singing, including three other Rachmaninov rarities, this is yet another outstanding Brilliant Classics bargain.


It may well have been Rachmaninoff’s great admiration for Tchaikovsky which inspired him to write sacred music., just as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio, Op. 50 had inspired him to compose a piano trio of his own, Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41 and his setting of the All-Night Vigil, Op. 52 were models for Rachmaninoff’s own liturgical compositions. It is a puzzle as to why Tchaikovsky's two sacred masterpieces are not better known today, but once again Brilliant Classics are poised to, at least partially, rectify that with their recent release of the Liturgy coupled with Alexander Gretchaninov's excellent setting of the Vespers Liturgy Op. 59. This is a 2CD set, the ensemble for the Tchaikovsky is once again the National Choir of Ukraine, while the Gretchaninov is sung by the Bulgarian Mixed Choir. Again it is easy to find these 2CDs for less than £10 ($18) delivered from Caiman Ivia Amazon marketplace) and others.

This music, and these recordings, speaks to us with a passion and directness which is rarely found in our Western world. A little while ago I featured the hand-crafted Bible that is being created by James Pepper at Highland Park Methodist Church in Dallas, and all the illustrations with this article are taken from the Pepper Bible. I recently received the following email from James, and I finish with it because it speaks with the same passion and directness:

Pliable - MP 3, yes I am not that advanced. I can still play my grandfathers one sided 78 of Enrico Caruso and a couple of Spike Jones records, sometimes when I am feeling technical I pull out the short wave radio and listen to the BBC. My TV set glows from the vacuum tubes and I write bibles.

I can still remember as a child a room full of Americans all sitting in our living room in a cottage we rented in Bermuda listening to the World Series because for some odd reason our radio could pick it up and it was the only one on the island that could! The place was packed!

Saint Seraphim is a big thing around here (Pliable - this is a reference to my article Orthodox Church of Saint Seraphim of Sarov). The local orthodox church is named St. Seraphim's, the bishop is a former Baptist preacher so its interesting; And they have an icon painter from Kiev working on the place. Also there is a St. Seraphim's in Moscow that our church is co-ordinating with in our missionary activities in Kazakhstan. We operate a church in Karaganda, we support the local missionaries, a few years ago we bought them a yurt. Karaganda was a gulag but is now a medical school and the students come from all over the Muslim world and they learn English by reading the Bible and we convert a lot of them. One of our missionaries started 30 churches in one year by converting Chieftain. Its very remote.

We went down to the Russian Orthodox Church on Good Friday and stood for the liturgy, it really is something to see. Previously I had made the mistake of kneeling for two hours which is really bad on your legs if you are not used to it. Injured while praying.

* Russian Orthodox Church Music is a 2CD set on Brilliant Classics 5029365765626
* Rachmaninov's Vespers and Liturgy of St John Chrysostom is a 3CD set on Brilliant Classics 5029365621526
* Tchaikovsky Liturgy of St John Chrysostom coupled with the Gretchaninov Vespers is on Brilliant Classics 5028421997629
* Brilliant Classics Russian Archives are well worth visiting for some bargain Gilels, Richter, Kissin and Rostopovich, while travelling away from the Russian theme their new release of the Reger and Hindemith Clarinet Quintets is also a gem.
* All illustrations, with permission from the Pepper Bible, see more via this link.
* The Hermitage Ensemble aim to bring the Russian traditions of church music and the motets of the Eastern Church closer to western audiences. More details from their web site where MP3 audio samples are also available.
* As well as sacred music the Hermitage Ensemble also perform Russian folksongs. Which takes us down another very worthwhile overgrown path to Jazz på Ryska (Jazz in Russia) by the superb jazz pianist Jan Johansson, click on this link for the full story and audio samples.

Now playing - G. I. Gurdjieff, Sacred Hymns played by Keith Jarrett (piano). Although Gurdjieff is often linked with Sufism he claimed to have studied more than 200 religions, and as a boy sung in his local Russian Orthodox Church in Kars (now part of Turkey), and his compositions are linked to Greek liturgical music. Keith Jarrett made this recording in 1980 with the support of followers of Gurdjieff. It is an important, and very undervalued, document.

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If you enjoyed this post take An Overgrown Path to 'L'Orgue Mystique' - the music and 'L'Orgue Mystique' - the images