'Slavyanka' is a San Francisco-based, a cappella male chorus whose members are mostly non-Russian speakers. Apparently there is an authentic Russian heritage in San Francisco, as the group takes its name from the name given by early 19th-century Russian colonists to the river near their settlement, just north of the San Francisco Bay area. Slavayanka and their director, Gregory Smirnov, have selected a program of late 18th-20th century folksongs for this recording.

Slavyanka brings gusto and energy to their interpretations of these songs, some of which might be familiar to most listeners. The famous "Song of the Volga Boatmen" receives a darkly beautiful performance that is rich with atmosphere and highlighted by a solo from bass Bob Raber. The group is also solid in less familiar songs, notably "Birch Switches," a tune that is driven by animated rhythms and tricky counterpoint. Best of all is "Come Savior, Today," a hymn that mixes Byzantine chant and multi-tone singing to the accompaniment of a Tibetan bell--it's haunting music.

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"The Welsh composer wrote three half hour symphonies of which the First Symphony launches the trilogy in an outburst of effervescence and exuberance. It was a commission from the Llandaff Festival and was premiered by the CBSO conducted by Hugo Rignold in the year in which the same forces recorded the John Blow Meditation and Music for Strings for Lyrita.

The composer's description of the First Symphony is apt: a work of energy, colour and affirmation. Here is positively blazes and rocks with a sanguine power which momentarily recalls Tippett's propulsive Second Symphony, William Schuman's Third Symphony finale and the thrawn and rowdy bustle of the Easter Fair of Stravinsky's Petrushka. Earlier movements show the lavishly stocked and brooding influence of Bax.

The Second Symphony might easily be dubbed 'The Mystical' or, given the Welsh DNA of the piece, 'The Druidic' or 'Taliesin'. Mathias was always something of a magus when it came to the orchestra and had a facility for rapidly grasping of atmosphere. The three movements glimmer and shimmer with the essence of Summer. This is expressed through the easy-wheeling progress of the stars in a summer sky in the middle movement. This process rises majestically from ease to effort in an antiphonal crest of brass fanfaring at 4:49 onwards (tr. 3). The all-conquering onrush of summer is expressed through the finale the score for which carries the superscription: "My ark sings in the sun / At God speeded summer's end / And the flood flowers on." Throughout Mathias's orchestration rings, chimes and peals through a world often noticeably indebted to the Bax symphonies.

When [Nimbus] launched this [William Mathias] series it may have seemed a left-field choice but the results repay the listener in bell-haunted spells, enchanted coinage and sturdy Celtic magic."

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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This set contains both ADD and DDD recordings.

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Includes christmas carol(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Helicon. Soloists: Chris Norman, Ken Kolodner, Robin Bullock.