Rachmaninoff: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom / Putninš, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

$15.99
Label
BIS
Release Date
February 4, 2022
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Sergei Rachmaninoff
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
    • PERFORMER
      Kaspars Putninš
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 04, 2022
    • UPC
      7318599925714
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BIS-2571
    • LABEL
      BIS
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. Great Litany

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson, Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    2. The First Antiphon: Bless the Lord, o my soul

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    3. The Second Antiphon: Only begotten Son of God

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    4. The Third Antiphon: In Thy Kingdom

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    5. The Little Entrance: Come and Worship

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    6. O Lord, Save - Holy God

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    7. Augmented Litany

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson, Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    8. After the Cherubic hymn

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    9. Litany of Supplication

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    10. The Creed

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    11. The Eucharistic Prayer: A Mercy of Peace

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson, Olari Viikholm

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    12. We hymn thee

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    13. Hymn to the Mother of God: Meet is in truth, to bless thee

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    14. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    15. Communion Chant: Praise the Lord from the Heavens

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    16. Blessed is He and We Have Seen the True Light

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Performer: Raul Mikson

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    17. Postcommunion Chant: Let Our Mouths Be Filled

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš

    18. Blessed be the name of the Lord - Many Years

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Ensemble: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

      Conductor: Kaspars Putniņš


The music of the Russian Orthodox Church was an essential part of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s musical background. As a boy he was deeply moved by the sound of St Petersburg’s cathedral choirs, and phrases reminiscent of liturgical chant permeate his music. His Vespers has long been admired as a summit of Russian liturgical music. It has unfortunately tended to overshadow the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, his earlier large-scale sacred composition. Named after the fourth-century Archbishop of Constantinople and Church Father, the Liturgy consists of a sequence of prayers, psalms and hymns, which are sung or chanted by the different participants in the service. Rachmaninoff did not make use of any existing chants (as he would later do in his Vespers), but chose to reflect their style and spirit with music entirely of his own. The sonorities he creates is rarely achieved by plain four-part writing: instead the voices are frequently divided, solos emerge from the choir, and the range of textures shows great imagination. The Liturgy is here performed in the warm acoustics of the Niguliste Church in Tallinn by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir – listed among the ten best choirs in the world by the BBC Music Magazine in 2020 – conducted by Kaspars Putninš.

REVIEW:

Rachmaninoff himself esteemed this work highly, and when it receives the careful performance it gets here, it is indeed lovely. Choral music in the Baltic countries maintains a very high level of quality, and this small choir is arguably the jewel in the crown. Note that some online sources designate this as a reading of "excerpts," but it is not; Putniņš omits only some short responsorial sections, including one short movement, in accordance with the preference of modern editors. A wonderful performance of this Rachmaninoff masterwork.

-- AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)