Title : Sacred Treasures III: Choral Masterworks From Russia and Beyond
Author : Anonymous
Release Date : 20000222
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $16.98
Amazon.com Price : $13.69
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Editorial Reviews : What could be more sublime than a wall of dark, rotund Russian voices shimmering against the rising, ornate walls of a great cathedral? Not much, and this compilation of absolutely magnificent music proves it. The label Hearts of Space returns on this third choral collection to the ominous Slavic chant of their first choral album, Sacred Treasures I, which gathered together recordings of stunning Bulgarian and Russian choirs portraying the sacred works of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, and other composers. Whereas Treasures I pulled from varied sections of sacred liturgies, including solo passages, Treasures III most often stays in harmonic chant with select voices occasionally rising and rolling in polyphonic heavenly calls. The collective voice draws the emotive tension taut here, as on Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Our Father,' which uses the absence of darkness to later juxtapose bold, rising drama. The Kiev chant 'Blessed Art Thou O Lord' sends chills down the spine as the whispering consonants of the Russian language skip across the ancient repetition like sand skitters over a stormy beach. This is a collection as breathtakingly beautiful as the Cathedral of the Dormition itself. Not to be missed.
Buyer Reviews : Superbly and majestically sung and recorded. Disagree with another reviewer on track 5; I don't think this one fits at all with the theme and spirit of the album. Track 12, The Lord's Prayer is perhaps the pinnacle - though not the most complex, surely the most reverent and spiritual. This one, plus (even more so) Peter Tchaikovsky's Cerubimic Hymn on Sacred Treasures I, back-to-back, are nothing short of stunning, overwhelmingly moving, bring-you-to-tears examples of why music of the Russian Orthodox Church is an unparalleled experience never to be forgotten; especially to the believer. Lots of other first rate selections as well.
If you know music, but particularly have some understanding of the Orthodox sense of sprirituality and have Slavic blood, this will hit you down to the DNA.
