The Sacred Spirit of Russia

2015 GRAMMY® Winner, Best Choral Performance

Vibrant works by the great Romantic composers
Conspirare / Craig Hella Johnson

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Led by Craig Hella Johnson and featuring the distinctive American basso profundo Glenn Miller, Conspirare offers a fervently sung and eclectic collection of choral music such as might be heard in the splendor of a Christmas liturgy from a Russian Cathedral. – from Harmonia Mundi package notes

Track Listing

FROM THE MATINS SERVICE

  1. The Great Doxology No. 2 (Op. 57) – Alexander Kastalsky, 1856-1926

FROM THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

  1. Bless the Lord, O My Soul, (Liturgy, Op. 37, No. 2) – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, 1859-1935
  2. Glory… / Only Begotten Son, (Liturgy No. 2, Op. 29, No. 2) – Alexander Gretchaninov, 1864-1956
  3. The Beatitudes – Vladimir Martynov, b. 1946
  4. Come, Let Us Worship (Op. 8, No. 2) – Pavel Tchesnokov, 1877-1944
  5. Christmas Troparion (Inexpressible Wonder, No. 4) – Georgi Sviridov, 1915-1998
  6. Today the Virgin (Op. 7b, Znamenny Chant) – Alexander Kastalsky
  7. As Many Have Been Baptized (Op. 18c, Znamenny Chant) – Alexander Kastalsky

FROM THE LITURGY OF THE FAITHFUL

  1. Cherubic Hymn (Op. 7, No. 1) – Pavel Tchesnokov
  2. The Creed (Liturgy No. 2, Op. 29, No. 8) – Alexander Gretchaninov
  3. A Mercy of Peace (Znamenny Chant, Op. 6) – Alexander Kastalsky
  4. Hymn to the Mother of God for the Nativity, Znamenny Chant
  5. Our Father (Liturgy No. 2, Op. 29, No. 11) – Alexander Gretchaninov
  6. Praise the Lord from the Heavens (Liturgy, Op. 42, No. 9) – Pavel Tchesnokov

SACRED CONCERTOS

  1. A Wondrous Birth (A Wondrous Birth, No. 7) – Georgi Sviridov
  2. We Should Choose to Love Silence (Concerto for the Nativity of Christ) – Andrei Ilyashenko, 1884-1954
  3. Now the Powers of Heaven (Passion Week, Op. 58, No. 6) – Alexander Gretchaninov
  4. Do Not Cast Me Off in My Old Age (Op. 40, No. 5) – Pavel Tchesnokov

CLOSING OF THE LITURGY

  1. Let Our Mouths Be Filled (Liturgy, Op. 31, No. 18) – Sergei Rachmaninov, 1873-1943
  2. Blessed Be the Name of the Lord (Liturgy, Op. 31, No. 19) – Sergei Rachmaninov
  3. Preserve, O Lord, for Many Years (Liturgy, Op. 79) – Alexander Gretchaninov
  1. Our Father – Nikolai Kedrov, Sr., 1871-1940

Harmonia Mundi 807526 – 77’50”

Recorded February 2013 at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, Austin, TX

Feature at WXQR (New York Public Radio), 01.05.14

Release Date: 02/25/2014
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalog Number: HMU807526