KYIV CHAMBER CHOIR

THE GOLDEN HERITAGE OF UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN SACRED MUSIC

The historical distance between the ancient and contemporary musical texts represented on this album spans eight centuries. Still preserving Byzantine Liturgical canons the Ukrainian and Russian nations toiled, exerted and sowed its own musical style thus strengthening and perfecting its own voice in the universal choral veneration and praise of the Lord God.

On this album you will hear the ancient Ukrainian monody of the XI century (Kyrie Eleison, track #1 ), fantastic choir concertos by Maxim Berezovsky /1745-1777/ (tracks #2, 3), Dmitry Bortniansky /1751-1825/ (tracks #5, 6) and Artemy Vedel /1767-1806/ (tracks #10-12).

There are two beautiful Herubic Hymns by Nicola Dyletsky /1630? - 1690?/ (track # 4) and Alexsander Grechaninov (track # 8). Sergei Rachmaninoff represented on the album with his “Great Doxology” (track #15) and two chants from Liturgy of Peace (De Angelis) by Archbishop Ionafan (tracks #9 and 14) are like a bridge between Eastern and Western Liturgical music (these chants were first sung by Archbishop Ionafan in the melodious style of ancient Gregorian singing).

We hope you will enjoy this album and recommend it to your friends.

Washington Post
reviewer Joan Reinthaler
"The Kyiv chamber choir  has only 20 singers, but what singers they are - big, marvelously focused voices, the kind that might easily hold their own on the opera stage but without the kind of operatic vibrato that can make an ensemble rattle.They can sing wonderfully clean unisons and the basses have low E's to die for"