I was attracted to this recording by reason of its subject - The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - and my appreciation for Rachmaninov's music by that name. Konstantin Nikolaevich Shvedov (1886-1954) is somewhat less famous, as is his Liturgy. Near as I can tell it was composed in 1935, and received its 'world premiere' in San Francisco in 1993. The politico-religious situation in Russia in the interim may have influenced the delay.
The music is quite beautiful, at least in this recording. It was made following the premiere by the same forces, the Slavyanka Chorus. The name and the group have an interesting history - which I will give you the joy of learning for yourself.
http://www.amazon.com/Liturgy-St-Jo...e=UTF8&qid=1395499933&sr=1-2&keywords=Shvedov
If the link is of no interest to you, here at least is the CD cover:
The recording venue sounds pretty much ideal, and the chorus is both accomplished and possessed of excellent voices.
The same forces recorded the music later for Dorian. That recording appears to be still available used, though the company is defunct.
My copy of the recording is a Harmonia Mundi tape cassette. The documentation is more thorough than that I am passing on here, but still skimpy. Perhaps our resident Russian-Composer-Nut has more details?
The music is quite beautiful, at least in this recording. It was made following the premiere by the same forces, the Slavyanka Chorus. The name and the group have an interesting history - which I will give you the joy of learning for yourself.
http://www.amazon.com/Liturgy-St-Jo...e=UTF8&qid=1395499933&sr=1-2&keywords=Shvedov
If the link is of no interest to you, here at least is the CD cover:
The recording venue sounds pretty much ideal, and the chorus is both accomplished and possessed of excellent voices.
The same forces recorded the music later for Dorian. That recording appears to be still available used, though the company is defunct.
My copy of the recording is a Harmonia Mundi tape cassette. The documentation is more thorough than that I am passing on here, but still skimpy. Perhaps our resident Russian-Composer-Nut has more details?