Russian Liturgical Music
A great wealth of Russian liturgical music exists on the web. Much of it can be
found on obscure servers in Russia, often scanned at low resolution from hand-written
copies. It is my aim here to make much of that music available, in both Old Church
Slavonic and English, in a readable and easily printable format. Note:
links appearing in green
are external links to other websites.
The Divine Liturgy
The First Antiphon (Bless the Lord, O my soul -
Благослови,
душе
моя,
Господа)
- In Serbian chant, scored for SATB. Suitable for a choir of any size. Difficulty:
simple. In
Slavonic and
English.
The Second Antiphon (Praise the Lord, O my soul -
Хвали,
душе
моя,
Господа)
- By Krasnostovsky, scored for SATB, with occasional Tenor and Bass divisi.
The soprano part is quite high (it goes up to a high A). This is a big and
anthemic piece, suitable for a large choir. Difficulty: intermediate.
In Slavonic and
English.
Only-Begotten Son (Единородный
Сыне)
- In Serbian chant, scored for SATB. Suitable for a choir of any size. Difficulty:
simple. In
Slavonic and
English.
The Cherubic Hymn (Херувимская
песнь)
- By Stanislav Binički (1872-1942). Scored for SATB, with bass divisi. Suitable for
medium-size or large choir. Difficulty: intermediate. In
Slavonic (Serbian orthography) and
English. (MIDI file)
- By Pavel G. Chesnokov (1877-1944), based on the famous Sofroniev Hermitage melody,
scored for SATB with occasional
divisi. Suitable for a large choir. Difficulty: advanced. In
Slavonic and
English.
- By A. Galitsyn. No. 73. Scored for SATB, with bass divisi in octaves. Suitable for
a small choir. Difficulty: simple. In
Slavonic and
English.
- By Alexander Koshits (1875-1944). Scored for TTB. Suitable for
small men's choir or trio. Difficulty: intermediate. In
Slavonic (Ukrainian orthography) and
English.
A Mercy Of Peace (The Anaphora -
Милость
мира)
- By Pavel G. Chesnokov (1877-1944). A harmonization of Kievan chant. Scored for TTBB;
also may be performed as SSBB. Lots of open chords. A real treasure! Good for a choir
low on altos and tenors. Difficulty: simple. In
Slavonic and
English.
- By Alexander A. Yegorov (1887-1959) (No. 1).
Scored for SSAATTBB. Suitable for a large choir. Difficulty: advanced. In
Slavonic and
English. (MIDI file)
- By Alexander A. Yegorov (No. 2).
Scored for SSAATTBB. Suitable for a large choir. Difficulty: advanced. In
Slavonic and
English. (MIDI file)
- By Alexander A. Yegorov (No. 3).
Scored for SSAATTBB. Suitable for a large choir. Difficulty: advanced. In
Slavonic and
English. (MIDI file)
Communion Hymn (Koinonikon)
- Communion Hymn of Saturday of Souls. Traditional melody (sometimes
attributed as Nilov monastery chant); my own harmonization. Scored for SATB.
Suitable for a small choir. Difficulty: simple. In
Slavonic and
English.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
Now The Powers Of Heaven
- By Grigory F. Lvovsky (1830-1894).
Scored for SATB. The tenor part is very high and may be sung by second altos.
Difficulty: Intermediate. In
Slavonic and
English.
Festal Hymns
- Sticheron at the Veneration of the Cross,
by Smirnov. Scored for SATTBB.
Suitable for a large choir. Difficulty: advanced. In
Slavonic and
English.
- Troparia after Psalm 50 of Christmas. Kiev Caves Lavra Chant. Scored for TTBB,
but may easily be performed as SSAB. Suitable for medium to large choirs.
Difficulty: simple. In
Slavonic and
English.
- Kontakion of Christmas (“Today the Virgin”), by
Archpriest Mikhail Lisitsyn (1817-1918).
Scored for SSAATTBB. Suitable for a large choir. Obviously based on a chant
melody. The harmonization reflects the influences of the Moscow Synodal
school, in which the first and second sopranos are often doubled
by the first and second tenors. Difficulty: intermediate. In
Slavonic and
English. (MIDI file)
- Megalynarion of Christmas, by Archpriest Peter I. Turchaninov (1779-1856). Scored for SATTBB.
Suitable for a large choir. Note that the Slavic Christmas Megalynarion is the
Irmos of the Second Canon, whereas in the Byzantine tradition the Irmos of
the First Canon is used. Difficulty: intermediate. In
Slavonic and
English.
- Kontakion of the Annunciation (“To thee the champion leader”), by
Alexander Arkhangelsky (1846-1924).
Scored for SSAA. Suitable for a women's or children's choir of any size.
Difficulty: simple. In
Slavonic and
English. (MIDI file)
- Sessional hymn (kathisma) of the Resurrection, tone 1 (“Thy tomb, O Saviour”).
Melody is Solovki Monastery Chant, harmonized by myself. This is a samopodoben (automelon).
In addition to being part of the Tone 1 Resurrectional service, this hymn is
also sung after the third ode of the Canon at matins of Great and Holy Saturday.
Suitable for a choir of any size. Difficulty: simple. In
Slavonic and English.
(MIDI file)
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