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)