Liturgy and Music: December 2007 Archives

The Russian concert on EWTN

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For those who didn't hear the concert aired on EWTN Monday night from Washington, here's a link to other music by the same composer, the Russian Orthodox bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev).

I only heard about half of his Christmas Oratorio, but so far I like his liturgical music better. The latter is really quite beautiful, but the oratorio's long recitatives of Scripture texts, delivered ascetically stentorian and recto tono, didn't seem fitting in the work of a non-liturgical nature, intended for concert performance.

The premiere of a lengthy new work necessarily carries with it a certain amount of tension: when the composer is a bishop and the concert is hosted by another Church, add some more; this time, in a foreign capital, at a time of heightened international stress, this performance by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Russian Defense Ministry, of all things, came off as a joyless reminder of the Cold War. It's too bad: Bp. Hilarion deserves better.

Rorate caeli desuper

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A sweet video of two chant singers performing the lamentation Rorate Caeli.

Kyrie fons bonitatis

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Here's an audio sample from the "Stepping Stone Chant Project", a recording session I attended in Vermont this October: Kyrie fons bonitatis. (Sorry the file's in WMA format, but I didn't want to lose any quality by putting the file through a conversion procedure.)

What? Who?

On life and living in communion with the Catholic Church.

Richard Chonak

John Schultz


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This page is an archive of entries in the Liturgy and Music category from December 2007.

Liturgy and Music: November 2007 is the previous archive.

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