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Editorial Reviews

Let My Prayer Arise brings together three previously released CDs of music written for the liturgy of Orthodox Church, performed by Paul Hillier leading his Theatre of Voices and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Fragments, a collection of mostly brief solo and polyphonic settings of sacred texts, stretches the definition of "Orthodox Church" in the variety of its selection, which includes music from Italy, Greece, Russia, England, and France. England had developed its own rites independently of Rome, and so in its disconnect with Rome it could be seen to have some tenuous connection with Orthodoxy, but the inclusion of France and Italy is harder to rationalize. Regardless of questions of category, this CD is a remarkable testament to the vitality and diversity of traditions of liturgical music in Western and Eastern Europe. Perhaps because it is the farthest from the more familiar "western tradition," the music from the Russian and Greek churches is the most revelatory, primal and harmonically foreign sounding, full of astonishing dissonances, colors, and textures. The performance by Theatre of Voices, consisting of six male voices, is vigorous and impassioned -- there is nothing reserved or academic about the singing. Anyone skeptical about medieval and early Renaissance a cappella liturgical music would do well to explore these performances.

The two remaining discs, The Powers of Heaven, featuring seventeenth through nineteenth century Russian liturgical music for mixed voices, and Rachmaninov's 1915 All-Night Vigil, both performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, offer more conventional pleasures. The music from both CDs is strongly influenced by the Western European tradition, although a distinctly Slavic flavor is always evident. The performances are models of choral singing of the highest order, with pure intonation, rich blend, and nuanced shaping of the vocal lines, but they lack the passion and fire that make the first CD so appealing. Harmonia Mundi's sound is impeccable -- clean, clear, and vibrant. Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

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