My Soul, My Soul

“My Soul, My Soul” is a hymn sung during the first week of Orthodox Great Lent, in the middle of the Great Kanon of St. Andrew of Crete, a famous penitential poem dating from the late seventh or early eighth century.  The composer interprets the text using a rich Romantic-era harmonic vocabulary, replete with chromaticism and dissonance, and expressive dynamic phrasing. This is a short miniature masterpiece that packs a lot of emotional power. In a concert setting, this work may be paired with Chesnokov’s “Open to Me the Doors of Repentance,” another miniature Lenten gem.