An excerpt from Kurt Sander's Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, the first complete setting of the Orthodox Liturgy in English composed in the Slavic choral idiom. Commissioned in 2016 by the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute (PaTRAM), it follows in the great tradition similar works by Tchaikovsky, Gretchaninoff, and Rachmaninoff. At the same time, Sander's masterful score breaks new ground: It employs a richness of modal harmony and sonority that places it definitively in the 21st century; it is built upon musical themes that are recognizably "American," yet have an objective and universal quality to them; and it utilizes those distinctive motives to achieve a degree of thematic unity never previously heard in an Orthodox sacred choral work. In short, this work is a first-rate example of Orthodox liturgical creativity in the present day—achieving a remarkable blend of the traditional and the contemporary.
In the Composer's Notes to his "Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" Kurt Sander relates that he found his musical inspiration in the opening of this segment of the service, which recalls the words of the repentant thief: "In Thy Kingdom remember us, O Lord, when Thou comest in Thy kingdom." The memorable musical theme is developed as a series of choral variations in the following Beatitudes, and then manifests itself in various ways throughout the other movements of the work. The premiere recording of this work, by the PaTRAM Institute Singers, Peter Jermihov, conductor (Reference Recordings, FR-731), was nominated in 2019 for a Grammy in the Best Choral Performance category.
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