A new review out today (by John Quinn at Music Web International) of the Steinberg "Passion Week" recording (just released a few weeks ago) references Gretchaninoff's settngs of the same texts. As I tried to convey in the thread further down, Steinberg's work is one of the most amazing and moving musical discoveries I've encountered in the last decade or so. Here are some excerpts from the review (plus a link to the full review further below):. . . [i]t's worth mentioning at this point, I think, the Passion Week by Alexander Grechaninov which was written in 1912 and to which Alexander Lingas says Steinberg's work is 'indebted for its form'. The two composers set several of the same texts but the musical response is rather different. I know the Grechaninov work through the magnificent recording conducted by Charles Bruffy. . . and the impression I have is that Grechaninov's music, though deeply expressive and very beautiful, is more conservative harmonically than Steinberg's and that Steinberg's writing is also more polyphonically complex. I'm not for one moment suggesting that one work is "better" than the other - that would be as crass a statement as it would be unfair - but it's interesting to compare two differing responses within the Orthodox tradition. Most of Steinberg's settings are based on traditional Znamenny chants but there is also one piece based on a Kievan chant while another is founded on a Bulgarian chant. The eighth piece, 'The Wise Thief', is an original composition.
Often when a review disc arrives. . . I'm unable to resist playing just a few minutes of it to get an initial impression, especially if the music is new to me. I did this with this disc but found that I was hooked and I listened straight through the Steinberg work. I was struck forcefully by the sheer beauty of the music - and by the excellence of the performance. . .
Passion Week is a remarkable work that contains intensely beautiful music and I was gripped and moved by it. . .
It's Steinberg's Passion Week, though, that has the greatest claim on the attention of collectors. I'd go so far as to say that it's a major discovery. Anyone who responds to a work such as Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil will find this a very rewarding piece. I don't think that Steinberg's piece is as memorable in its melodic material as Rachmaninov's masterpiece but that may well be because I'm much more familiar with the Rachmaninov. I have no hesitation in saying, however, that Passion Week is one of the finest and most moving Orthodox settings that I've encountered and I've been excited by getting to know it. . .
Every aspect of the presentation of this release is first rate.
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Topic - Alexander Gretchaninoff / Maximilian Steinberg Passion Week - more - Chris from Lafayette 13:51:21 04/14/15 (21)
- RE: Alexander Gretchaninoff / Maximilian Steinberg Passion Week - more - Ivan303 19:07:44 04/14/15 (1)
- "Because, streaming is so easy" - Chris from Lafayette 19:31:44 04/14/15 (0)
- An alternative, even for those who hate choral music - Amphissa 16:50:15 04/14/15 (15)
- What happened to my post? Half of it is gone. Trying again. - Amphissa 20:32:41 04/14/15 (8)
- Agree the Petrenko YouTube version you linked to is the best I can find.... - Ivan303 20:10:11 04/15/15 (7)
- But better is .... - Amphissa 08:48:12 04/16/15 (0)
- The Polyansky is not as good as the Petrenko or the Pletnev [nt] - Amphissa 20:18:13 04/15/15 (5)
- Good to know... - Ivan303 11:32:56 04/16/15 (4)
- Or. . . you could get the CD-quality (lossless) download for £9.99 - Chris from Lafayette 17:36:03 04/16/15 (3)
- Working now... - Ivan303 12:55:02 04/17/15 (0)
- OOOOPS... - Ivan303 08:27:19 04/17/15 (1)
- Did the link not work? - it still appears to work for me - Chris from Lafayette 10:54:22 04/17/15 (0)
- I don't know "John of Damascus" yet - I look forward to discovering it - Chris from Lafayette 19:21:29 04/14/15 (0)
- LKJ Setright said that "The Dream of Gerontius" could make ANYONE a Christian for 90 minutes - John Marks 17:32:34 04/14/15 (3)
- Lost BBC live performance... - Ivan303 17:34:24 04/15/15 (0)
- RE: LKJ Setright said that "The Dream of Gerontius" could make ANYONE a Christian for 90 minutes - PAR 16:58:49 04/15/15 (1)
- Yes, I first became aware of him as an auto journalist - John Marks 18:15:07 04/15/15 (0)
- Tolstoy was arguably the single greatest inspiration for Gandhi - John Marks 17:23:32 04/14/15 (0)
- Thanks! - John Marks 15:39:27 04/14/15 (2)
- He converted to the Russian Orthodox Church when he married R-K's daughter - Chris from Lafayette 19:11:33 04/14/15 (1)
- There's no small amount of truth in that quip! - John Marks 07:16:31 04/15/15 (0)