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What happened to my post? Half of it is gone. Trying again.

Posted by Amphissa (A) on April 14, 2015 at 20:32:41

In Reply to: An alternative, even for those who hate choral music posted by Amphissa on April 14, 2015 at 16:50:15:

hris, you mentioned Rachmaninoff's "Vespers," which certainly is a step up from Grechaninov's "Passion Week." Personally, I'm not much interested in long choral works. It takes something special to pull me in to choral music.

One choral work I can recommend for anyone, even those who hate choral music, is Taneyev's "John of Damascus" (variously titled Joann Damaskin, etc). As much as I admire Rachmaninoff and his cantatas, there is no doubt that Taneyev's "John of Damascus" is the greatest purely choral work (by which I mean, no soloists) ever written in Russian or by a Russian. The lines in the piece are from Tolstoy. "I travel along a path that is unknown to me." The opening movement would bring a resolute atheist to his knees in awe of its sheer beauty. And for those not crazy about choral music, it is blessedly brief (only around 23 minutes).

Taneyev studied with and was a close friend of Tchaikovsky, and became a noted pedagog himself. His students included Gliere, Grechaninov, Scriabin, Medtner and Rachmaninoff. His "John of Damascus" was his Op. 1, but he wrote many fine pieces before that. He was so insecure and self-critical that this was the first piece he published. Some of his earlier works had later opus numbers.

There are not many recordings of "John of Damascus." The best of the commercial recordings has been Pletnev's. The audio is a bit muddy, but the Russian choir is very good. Unfortunately, it is coupled with a truly mediocre reading of Rachmaninoff's vocal symphony "The Bells." There are many good readings of "The Bells," so it's hard to recommend Pletnev just for the Taneyev piece, but if you have to have a physical object, that recording still tops the list.

There is a better performance available on the Web featuring the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir conducted by Vasily Petrenko. The audio is better than the Pletnev, lacking only the solemn atmospherics when the choir first comes in. It is a live performance, so has a visceral impact no studio recording can match. The Web audio is not HD, but still good enough to enjoy.

Petrenko's John of Damascus

I'm still waiting for the definitive recording of this splendid music, coupling exceptional audio with top tier performance. Let us hope some label gets around to it someday.

BTW - there is a live performance by Pletnev out there on the Web as well, for those who are interested.

We'll leave Rachmaninoff's "The Bells" for another thread.

"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)

Edits: 04/14/15

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