Breathtaking Solemnity
01/25/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I don't know a word of Russian language. I love serious choral music which is appropriate for worship. I am a choral singer. This recording and all the others in this rich series, hover over the listener and reverberate in the soul. The absence of the distractions of instruments is so subtle, one is well into the listening process before the realization that it is the human voice, and the human voice in agreement, which dares to approach the Throne of God. If these choral scholars are not devout Christians, they certainly fooled me. It is ethereal, robust, and earthy, all at the same time elevating in the transmission of devout worship. This is the music I use to meditate. This is the music I play in my ear as I drift off to sleep at night. I feel that this music and the music in the entire series is transcendant of culture and language. It probably is transcendant of sectarian or denominational belief. What a treasure they have revealed to these poor, simple ears!"