Product DescriptionChoral singing in Russia seems to have stemmed from both Eastern and Western European sources, evolving from Byzantine sacred monody into Russian znanymenïy chant following the adoption of Christianity in 988, and through the assimilation of Western style sacred partsinging that came from Poland and Ukraine in the mid-17th century. On the secular side of the musical ledger, devilish pictorial representations of skomorokhi suggest that Russian counterparts to medieval jongleurs roamed the land and were employed at the court of Ivan the Terrible by the mid-16th century. But the firm establishment of secular part-singing in Russia mainly coincided with the growth of Russian nationalism in music, led by its early 19th-century composers, notably Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) and Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813-1869) and the rise of major poets, Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) and Alexei Tolstoy (1817-1875). This recorded treasury of Russian part-song traces their work and that of their descendants over the span of a century. Much of the music was gleaned from the St. Petersburg Conservatory library and was first performed in America by the Houston Chamber Choir in late October 2007. ROBERT SIMPSON is founding Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir. He also serves as Organist-Choirmaster at Houston s historic Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) and Lecturer of Church Music at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University . Following graduation with honors from Brown University and the School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, he was a student at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne , Germany for two years. He undertook further extended study in Stockholm , Sweden with Eric Ericsson and Gustaf Sjorkvist. The Houston Chamber Choir has toured under his direction in the United States , Europe and Mexico and been heard on CBS and ABC Television, and American Public Radio. Described by Peter Phillips as one of this country s leading ensembles, the HOUSTON CHAMBER CHOIR was founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Robert Simpson. This professional ensemble has appeared in Mexico City with the Orquestra del Nuevo Mundo and traveled to Wales where it won honors at the International Choral Festival in Llangollen. The Houston Chamber Choir has performed at national and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America , and the Texas Choral Directors Association. At home it has brought Houston audiences Baroque masterpieces with period instruments, jazz with Dave Brubeck and contemporary music under the direction of noted Dutch conductor Reinbert de Leeuw. Its commissions and premieres include David Ashley White s Blue Estuaries and Messages to Myself by Christopher Theofanidis along with works by Thomas Conroy, Jefferson Todd Frazier and Michael Horvit. The National Endowment for the Arts has recognized the Chamber Choir s work, most recently with a grant to host an American Masterpieces Choral Festival. The Choir s compact disc catalogue includes Blue Estuaries featuring works by David Ashley White, Robert Young and Aaron Copland.
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1