Teach Me Thy Statutes

Featuring

Vladimir Gorbik
PaTRAM Institute Male Choir
Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov

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Composer Biography

Pavel Chesnokov, a renowned composer and conductor, graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1917 with majors in composition and conducting.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Pavel Chesnokov, the composer, belongs to the 'new direction' of Moscow composers, a school that focused on ancient chants, polyphonic arrangements, and applying secular music experience to liturgical singing.

Recording & Production

This album, 'Teach Me Thy Statutes', is the second released by the PaTRAM Institute (Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute), featuring Orthodox choral music by Pavel Chesnokov.

Composer Biography

Pavel Chesnokov composed nearly 500 choral works, including complete cycles of the Liturgy and the All-Night Vigil, arrangements of chants and folk songs, and choral part-songs.

Historical Context

Pavel Chesnokov died in wartime Moscow on March 14, 1944, from a heart attack and malnutrition while standing in a bread line.

Interpretation

The conductor, Vladimir Gorbik, skillfully combines strong musicianship with superb diction, a quality traditional in Russian Orthodox Church singing but rarely heard outside of Russia.

Recording & Production

The album was recorded in July 2016 at the Church of Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian at the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary in Saratov, Russia.