The Bells of Dawn

Featuring

Lev Kontorovich
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Grand Choir "Masters of Choral Singing"
Dobri Hristov
Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov
Mikhail Burmagin

Alexander Arkhangelsky
Alexander Varlamov
Anonymous (Traditional)
Elizaveta Shashina
Georgy Vasil'yevich Sviridov

Did you know?

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Historical Context

Russian Orthodox religious services banned musical instruments, leading to a rich tradition of unaccompanied church music.

Composer Biography

Pavel Chesnokov, a prolific Russian composer and choral conductor, stopped composing after the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where he was choirmaster, was destroyed by Soviet authorities.

Performer Biography

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, a leading baritone, was the first opera singer to give a solo concert with orchestra and chorus on Red Square in Moscow, which was televised in over 25 countries.

Compositional Technique

Russian folk songs often feature irregular meter, varied phrase lengths, narrow ranges, and extensive use of pentatonic, whole-tone, and 12-tone scales.

Historical Context

Before the mid-17th century, Russian church music was limited to three voices, but later became more polyphonic due to Western influences.

Performer Biography

The Grand Choir 'Masters of Choral Singing' has performed over 5,000 works since its founding 85 years ago and has earned gold medal recognition for its recordings.