Tenebrae and Nigel Short have already recorded a major choral work by the Russian composer Alexander Levine, his Prayers for Mankind of 2008, also released on Signum. Since he settled in Britain in 1992, Levine has been active as a composer for the theatre, and his catalogue of independent works is now growing steadily. Another choral work was premiered in the United States in March of this year, for example, and now there is this important recording which coincides with the publication of the score by Peters Edition.

I have not heard Prayers for Mankind and, indeed, The Divine LiturBY is the first music by Levine to have coine my way. It was completed in 2006 and was performed in the composer’s native land before being taken up by Tenebrae. The booklet contains a long essay by the composer in which he outlines the inspiration and thinking behind the work, which came to represent an important emotional and spiritual experience for him. He also provides some commentary on the music itself, though this is hardly necessary, as it is most accessible , speaking, as it were, directly to the listener. Following the texts
does help, however, and these are also provided, alongside an English translation.

The composer also writes of how he was conscious, throughout the gestation and composition of the work, of the unaccompanied choral works of two great Russian predecessors, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Potential listeners will know what to expect when I say that the atmosphere of the work, indeed its very sound, is not so far removed from the models of those two great composers. Levine evokes how he consciously avoided ‘skilfully setting words to music’ in favour of a ‘relentless sear ch for mysterious revelations of the ancient texts … ‘. The result is a work that lasts nearly 80 minutes, demanding a fair level of concentration and application from the listener, and this in spite of the fact that the musical language is only intermittently, and then barely, more advanced than Rachmaninov’s masterpiece. You have to wait until the seventh of the 22 short movements before anything approaching fast music appears, where its seven-in-a-bar metre is a sign that this is, after all, a contemporary work.

Overall, though, and happily, given the duration of the work, there is rather more variety and contrast than in either the Tchaikovsky or the Rachmaninov models. As early as the second movement, for example, the music rises to a passionate climax at the words ‘Glory be to the Father’, and the setting of the ‘Creed’ – the passage where many a composer’s inspiration has tended to cool – provokes, from Levine, perhaps the most varied writing of the whole work. Other high spots include the ‘Sanctus’ setting, whose cries of ‘Hosanna’ are positively ecstatic, and the explosion of joy that occurs at the end of the ‘ Communion’ .
Whilst sympathizing with the composer’s aims – the liturgical nature of the work is of prime importance, rather than its success as a concert work – I do feel that the more varied writing of the second half brings the listener greater r ewards. It also renders the close of the work, a passage of fervent acclamation and affirmation, all the more inevitable and effective.

There are many very lovely sounds throughout this work, and those who appreciate Orthodox church music will find much to enjoy here. It makes ideal late-night listening, but it will also repay close study. The performance is spectacularly successful. Short paces the score superbly and his singers are with him at every turn. They even make a creditable stab at sounding Russian, with some magnificently dark basses throughout, and any choral conductor will covet those singers, not named in the booklet, who undertake the very few solo passages . The sound of this magnificent choir is perfectly captured in a tranquil church acoustic.

William Hedley

Alexander Levine (born 1955) studied at the Gnessin Music Academy in Russia, then moved to the UK in 1992 where he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Gary Carpenter and Simon Bainbridge. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom sets the Russian Orthodox liturgy familiar from the settings by Tchakovsky and Rachmaninov. Like them, Levine uses just an unaccompanied choir (instruments are forbidden in liturgical music in the Russian Orthodox Church), but he has given some of the deacons and the priests part to the choir itself.

The CD booklet described how Levine’s approach to the writing of the work was extremely spiritual. But as with any music, the success of the piece is in how the listener perceives it: good intentions are not enough.
The work clearly lives in the same musical world as Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov’s settings of the liturgy, in a the way that settings of the Roman Catholic Mass do not necessarily share the same musical ethos (just consider say RVW and James MacMillan’s settings).

Levine uses a similar mixture of chant, homophony and lively canonic passages with a strong emphasis on drones. But mixed in with this is a harmonic language which incorporates the sort of close harmony chords beloved of Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen. Levine uses these to create a radiance which is entirely apposite to the work.

There is another interesting influence that is sometimes hinted at, that of Alfred Schnittke. Not that Levine’s writing attempts to approach the complexity of Schnittke’s, but Schnittke’s handling of chant in works like the Choral Concerto is echoed distantly in Levine’s setting.

For those not completely familiar with the Russian Orthodox Liturgy, Levine sets the different movements in an admirably varied and highly evocative manner. This is a work which draws us in, whatever your religious persuasion.

The sound quality of the choir is still decidedly English, though they bring a nice intensity to the piece. I have to confess that I am highly curious as to what a performance by a Russian choir would be like?
Ultimately the work does succeed, Levine manages to sustain an intensity of feeling and radiance which comes over superbly in this performance.

Alexander Levine (born 1955) – The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (2005) [77.05]

Tenebrae

Nigel Short (director)

Recorded at St. Augustine’s Church, Highbury, London, 13-15 February 2013

http://www.planethugill.com/

The Bel Canto chorus marked the 25th year of Music Director Richard Hynson’s tenure with an ambitious pair of Russian choral works at the St. Joseph Center Chapel on Sunday afternoon, March 10th.

BCC commissioned Russian-born Alexander Levine, now living in the United Kingdom, to write a new work for this occasion. At All Times, and At Every Hour is grounded in the passion of the Russian Orthodox faith. Traditional Orthodox prayers of praise and supplication, in English translation, fill the four sections.

The work opens with a new day, “Thou hast raised me from bed and sleep.” Sections of the chorus gently join a sustained harmony. “Enlighten my mind and heart and open my lips.” The momentum steadies as voices enter and exit, but maintain the continuity of a distinctly Russian Orthodox choral sound. Voices add layers of sound then gently fade away.

Choral voices ebb and flow with more energy. “Let the light of thy countenance be turned upon us.” The tone is bright, but drama is subdued. A prayerful attitude holds throughout. A lone triangle, standing in for a liturgical bell, punctuates the a cappella singing.

“O Christ God, Who art long suffering, plenteous in mercy and most compassionate.” As this section ends – “Compass us about with Thy holy angels .. to the knowledge of Thine unapproachable glory” – the voices layer in more complex ways. The triangle mimics pealing bells. The substance remains Russian but with a brighter, almost English, palette.

In the fourth prayer – “enlighten the eyes of our understanding” – the tone becomes more ethereal, reminiscent of György Ligeti’s Atmosphères. This has come some distance from the traditional Russian Orthodox beginning. As the work concludes, “open our mouths and fill them with Thy praise,” the Bel Canto boy’s choir supplements the soprano voices with a high pitched refrain. Steady bell tones from the triangle introduce a beat and more celebration.

Levine’s work fit well with the central work for the afternoon – Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil. The deeply felt religious text, the rich harmonies, the full sound and gradual development matched the program and the chapel setting. This was the epitome of an effective, approachable work – grounded in Russian Orthodox tones and brought gently into a more contemporary, still intensely worshipful light.

Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote All Night Vigil (Vespers) while still in Russia in 1915. The work is solidly within a Russian Orthodox tradition (which the Russian Revolution, which Rachmaninoff would flee, soon broke). Rachmaninoff never wrote another sacred work.

All Night Vigil comprises 15 pieces drawn from a number of chant traditions, which provides variety across the nearly an hour of music. Some sections are hymns with verse and refrain, others recitatives of glory to God. Several draw upon earlier traditions of Russian chant. Complex harmonies break into 11 parts in the seventh section. The usually somber mood brightens in a cacophony of voices in the eighth. Closing sections maintain the mix of tender reverence and more celebratory praise. A steady flow of harmony grounds the work. The full chorus is engaged for most of the entire work.

Two sections feature soloists. Colleen Brooks brought a rich, deep alto to the second section. Her voice captured the plaintive tone of Russian Orthodox works and stood out above the chorus. Nicolas Scott Pullen’s clear tenor was more easily lost in the hall.

Part of the challenge for Bel Canto was to achieve the profound, weighty bass characteristic of Russian choral singing. Recorded works open with a bass line projecting below the harmonic entrances of other sections in the manner of floor-resonating pipes of a large pipe organ. This resonance was less apparent in the Bel Canto presentation. In the fifth section, Rachmaninoff isolates the basses as they step down to a B-flat three octaves below middle C. Only a few BCC men could complete the descent. But Bel Canto sustained a clear, inspirational tone throughout and managed a very difficult Russian vocabulary well. A well-balanced presentation and care to match the changing character of the various sections transcended the length of the work.

The steady pace of the harmonic sound filled the hall of the St. Joseph Center Chapel with an underlying resonance that does not allow echoes or overload in the space. But this is not as bright a hall as St Josaphat’s Basilica; it encourages a more mellow sound, with just enough resonance to bolster the sound and not enough echo to cause chords to overlap and clash.

The concert celebrated music director Richard Hynson’s 25th anniversary season with the Bel Canto. Hynson is fourth to lead the group, which dates to 1931; his predecessor had a 30-year tenure.  Hynson seems ready to eclipse that record. He was honored at a post-concert reception for his passion for music and his commitment to bringing that passion to the community as well as to the “family” of the Bel Canto chorus.

The Bel Canto concludes their spring season with two performances of the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the  Oconomowoc Performing Arts Center and at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at Christ King Parish in Wauwatosa. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will serve as house band. See the Bel Canto web site for tickets and additional information.

Tenebrae made the Liturgy sound effortless, bringing a clarity and depth of sound, which belied the technical difficulties of such close singing. However this piece deserves to become a much performed edition to the choral repertoire.

Hynson and the Bel Canto Chorus were joined by the Bel Canto Boys Choir, prepared by director Ellen M. Shuler, as they opened the program with a work commissioned for this concert: “At All Times and At Every Hour” by Russian composer Alexander Levine.

The stirring piece is related to the “All-Night Vigil” culturally, both created by Russian composers, and spiritually, both pieces having their roots in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Levine’s piece is constructed as four prayers, each quite different in character and each quite profound. The composer keeps the voices relatively close in range throughout much of the piece, creating a densely woven tapestry of sound, accompanied only by occasional, delicate chimes.

Hynson and the combined forces of the two choruses gave the piece an expressive, colorful world premiere, handling its powerful dynamic swells and poignant phrases with grace.

In honour of Maestro Richard Hynson’s 25th anniversary as Music Director, Bel Canto will present the world première of its newly commissioned work “At All Times And At every Hour” by Alexander Levine. Featuring Bel Canto Chorus and Bel Canto Boy Choirs.

Edition Peters Artist Management to do CD Launch Concert of Alexander Levine’s major new work, The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, which will be held at 7:30pm on Thursday 7th March at the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great.

The piece will be performed by the renowned chamber choir Tenebrae, under the direction of Nigel Short. The concert marks both the release of the recording of the Divine Liturgy on Signum Records and the publication of the piece by Edition Peters.

Bel Canto Chorus presents the live world premiere of Alexander Levine’s eloquent, unaccompanied Prayers for Mankind, celebrating unity, humanity, wisdom, and love. Featuring Bel Canto Chorus and Bel Canto Boy Choirs.

Source: belcanto.org