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Byzantine Christmas: Sun of Justice – Taking the Journey
The ecclesiastical feast day celebrating the Nativity of Jesus Christ – which came to be called simply “Christ’s Mass,” or “Christmas” in English – was added to the calendar in the Eastern Church somewhat later than other major feasts. Originally, Christ’s Nativity and Baptism were celebrated on the same day: Epiphany (January 6). Much has
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Fanfare Magazine Review for Cyprus: Between Greek East and Latin West
New Fanfare Magazine review for our Cyprus: Between Greek East and Latin West recording! “Musicologist Alexander Lingas continues his mesmerizing exploration of the music of both traditions with a release that offers, as he states in his extensive notes, ‘a sampling of the Byzantine and Latin sacred music that someone could have encountered during the
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The Russian Chant Revival
Major traditions of complex sacred music throughout Europe were shaped during the so-called “long nineteenth century” (the period of relative peace which lasted from the battle of Waterloo to the outbreak of World War I) by movements to recover elements of early traditions for modern use. These efforts, like contemporary “back-to-roots” endeavors in non-musical arts
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The Tallis Scholars: Metamorphosis
METAMORPHOSIS H. Praetorius: Magnificat IV Gibbons: Magnificat (‘Short’) Pärt: Magnificat Sheppard: Our father Tavener: Our father (1999 version) Stravinsky: Otche nash Palestrina: Pater noster (a5) Gallus: Pater noster (a8) Interval Chant: Ave Maria Mouton: Ave Maria – virgo serena Stravinsky: Bogoroditse devo Pärt: Bogoroditse devo Gibbons: Nunc dimittis (‘Short’) Eccard: Maria wallt zum Heiligtum Pärt:
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Director Update – Associate Music Director John Michael Boyer to conduct Rautavaara All-Night Vigil in Portland and Seattle
John Michael Boyer will conduct Cappella Romana in this week’s performances of the All-Night Vigil by Einojuhani Rautavaara, replacing Timo Nuoranne. Nuoranne’s visa has been held up at the US Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, in part due to a State Department delay in the days leading to the inauguration. Film: John Michael Boyer in rehearsal
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CityArts Reviews Seattle Rachmaninoff Concert
CityArts critic Philippa Kiraly reviews Cappella Romana’s Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil performance in Seattle: “This wasn’t a requiem, but the beautiful All-Night Vigil of Sergei Rachmaninoff was highly appropriate to the day (9/11), the occasion and the cathedral, and perfectly suited to Cappella Romana. … The Vigil is replete with colors, rhythms, textures and emotion, creating
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Planet Hugill Reviews Maximilian Steinberg: Passion Week
Robert Hugill has a new review for our “Remarkable re-discovery” of Maximilian Steinberg’s Passion Week: “Musically it is very much in the same genre as Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil (Vespers), the chant in Steinberg’s work has similar recognisable outlines. Steinberg’s harmony is more classical…and the chants stand out more in Steinberg. …Quite romantic in texture,
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New MusicWeb Review for Maximilian Steinberg: Passion Week
After John Quinn named Maximilian Steinberg: Passion Week an April “Recording of the Month”, another MusicWeb International critic has been listening to our world premiere recording: “It is hard to imagine the turmoil surrounding conflict and persecution between the Communist state and the Church in this period, and even more so on hearing this tender
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Ivan Moody: From Darkness to Light
The From Darkness to Light programme is a journey in more than one sense. Firstly, it takes us from spiritual darkness (the condition which is cured, according to Orthodox Christian tradition, by metanoia, a change of heart) to light, the radiance of the Resurrection of Christ, by which mankind is made new. Secondly, it takes
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Choir & Organ Magazine Reviews Good Friday in Jerusalem
Choir & Organ Magazine gives five stars to our Good Friday In Jerusalem recording in their May/June Issue: “This ‘premiere in modern times’, revivified through extensive research, is true tingle-factor stuff: an austere, inexorable, mesmerising Crucifixion liturgy told in the 8th-and-9th-century Byzantine chant that once resounded within Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, leading the
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AllMusic Features Steinberg: Passion Week
AllMusic critic James Manheim has a new review for our Maximilian Steinberg: Passion Week recording: “The whole story is told in the excellent notes here, but the music itself is the main attraction. The nearest comparison would be Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, but it is far from a knock-off. Steinberg makes less use of the characteristic
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Mass Appeal – Living Traditions
Mass Appeal SEATTLE Fri 24 Oct 2O25, 7:3O PMSt. Mark’s CathedralCapitol Hill, Seattle PORTLAND Sun 26 Oct 2O25, 2:OO PMSt. Mary’s CathedralNorthwest Portland It was 2018 when David Hattner first proposed pairing Bruckner’s Mass in E minor with Stravinsky’s Mass in a project with Cappella Romana and Portland Youth Philharmonic, and I immediately recognized the
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