The
PaTRAM Institute Singers of the Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute have issued several albums devoted to specific landmarks of Russian Orthodox choral music. This one differs from the others in that instead of focusing on a single composer, the singers cover music from several centuries, almost up to the present day. As such, it may be a good place to start for listeners, not only for those interested in the
PaTRAM Institute Singers but for anyone drawn by the fascinating sounds of this tradition. There are several examples of the music's trademark basso profundo sound; most of the soloists are of Russian background (the choir is drawn from singers all over North America), but not all, and bass
Glenn Miller gives the lie to any supposition that one has to be Russian to sing this stuff. So too does the choir, which has a rich, utterly distinctive sound. Russian Orthodox music, somewhat like the stile antico of Catholicism, is an unbroken tradition whose style has evolved only slowly. The tone of the music is often determined by the text, but one thing that makes
Blessed Art Thou Among Women interesting is that multiple settings of the same text are included, allowing listeners to hear the subtle individuality of composers' approaches, even in music with the same overall theme (as the title suggests, all the texts are about the Virgin Mary). Another draw is the presence of
Rachmaninov's O Mother of God, much less often recorded than the composer's other sacred works. Composed when
Rachmaninov was 20, it's not characteristic of the later composer, yet it outstrips most of the music here. The program is split between well-known Russian composers and those who worked exclusively within the Orthodox tradition. This release earned a 2020 Producer of the Year Grammy nomination for
Blanton Alspaugh, who has helmed several earlier
PaTRAM Institute Singers releases as well as other choral and instrumental albums.