Bless the Lord, O my Soul: Chants of Orthodox Russia, Georgia and Byzantium. CD

This recording presents a number of examples of traditional Orthodox chant, primarily from the Russian tradition, in various styles and arrangements. Featured prominently on the recording is the Russian style of chant known as Znamenny chant, which, despite three centuries of Western influence, the Russian church continued to recognize as the principal form of “canonical singing” all the way up to the Revolution. In recent decades, chant has experienced a significant revival all over the Orthodox world, both in the “old country” and the new, and this present recording from St. Tikhon’s Mission Choir is but one humble attempt to make these beautiful, uplifting, and transcendent melodies a little better known to English speakers