Sirine Choir (Conducted by Andréï Kotov) - (Russia)ORTHODOX SACRED SONGS
The Sirine Choir was founded in Moscow in 1989 by Andréï Kotov, aiming to rediscover the rich heritage of ancient Russian spiritual chanting The choir owes its name to a bird of paradise present in Russian Christian legends. The singers are all from the Tchaïkovski Conservatory or the Gnessine Institute of Moscow which specialises in the interpreting and decoding of old orthodox songs, transcribed in a complex pneumatic code comparable to the hieroglyphic writings of an ancient language. The singers of the Choir are connected with the Andreï Roublev Central Museum which specialises in the study of ancient Russian culture. They also undertake important field work research to restore the authenticity of this style of chanting through interaction with members of this tradition, mainly elderly believers. This authentic branch of Russian orthodox music of folk origin, as well as the old chants of the church were completely neglected from the 17th century in favour of the Western tradition. The Sirine Choir is today the most authentic and original Russian vocal group, clearly distinguished from all the other groups who interpret pieces from the Russian repertoire from the 17th to the 20th century. The Sirine Choir initiative quickly found appreciative ears in Russia and abroad and the choir has won many international song competitions in Moscow and in Poland (Wroclaw in 1990 and Hainukwa in 1991). Since then, the Choir has organised a large number of concerts
all over the world and its discographic recordings - entitled
Opus111 and Harmonia Mundi - have been widely acclaimed by international
critics. |
