Nikolai Karetnikov - Six Spiritual Songs ,

1. “Prayer of St.. Ephraim the Syrian “- 0:00 2. “ The Litany “ - 4:16 3. “The prayer of Simeon “ - 8:55 4. Antiphon “Blessed “ - 12:37 5. “From the prophet Isaiah “ - 15:30 6. “From the sayings of the Christ“ - 17:50 Men’s Group Chamber Choir of St. Petersburg. Choirmaster - Nikolai Korniev Loccum Monastery, 1995 Karetnikov, Six Spiritual Songs , (1992) Six Spiritual Songs, Op. 31 Written for a cappella choir in 1993. In the creative legacy of Karetnikov there is one piece by a similar name - “8 spiritual songs,“ dedicated to Boris Pasternak. In his monograph of Karetnikov, A.J. Selitsky writes that the composer was greatly indebted to the Orthodox Church Father Alexander Vladimirovich Men, who was his spiritual mentor for many years. Apparently, it was under the influence of Father Alexander that Karetnikov developed the idea for the creation of the song cycle. The cycle consists of six parts, the texts of which are canonical and are used in a variety of religious services: I. “Prayer of St.. Ephraim the Syrian “, used one of the“ Penitential Prayer of St.. Ephrem the Syrian, accompanied by prostrations, which is read during Lent. II. “The Litany“ III. “The prayer of Simeon“; prayer included in the Book of Psalms and the Gospel. IV. Antiphon, “Blessed“ a fragment of the Gospel text from the Sermon on the Mount; V. “From the prophet Isaiah,“ the text of the book of the prophet Isaiah (5:20-24); VI. “From the sayings of Christ“, the text is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew (Matt ,12:28 -30). Throughout the cycle, Karetnikov uses the text in Church Slavonic. This language is essential: always different from the mundame and domestic, and thus it lends the music a certain sacredness. The author wrote this cycle for a male choir. This is due to the fact that originally in the church one heard only men’s voices. (from the article by )