Tebe Boga Hvalim – We Praise Thee, O God
Sacred Music of Polish and Serbian Composers
Varslavia/Miłosz Bogić
rec. 2024, St Andrew the Apostle Church, Warsaw, Poland
DUX 2118 [55]
As an example of the voice as an instrument, this disc of unaccompanied sacred singing is an absolute joy. Specifically, it is an examination of how church music developed in Poland and Serbia down the centuries, and how it is still evolving. The first two tracks, Rejoice, oh Mother Poland and Hymn to Saint Sava, despite their texts being 600 years apart (12th-18th centuries), are integral to the patriotic panoply of the nations of Poland and Serbia, where they form a vital role in academic celebrations.
Next come two historic pieces from the two countries, Mother of God, the oldest Polish Marian Hymn, whose surviving melody was written at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, while the fourth track Agios o Theos (Trisagion), praises the Holy Trinity, and whose melody was written by Isaiah the Serb during the 15th century. All the following eleven tracks are examples of works by both Polish and Serb composers spanning the past three centuries. They show that, despite some differences, there are common denominators when it comes to these two musical heritages, and the roots of their shared Cyrillo-Methodian tradition are a key element.
Those from the Serbian side illustrate the strength of religion, music, and language. All that survived almost five hundred years of Ottoman occupation (1459-1878), and allowed there to remain a tradition to which more modern composers were able to add their contributions. Those written by Polish composers include one attributed to Karol Szymanowski, only discovered at the turn of the 21st century, as well as examples by the well-known active Polish composer, Pawel Łukaszewski, long-time conductor of the University of Warsaw Academic Choir, Irina Bogdanovich, and the recently departed Romuald Twardowski, who was a great contributor to the development of the Orthodox music which inspired him.
The Orthodox Music ensemble Varslavia, comprising 42 singers, is a superb choral group that proudly upholds the tradition of Orthodox church singing. Its ability to showcase the voice as an instrument makes for a magical experience taking the listener into another world. No one hearing this disc needs to be the slightest bit religious to be awestruck by the most moving sounds; indeed, no one could fail to be affected.
Steve Arloff
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Contents
Gaude Mater Polonia (arr. Teofil Klonowski)
Himna Svetom Savi (arr. Stevan Mokranjac)
Bogurodzica (anonymous)
Isaija Srbin (2nd half 15th century)
Agios o Theos
Stevan Mokranjac (1856-1914)
Tebe Boga Hvalim
Irina Bogdanovich (b.1956)
Modlitwa świętego Makarego
Marko Tajčević (1900-1984)
Vospojte jemu (Četiri duhovna stiha, IV)
Vladimir Milosavljević(1951-2023)
Pokajnička molitva (solo Filip Awksietijuk)
Stevan Mokranjac
Heruvimska pesma
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Nynie otpuszczajeszy
Stanislav Binički (1872-1942)
Hvalite Gospoda s nebes
Pawel Łukaszewski (b.1968)
Żeny mironosicy (Trzy modlitwy prawosławne, III)
Miodrag Govedarica(b.1950)
Tjelo Hristovo
Romuald Twardowski (1930-2024)
Wsiakoje dychanije
Kornelije Stanković(1831-1865)
Dostojno jest
