Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

“Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is the earliest sacred composition by Tchaikovsky and was written in 1878, at the time of his work on Eugene Onegin. This was recorded in the Cathedral of the Dormition, Smolensk. The performance, the acoustics of the Cathedral and the quality of this recording are all outstanding.” (Evgeni Kostitsyn, composer) “Even though Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St John bears little resemblance to znamenny chant, a simple block-chord style predominates, although occasionally Tchaikovsky makes use of antiphonal vocal effects and there are passages that might have dated from the previous century in parts” (J.Murray)