Contemporaneity of Early Music cycle
Old Russian Chant from the 16th and 17th Centuries
Moscow Russian Patriarchate Choir
Anatoly Grindenko, artistic director
Hailing from Kharkov in Ukraine, Anatoly Grindenko obtained his diploma from the Moscow Conservatory. It was in 1980 that he founded the Student Choir of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra monastery. His purpose was to restore ancient Russian choir song, deciphering ancient manuscripts and giving representations of works that had until then been in the shadows, sometimes for centuries. In 1985, the choir came under the Moscow Patriarchate. With the collapse of the USSR, the choir was able to open up to the world and, through concerts and recordings, exposing its music to a much larger public. This prestigious choir revives the whole repertoire of 14th to 20th century Russia, be it popular chants or masterpieces of sacred music by Russian masters such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Gretchaninov or Sviridov.