Russian Choral Masterpieces

(Music Sales America). An original and exciting collection of anthems and other choral pieces written for the Orthodox Church and inspired by the Church in Russia, selected by Ralph Allwood. Partly because of the re-emergence of the Church in the former Soviet Union, interest in Christian musical sources alternative to the great body of the Anglican and other Western Christian traditions has grown sharply in recent years. Though the works presented here may be unfamiliar, they are all masterly. Designed to appeal to choirs of various levels, the collection includes a ''Kontakion and Ikos'' for the funeral service, anthems by Great Russian Romantics: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Grechaninov; and composers from our age: Stravinsky, Schnittke, or Arvo Part speaking for a tradition outside the Orthodox Church, as well as settings of the ''Lord's Prayer'' in both Russian and English by John Tavener.