I hope you are all having a profitable Lent.
I wanted to bring to everyone's attention the release of what I am quickly coming to believe is the most beautiful Orthodox Chant CD in the English language. I ordered it just two days ago and, much to my surprise, received it today from the Hermitage of the Holy Cross (a ROCOR monastery dependent upon Jordanville and located in a very remote area of northwestern West Virginia).
The CD is entitled: Christ is Risen! The Ancient Hymns of Pascha.
Since I arrived home from work today and was informed by my wife that it came, it has been constantly playing. It contains the entire Paschal Canon rendered in clear English, drawing from three of Orthodoxy's most venerable ancient chant traditions: Znameny (ancient Russian chant), Byzantine and Georgian (who are the inventors of polyphonic chanting). It is wonderful.
While there is a part of me that feels that listening to the Paschal Canon during Lent is sort of short-cutting the Lenten Period...I have consoled myself with the image of joy that a traveler might experience when his long sought-after destination first comes into view. Something like St. Brenden the Voyager must have felt when the shores of America first came into his view. Admittedly, the journey is still progressing, but the joyous consummation of our efforts is now in sight.
The Holy Cross Hermitage choir's new recording is truly glorious. For those of you who have travelled to Holy Cross, you know that nothing can compare to actually hearing their wonderful singing first-hand, but this is definitely a glorious consolation.
Their URL is the following for those of you who are interested:
http://www.holycross-hermitage.com/
Asking your prayers and wishing you all a profitable remainder of Great Lent,
jonah yelena alexis
When I was into other genres of "Christian Music" it was very easy to find out what the best CD's to get were as their was usually a buzz about them in the sub-culture (whether the entire Christian sub-culture, or just the sub-culture of the genre in question). Being Orthodox, this has become difficult for me though. It's hard to know what CD's to get. So... I thank you for the recommendation! 