My favourite album is The Triumph of Orthodoxy by the Valaam monastery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6-l2QF9Cg
They sing so piously, which really makes all the difference. Also I've got to say... the monastic life on Valaam is so real. They are true monastics. The only thing some of them know is prayer and work, and don't need anything else besides God. I think there are a few holy people there now that the we don't know of. And in total right now there are about 300 monastics on the island. And what's interesting is that the island itself is basically almost a kind of monastic republic, though there are a few non-monastics there left who lived there during the Soviet times when the monks were exiled and the monastery closed.
Also this is the choir after fr. David (Legeida) was assigned as regent instead of fr. German (Ryabtsev). The difference is colossal I think. The recording was made in 2004.
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Also here is some fantastic chanting from this year on the feast day of the founders of the monastery Sts. Sergius and Herman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO5pJ6_vRfo
Not an album, just a live recording of a part of the service.
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And here is a video of a memorial service for one of the reposed brethren:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2RvJi8hJZk
I like listening to it for some reason. It's sung so beautifully. And the priest monk who is serving is Fr. David (Legeida) himself, the choir regent.
God bless!
From Russia with love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6-l2QF9Cg
They sing so piously, which really makes all the difference. Also I've got to say... the monastic life on Valaam is so real. They are true monastics. The only thing some of them know is prayer and work, and don't need anything else besides God. I think there are a few holy people there now that the we don't know of. And in total right now there are about 300 monastics on the island. And what's interesting is that the island itself is basically almost a kind of monastic republic, though there are a few non-monastics there left who lived there during the Soviet times when the monks were exiled and the monastery closed.
Also this is the choir after fr. David (Legeida) was assigned as regent instead of fr. German (Ryabtsev). The difference is colossal I think. The recording was made in 2004.
---
Also here is some fantastic chanting from this year on the feast day of the founders of the monastery Sts. Sergius and Herman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO5pJ6_vRfo
Not an album, just a live recording of a part of the service.
---
And here is a video of a memorial service for one of the reposed brethren:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2RvJi8hJZk
I like listening to it for some reason. It's sung so beautifully. And the priest monk who is serving is Fr. David (Legeida) himself, the choir regent.
God bless!
From Russia with love.
