On Monday evening 15 May, St Mary’s Church was indeed privileged to present a concert of Russian Orthodox liturgical music and Russian folk songs given by the Valaam Male Voice Ensemble as part of their current UK tour. For many centuries the spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy was known in Russia as the Northern Athos. Valaam is part of a group of 50 islands in an archipelago covering an area of approximately 36 sq km in the Ladoga Lake in northern Russia. It was included into the structure of the Finnish principality of the Russian Empire from 1811 until 1917 and after the October revolution until 1940 the Valaam territory belonged to Finland. Monastic life proceeded but during the Soviet Union time many of the buildings were destroyed and for fifty years Valaam was consigned to oblivion.
The Valaam Singers were founded in 1993 and are based in St. Petersburg. The Ensemble spends almost the whole summer on Valaam singing at the Monastery services and performing for many thousands of pilgrims and tourists who the visit the island. Since 2001 they have made successful tours of England, USA and Canada with the proceeds of their performances going towards helping in the task of restoration and rebuilding at the Monastery
Accompanied by only a tuning fork, the five enthusiastic professional male singers presented to a captivated St. Mary’s audience a programme of Church music and folk singing in the rich tradition of Northern Russia. The first half of the programme consisted of 11 liturgical pieces. The beauty of their singing was sublime, their musical skill and knowledge outstanding. The rendition of P. Chesnokov’s From my Youth was a soul touching experience that will stay with me always. After the interval the group changed mood and presented a delightful series of ten folk songs in turn haunting, lively, lyrical, rousing and in the case of Village Olkhovka great fun. The evening ended with a bell encore led by Dmitri Popov. The sustained applause conveyed the audiences appreciation and delight at an evening to remember and an experience to treasure. If only it could have gone on for another few hours.
Thank you to Mick Perrier and everyone involved in organising such a wonderful event. Do please let us know when the Singers are coming back!