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Live recordings are not best examples

Guillermo Rodriguez | Thusand Oaks, CA USA | 04/20/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When you want to expand your knowledge of a different culture, you can take two approaches: You can take a look at that culture's top achievements or you can take a look at its every day happenings. Of course a complete knowledge demands both. When it comes to the musical heritage of a Christian liturgical tradition the first way is to look for a great chorus, the second way is to look for a live liturgy.This album contains many live recordings. Coughs, throat clearings, standings, sittings and page turnings included.The title might be a little misleading, because technical the "Eastern" Church refers to the Byzantine Churches in communion with the See of Constantinople (aka the Eastern Orthodox Church). This album contains chants from other traditions that are known as "Oriental" or "Pre-Chalcedonian". These Churches include the Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian and Syrian Orthodox Churches. The album is a nice sampler, but I personally don't think the live recordings make a good first impression. If you want to learn about the Oriental Liturgical tradition, I suggest trying a formal musically-trained chorus first."