All was going well in Dwight Chapel last March when the Yale Russian Chorus began recording its first album. The historic chapel -- which had been chosen for its "wonderful acoustic qualities" by the group's music director, Mark Bailey -- was uncharacteristically quiet. Most of the students were away on spring break, and, thanks to a spell of warm weather, even the rattling heating pipes had been silenced.
Suddenly, in mid-song, the chorus was interrupted by a cacophony of "indescribable" scratching and screeching sounds that brought the recording session to an immediate halt and sent chorus members scrambling to find the source of the noise, recalls Mr. Bailey.
"We finally discovered it was squirrels chasing each other on the roof," he says. Apparently, the same acoustic qualities that enhanced the chorale's resonant tones also amplified the animals' antics. "During the next break, one of the chorus members went out and bought jars of peanuts, which we scattered around the ground to get the squirrels off the roof." The ploy worked, he adds, and the recording session continued.
"Chants and Carols," the CD resulting from the Yale Russian Chorus' musical labors, has just been released for international distribution by Epiphany Recordings. The 25 songs on the album span 800 years, from the 12th to 20th centuries, and include liturgical and folk music from Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland, as well as modern works composed in traditional styles.
The recording of "Chants and Carols" is the latest milestone in the 43-year history of the Yale Russian Chorus, an a capella choral ensemble devoted to preserving, developing and performing the music of the Slavic peoples. Established by the Russia Club, the group became the first American organization to visit the former Soviet Union in 1959. The chorus continues to return frequently to Russia and its neighboring republics, and has performed throughout New England and the United States, including appearances at Carnegie Hall and the White House.
Once an all-male group, the Yale Russian Chorus now counts two women, both tenors, among its 20 members, who hail both from Yale and the Greater New Haven community. The chorale has also undergone a number of changes under the directorship of Mr. Bailey, a 1989 graduate of the School of Music who combines an active schedule of composing, conducting the New Haven Oratorio and the New England Benefit Orchestra, and teaching at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary with his post as archivist in Manuscripts and Archives at the University Library.
When he began his tenure as the chorus' music director in the fall of 1995, Mr. Bailey set out to bring the group to "a much higher, more sophisticated musical level" by expanding its repertoire and honing the singers' musical and vocal techniques.
Early on, the group members began discussing the possibility of self-recording their own album. It was an idea Mr. Bailey heartily endorsed. "Doing a recording is a fantastic way to solidify a group," he says.
Before that project could get underway, however, Mr. Bailey and the Yale singers were approached by renowned harpsichordist Igor Kipnis, who asked if they'd be interested in recording for Epiphany, his son Jeremy's label.
"The dream started happening at that moment," says Mr. Bailey.
"Honored by his interest," he continues, "we did a demo recording." It was received with hearty applause by Epiphany, which was seeking to expand its repertoire to include choral music.
Squirrel-induced interruptions notwithstanding, the Yale Russian Chorus completed the Dwight Chapel recording session for the CD in just two days, well under schedule. It was a painstaking and repetitious process, admits Mr. Bailey, who had to ensure that the singers maintained the same pitch and tempo each time they performed a piece, so technicians could blend together parts from different renditions, if needed.
An independent company devoted to high-quality recordings, Epiphany also arranged for the Yale Russian Chorus to be photographed during the recording session, so that audiophiles with high-end systems could later use the image as a reference point to fine-tune their equipment for accurate sound. The CD was also recorded on glass optical disc masters and issued on copper, rather than aluminum, discs in limited and numbered editions.
Mr. Bailey selected the music for the album, which includes Rachmaninov's "Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice," Tchaikovsky's "Holy God," Kovalevsky's "Alleluia Antiphon," Glazunov's "Having Fallen Asleep in the Flesh" and music by Kiriac, Diletsky and Turenkov, as well as Christmas carols and folk songs. He also wrote the program notes, which offer historically interesting information about the various selections.
The first review of "Chants and Carols" to appear thus far was an out-and-out rave. "This is not a recording; it's an eye-bulging work of art ...," declared inTune magazine. "Both as sound and performance, the disc is a revelation of quality in just how magnificent artistic attainment in sound can be. ... The disc reeks of becoming a major collectable ..."
"Chants and Carols" is currently available at Cutler's in New Haven and can be purchased directly from the Yale Russian Chorus by writing to the group at Yale Station, P.O. Box 202032, New Haven, CT 06520; or by calling 432-4776. The album is also now being shipped to major music outlets throughout the United States and abroad.
"We get royalties from the sale of the CDs, which is why we're encouraging people to buy it," says Mr. Bailey, with a smile. Any earnings will help subsidize the cost of the chorus members' upcoming spring tour of England and Russia, as well as other musical jaunts sponsored by the nonprofit organization.
Although "Chants and Carols" has yet to prove its profitability, officials at Epiphany are "enthusiastically interested" in having the Yale Russian Chorus record another CD this year.
"That would be the start of Dream Come True Part II," says Mr. Bailey. "It shows how confident they are in us."
-- By LuAnn Bishop
Upcoming performances
The Yale Russian Chorus will present its 43rd Anniversary Concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Woolsey Hall, corner of Grove and Prospect streets.
Traditionally, former chorus members are invited to join the current crop of singers, but this year there will be an additional twist, says music director Mark Bailey, as sopranos and altos from local music organizations will also be invited to join the chorus' tenors and basses in a performance of excerpts from Rachmaninov's "Vespers."
"This is part of my artistic vision for the chorus," says Mr. Bailey. "I want the singers to have that experience, to give them a taste of something outside their usual repertoire."
Watch the Yale Bulletin & Calendar for further information on the Nov. 2 concert. Or call 432-4776.
And, if you can't wait until November to hear the Yale Russian Chorus, you can catch their performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6, in the library court of the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St. The free concert coincides with the opening of the exhibition "British Art Treasures from Russian Imperial Collections in the Hermitage." (See related story in this issue.)