Smirnov D. Doleful Blisses of the Virgin. Choral frescoes for female voice, saxophone-soprano and mixed choir

Dmitri Valentinovich Smirnov (born in 1952) is the Petersburgian composer, whose passion is choral and pedagogical activity. The «Compozitor Publishing House•Saint-Petersburg» has already edited his collection of ecclesiastic and secular works to the verses by the Russian poets A. Pushkin, A. Fet, F. Tyutchev, M. Tsvetayeva, I. Annensky, B. Pasternak, A. Tarkovsky, Yu. Morits, so as his cycles “Cypress Casket” to the verses by Innokentiy Annensky and “Birth of Wing” to Yunna Morits, Arseniy Tarkovsky and Boris Pasternak, Concerto for choir to the verses by Osip Mandelshtam, cantata “Midnight Verses” to the poems by Anna Akhmatova, Small Cantata to the verses by the German poets of the 17th century translated by Lev Ginsburg, choral triptych to Avetik Isaakyan, three choruses to the Latin American poets translated to Russian by Viktor Viktorov, Suite to the Verses by the Scottish and English Poets, three songs to the verses by F. Garcia Lorca. 

The compositions by Dmitri Smirnov have already entered the stock of different choirs in Russia and all over the world. 

The choral frescoes “Doleful Blisses of the Virgin” for female voices, saxophone-soprano and mixed choir were created in 2001. That was the folklore-researcher Mrs Elena Rasumovskaya to have suggested several Russian ecclesiastic verses to Dmitri Smirnov. Beside these exact verses the cycle includes the catholic “Prayer to Mother of God” (movement 6). 

The première of the «Blisses» took place at the festival “Five Evenings” in 2004. The Petersburgian choir Lege Artis conducted by Boris Abalyan was the first to perform this composition and to record it to the CD.

Contents:

DOLEFUL BLISSES OF THE VIRGIN
Eclesiastic verses
     I. Rejoice, Virgin Mary, Mother of God
     II. Along the Mountains, the Ones of Zion
     III. Oh, My Mother — Mother Mary
     IV. Dream of Virgin Mary
     V. Lamentation of Virgin Mary
     VI. Prayer to Mother of God
     VII. Jubilation