ELIS PEHKONEN Russian Requiem, Four Russian Songs (Corinium):
When Birmingham Festival Choral Society, with its proud history of presenting new works to the world premiered Russian Requiem, commissioned from Elis Pehkonen, on All Soul's Day 1986, it became immediately apparent that here was a work of profound importance, its sorrow at Man's inhumanity to Man communicating urgently to us all.
A vinyl recording soon followed, set down in St Paul's Church, Hockley, and now it welcomely reappears on CD at a time when the work's message of tolerance and compassion seems to be needed more than ever. Added now to the performance of the Russian Requiem by BFCS forces under Jeremy Patterson are the Four Russian Songs, soprano Hilary Thomas accompanied by the magisterial Keith Swallow.
This is a release to treasure, a proud souvenir of BFCS and Birmingham's enterprise in promoting new music which will live.
Christopher Morley, The Birmingham Post, 17th November 2001

***BFCS recording of Elis Pehkonen's Russian Requiem has been re-mastered onto Compact Disc. The archive has also been given unique sketches of this work by Elis. See Review.

Download a Sample of Russian Requiem now. File size: 852K  
File Type: mp3
Download time: approx 2min.

Download Russian Requiem Sample Now

Your computer will need to have audio capability, and suitable player software. If you do not have the latter, we can recommend WinAmp Lite that can be downloaded free from GetWinamp. Download the Russian Requiem sample onto your hard disc and then use the player software. Some player software e.g. Windows Media Player will start up when the music file is downloaded. You can still save the file locally using the player menu.

To purchase the CD of Russian Requiem: either contact Elis Pehkonen at
CORINIUM MUSIC CDS, Elis Pehkonen, Lupin Cottage, Theberton, Suffolk IP16 4SF tel: +44 (0)1728 830 531
or visit MerlinClassics