Mnogaya Leta - Odessa version

The song you will hear below is performed by monks of Svyato-Iverski monastery of Odessa and is a classic prayer song Mnogaya Leta (Many Years) - usually performed to honor a person or on a holiday. Music of the song is ascribed to Vasily Polikarpovich Titov, XVII century, but there are other attributions going around. Anyway, this is what Wiki says about the song:

The prayer Mnogaya leta (Многая лета), or Bol'shoe mnogoletie (Большое многолетие) proved to be the most enduring of Titov's compositions, possibly because its polyphony was more simple and therefore in line with the ideals of Classical music era. It was sung in Russian churches up to the October Revolution.

Apparently the above mentioned simplicity of the music still leaves something to be desired, because... but listen to the rendition:



Ach, Odessa...