These are the first prayers of the Vechernya (“Evening Service”, Vespers). This recording preserves the liturgical intonations before the choral setting, so the hymn proper does not begin until 35 seconds into the video. The basso taking the part of the deacon is the famous Vladimir Miller, a well-known soloist from the Valaam Ensemble (how low CAN he go?). It is sung by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir directed by Paul Hillier (a moderate-sized group of 30 voices).
Many translations into English incorrectly render poklonimsya as “worship”. That is a Protestant usage best avoided as it obscures the meaning of the text. A poklon is a bow, therefore we “bow” before God our King (a physical act of reverence), we do not “worship” God our King (a fuzzy and diffuse mental action). Orthodoxy is always concrete and actual in its liturgical texts, therefore, this unfortunate (and overly Anglican) translation should be abandoned by all right-believing Orthodox without further ado.
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