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Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 7:30 PM
Location TBD
Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil is a pinnacle of a cappella choral music. A setting of the Russian Orthodox vigil liturgy, the work is monolithic in scope and conception. Sung in the original Slavonic language, the All-Night Vigil (also commonly referred to as the Rachmaninoff Vespers) is divided into 15 separate movements and lasts over an hour. The music is sumptuous - melodies based on the original chants of the orthodox church woven around thick ringing 12-part harmonies. A deeply devout man, Rachmaninoff penned the work in just over two weeks in 1915, and it has the feeling of a single continuous thought. The composer left Russia shortly after completing the piece. He never returned to his homeland, but lived the remainder of his life in Hollywood. The ending of the last piece he composed, the Symphonic Dances (1943), quotes directly from the All-Night Vigil. This work was an emotional touchstone for him, signifying his homeland and his faith.
