All-Night Vigil

Sundays and major feasts within the Eastern Orthodox Church are often prefaced by an all-night vigil, a combination of sacred texts from the Divine Office of Compline, Vespers, Matins and Prime (also known as the “First Hour”). The nocturnal service is charged with mystical language, the sight and symbolism of candles piercing the darkness, the smell of incense and the enveloping sounds of unison and choral chant, collectively striking the senses and cultivating rapt contemplation. Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil or Vespers as it is widely known, among his finest works, stands proud within the tradition of Russian Orthodox choral music. The unaccompanied composition’s sincere expression of reverence, humility and joy rises directly from the words of Vespers, Matins and the First Hour; likewise, its range of colours and textures, underpinned by subterranean bass voices, wide-spaced chords and equally wide dynamic contrasts, and potent alto and tenor solos elevate the Russian Orthodox practice of choral orchestration to unprecedented heights. Its 15 sections open a window into the soul of a composer who rarely attended church services (and even broke Orthodox canon law by marrying his first cousin), but who was drawn to the drama of their music and rituals. Nine of its sections are based on chants from the various Russian traditions while their freshly composed companions, notably “Voskresenie Khristovo videvshe” and “Blagosloven esi, Gospodi”, sound as if they have existed since the beginning of time. Vespers for mixed choir was written during the opening months of 1915, in the wake of Imperial Russia’s devastating defeat by the German army at the Battle of Tannenberg. Rachmaninoff appears to have escaped the world’s troubles by singing God’s praises and seeking refuge in his mercy.