This is a brief introduction to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s iconic masterpiece, the All-Night Vigil. The 15 movements of the All-Night Vigil are in three major sections corresponding to the three different daily liturgical services that make up the Vigil. The language sung is not conversational Russian, but Church Slavonic, the liturgical language for all non-Greek churches in the Orthodox tradition.

Mvts 1-6 Vespers: the first 6 movements are from the Vespers, or evening prayers; after opening the service with a joyous invitation to prayer, the setting of the sun yields to the darkness, out of which comes the divine light: the incarnation (birth) of Christ to Mary (this section ends with the Slavonic version of the “Hail Mary” prayer.

Mvts. 7-14 Matins: These movements come at the end of the evening, awaiting the light of dawn, symbolizing the resurrection of Christ.

Mvt 15 Prime (“First Light”): In the first light of day the choir sings a final hymn of praise to Mary, Mother of Jesus (“Bogoroditse”).

Rachmaninoff studied the texts and form of the Easter Orthodox Christian liturgy quite closely over a period of years.  But we’ll see how time and again he manages both to incorporate the traditional chant melodies while at the same time pushing the boundaries of liturgical restraint toward the expressivity and expansiveness of the great symphonic composer he was.

In the short examples below (taken from the Choral Society’s 2012 performance), you can hear some of the distinctive features of the late 20th Century Russian choral style (the “Moscow Synodal School” of choral singing):

a) the rich flavor of the “Church Slavonic” language, with sounds like the dark “L” sound and full-voiced consonants like the sound of ‘s’ in the English word “pleasure.”

b) the deep sound of the extra low bass voices required to sing in this style!

c) the wonderfully meandering melodies, with just a few, close notes, repeating and varying with an easy flow.

A photo of the Moscow Synodal Choir, for whom Rachmaninoff composed his All-Night Vigil

From the scholar Vladimir Morosan, founder of Musica Russica and editor of the edition we are using:

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, opus 37, stands as the crowning achievement of the “Golden Age” of Russian Orthodox sacred choral music. This period, which began in the 1880s and lasted until the communist takeover in 1917, was a time when dozens of Russian composers, from such prominent figures as Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov to lesser-known “choral specialists” such as Kastalsky, Chesnokov, Gretchaninoff, and Nikolsky, turned their creative energies to composing choral music on texts drawn from the Russian Orthodox liturgy. In doing so, they turned for melodic material to the well-spring of ancient unison chants—known by such exotic names as Znamenny (meaning “notated by means of neumes”), Kievan (referring to Kiev, the “cradle” of Russian Christianity and Eastern Slavic civilization), and Greek (ostensibly stemming from Byzantium, the Second Rome).

As his musical vehicle, Rachmaninoff uses a living, breathing instrument—the human chorus—in a way that few composers have used it before or since. His choral writing makes full use of the rich sonority and timbral colors that were developed by his predecessors in the Russian choral school of the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries. Voices combine and divide in a seemingly endless variety of ways, soaring heavenward and plunging into the depths, praising and supplicating, as the liturgical text and the individual vision of the composer direct them. At times, solo voices and groups of voices take on dramatic identities, yet the persistent use of chant keeps their utterings within the epic realm.

 

Oranta (detail) - Susan Kelly von Medicus

 

1.     Rachmaninoff opens the Vespers section with a grand choral setting of a text usually chanted as a solo in the liturgy.  He grabs our attention with the full choir singing “Pri-i-di-tje! (Come!) Polk-lo-nim-sia!” (Let us bow down!) Each of the four varied repetitions of this phrase start with full force before becoming softer and lower in pitch, sounding like a sort of musical genuflection. (The musical examples are from the recording of our 2012 performance of the Vigil.)

2.     In the second movement we have a psalm in praise of creation, the familiar Psalm 104 - Bless the Lord, Oh my soul: (Blagoslovi, dushe moya) This is one of only two movements with an important solo role.  While the alto soloist sings the ancient Znamenny chant melody, the lower voices sing the word for blessing: “Blagoslovi.” In between the solo verses, the upper voices of the choir, sounding like a choir of angels, repeat the words “Blagoslovi yesi Ghospodi” (“Blessed art thou O Lord”)

This movement ends with a slow descent of the basses to a low C….the video below gives an idea of the nature of this special sound of the Russian “octavist” basses (singers who sing an octave below the written bass line, though in this case, Rachmaninoff has written-out the notes in the lower octave).

 3.     The third movement begins with the words Blazhen muzh (Blessed is the man who walks not in the path of the wicked) – the text includes two verses from each of the first three psalms in the Bible, each verse followed by a hushed “Alleluia” (or as it is pronounced in Church Slavonic “Al-li-lu-i-a”)– here Rachmaninoff extends his wonderful skill with orchestration to voices, combining the unique tone colors of the altos and tenors to sing the main chant melody, followed by the full choir responding with hushed alleluias.

If Rachmaninoff were trying to stay strictly within boundaries of the liturgical tradition, he would maintain the restraint of the opening section from beginning to end.  But instead, he has the final alleluia lead to a grand proclamation of the Holy Trinity “Slava Ottsu, I Sinu, I Sviatomu Duhu”

Rachmaninoff at his desk.

4.     The fourth movement is a setting of  “Gladsome Light” (Svjetje tihi) – one of the most beloved prayers in the Orthodox liturgy. The words describe the spiritual radiance of the evening light at the setting of the sun.  This movement is built on the simplicity of a 4-note chant in the Kiev tradition; when the tenors sing it at the beginning it is in a high, ethereal part of their voice (notice the low basses do not sing here!):

5.     The fifth movement is a setting of a prayer familiar to Western Christians, the “Song of Simeon” or, in Latin, the “Nunc Dimittis” – “Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” These are the words of the synagogue elder Simeon upon seeing the child Jesus when first presented by his parents in the Temple.  Rachmaninoff here gives the altos and tenors a simple rocking motive while the tenor soloist sings the ancient chant melody:

Again departing from the usual expressive restraint of purely liturgical music, Rach builds this movement to a grand climax for the final words of the phrase “Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,” followed by a stunning moment of contrast when the sopranos sustain two notes as quietly as possible, again for the special word for “light” (“svyet”) at the beginning of the phrase “a light to lighten the Gentiles.”

6.     The sixth movement is the last of the Vespers portion of the Vigil, and is the best known music in the whole work – the “Bogoroditse” dyevo, the Slavonic version of the prayer known in Latin as the “Ave Maria” or “Hail Mary.”  “Bogoroditse” (literally, ‘the one who gave birth to the divine’) is an “iconic” word, a ‘title’ given to Mary through which the singer sings and the devout pray.

 

Oranta - Susan Kelly von Medicus

 

 7. The next six movements come from the early morning office of Matins, as the darkness gives way to the rising of the sun, which here symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ. The section connects with the birth of Christ celebrated in the previous section by starting with a familiar, ancient ‘Znamenny’ chant for the words announced to the shepherds awaiting the birth of Christ: “Slava vishnix Bogu, i na zyemli mir” (Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace). This is a joyous, dancelike chant, again going back and forth over just four notes:

In the video below, you can hear examples of Rachmaninoff evoking the sound of church bells with voices (such as the bell peal on the word “Slava” in this movement). Though he was not raised in a religiously observant family, when he was ten years old his grandmother took him to local churches and Andronikov Monastery where for the first time he heard the sound of the tower bells and the chanting of the choir.

Rachmaninoff was so entranced by these sounds, he would return throughout his life to hear them again, and incorporated them not only into his All-Night Vigil but into many of his other compositions.

 

Entrance of the clergy from behind the Iconostasis.

 

8. At this point in the liturgy, the priests make a grand procession from behind the altar screen, or “Iconostasis” – the high voices again evoke the bright pealing of the bells followed by an exuberant rhythmic chant from the lower voices. One of the shorter movements in the Vigil, here is a video of our 2012 performance:

9. The ninth movement is an evocation of Easter morning account of the angel speaking to the disciples at the empty tomb of Jesus. We hear the scene described four times with highly expressive, slower music for different combinations of voices; in between each of those beautiful sections, we hear a faster, almost spoken kind of chant sung by the lower voices (again using only four notes, singing “Blagosovjen yesi Ghospodi” -Blessed art thou O Lord” (nauchi mia opravdaniyem Tvoim) “teach me your statutes”

 After these four scenes are presented, Rachmaninoff could have ended the movement with the traditional liturgical restraint; but again he creates a more dynamic shape to the movement with one of the most exciting endings in the whole work – a glorious doxology ending with a cascade of alleluias:

10 – We begin with a vigorous response of the people to the good news of the Resurrection. This time, the men’s voices sing the main chant melody, while the women’s voices sing a different chant of response with angelic voices:

The movement concludes with another grand phrase with the words “Sye bo pri-i-dye krye-stom radost fsemu mir” (Behold, through the cross joy has come into the world!). Rachmaninoff then concludes with a much more subdued, hushed phrase for the words “smyertiyu smyert razrushï” (through death he has destroyed death).

 

Rachmaninoff with his grandchildren.

 

11 - The eleventh movement is Rachmaninoff’s remarkable setting of the Slavonic version of what is known in the Western tradition as the “Magnificat” – the song of Mary in response to the annunciation of the Angel Gabriel of Jesus’ impending birth. What is remarkable here is that Rachmaninoff has chosen (for the only time in the Vigil) to place the chant melody with the words of Mary in the lowest bass voices of the choir:

The higher voices of the choir then respond with a separate, light, dancelike prayer in praise to Mary, similar to the background chanting we’ve heard in earlier movements:

The climactic phrase of this movement is a setting of the text “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. This passage begins with the full choir at their loudest dynamic, ending with the intensity of the hushed sound that only a large choir can make:

12 The matins portion of the vigil comes to a close with the return of the chant we sang earlier “Slava vishnix Bogu“ (Glory to God in the highest). This is one of the longest movements in the work, combining the Slavonic versions of the Latin Gloria, Te Deum, and Doxology;  it is symphonic in scope, with many changes of mood and tempo, more vocal pealing of the bells. The closing doxology is one of the more exciting passages in the Vigil, with the chanting of the choir picking up speed and intensity, preparing for a grand climax, which at the very end softens for a plea for mercy (“pomiluy nas!”):

13 and 14: After the vigorous chanting and complex counterpoint of the Matins section, the next two relatively short movements are much more lyrical and reflective in tone.  What is remarkable here is that Rachmaninoff has set two different hymn texts celebrating the Resurrection, which would normally not be sung at the same liturgy, but on alternate days.  Both movements begin with the same chant melody:

 

Russian icon of the Resurrection, c. 13th Century.

 

These two movements could be said to represent Rachmaninoff’s most personal reflections. He had fully dedicated himself to rediscovering a liturgical and musical tradition largely unfamiliar to him. Yet the fullest realization of that study came just as the world was crumbling around him at the beginning of the World War I with the Russian Revolution soon to follow, a revolution that would in itself bring a remarkable blossoming of Russian sacred music to an abrupt end.

15. After these moments of more inner exploration at the end of the office of Matins, Rachmaninoff concludes with a rousing, celebratory setting of a text from the office of “First Hour,” a hymn of praise to Mary, Mother of the Savior:

If you would like to listen to the entire work in context, there is a truly exceptional video available on YouTube by the West German Radio Choir (a large, all-professional ensemble - one of the finest in the world) directed by Nicolas Fink. The choir in shown singing from all corners of a beautiful, ancient church, with a beauty, power, and musicality we can all aspire to!

 Compiled by Thomas Lloyd for the Bucks County Choral Society.

Notes for our March 17, 2024 performance:

Today’s program is the third one in our season devoted to “Inspirations” – sacred music from across five very different religious traditions: Bruckner’s Mass No. 1 (Catholicism), Margaret Bonds Credo (the Black church in America), a service of Lessons and Carols (Anglicanism), Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (Eastern Orthodox Christianity), and Bloch’s Sacred Service (Judaism). These works were all based on sacred texts but intended to be performed outside traditional liturgical settings; that is, in for public concert audiences. These composers of primarily secular symphonic works were drawn to religious texts as opportunities to probe questions of meaning and mortality that have long resonated deeply in human experience. 

The All-Night Vigil has held an iconic place in Western choral literature as one of the “mountaintop experiences” many avid choral musicians want to climb. Following Vladimir Morosan’s publication of a new edition in 1992 with transliteration of the Slavonic for ease of use by Western choirs, recordings and performances have proliferated, especially in the US and the United Kingdom.

This will be the Choral Society’s third performance of the Vigil, building on our first performance in 2001 (which started with a workshop with Vladimir Morosan) and then again in 2012. Our choir today is a mix of new singers and many of those who sang one or both previous performances (and nevertheless returned even with all the challenges of singing in Church Slavonic!). We hope you will experience some of the same combination of robust proclamation and transcendent beauty that we have felt rehearsing the Vigil every Tuesday night since early January.

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) lived an eventful life as one of the most widely acclaimed pianists, composers, and conductors of the first half of the 20th Century. Born into an aristocratic family, he was raised mostly by members of his extended family after his father squandered his wealth early in Sergei’s childhood. His mother recognized his musical gifts early on, and his family assured his continued musical training as he moved from one relative’s home to another. While living under his grandmother’s care at age 10, he was introduced to the liturgical chanting of the Russian Orthodox church and the glorious peal of its unique tower bells, which deeply influenced not only the work we perform this afternoon, but throughout his compositional output.

After beginning his professional life as a pianist and then conductor, his compositions began to draw the attention of Tchaikovsky and others, leading to a prolific period of composition between 1900 and 1917, including most of what would become his best-known symphonies, piano concertos, art songs, and solo piano works. The All-Night Vigil comes at the pinnacle of this period, put to paper in just two weeks in 1915, though after a long period of gestation. It was performed as a benefit for the Russian war effort and was the culmination of the efforts of the Moscow Synodal School and its famed Synodal Choir to develop a new Russian approach to choral writing based on ancient chant melodies from Kiev and Moscow. After the revolution, the Vigil would not be openly performed again in Russia until after the death of Stalin.

In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, Rachmaninoff left his homeland and possessions behind, eventually settling on a life in exile spent mostly in the United States. For financial reasons he focused his career on piano and soon became recognized as one of the most accomplished and compelling concert virtuosos of his era. Away from his homeland with a packed concert schedule, he left composition largely behind until the last decade of his life. His close relationship with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra resulted in his late masterpiece Symphonic Dances, which includes a direct quotation from the All-Night Vigil we hear today.  

Important words sung frequently in the All-Night Vigil:

slava – praise

blagoslovyen – bless

poklonimsia – bow down (worship)

milost – mercy

raduysia/radost – rejoice/joy

mir – peace

sviát - holy

Gospodi – Lord

Spasa - Savior

Bogu/Bozhe – God

Bogoroditse – the one who gave birth to God (Mary)

I-isusye Christye – Jesus Christ

angelski - angels