All-Night Vigil (Rachmaninoff)
The All-Night Vigil (Pre-reform Russian: Всенощное бдѣніе, Vsénoshchnoye bdéniye; Modern Russian: Всенощное бдение) is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff, his Op. 37, premiered on 10/23 March 1915 in Moscow.
For the liturgical service, see All-night vigil.All-Night Vigil
The piece consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement[1] and "the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church".[2] It was one of Rachmaninoff's two favorite compositions[3] along with The Bells, and the composer requested that its fifth movement (Нынѣ отпущаеши, Nunc dimittis) be sung at his funeral.[3]
The title of the work is often mis-translated as Vespers. This is both literally and conceptually incorrect as applied to the entire work; only the first six of its fifteen movements set texts from the Russian Orthodox canonical hour of Vespers.
History[edit]
Composition history[edit]
Rachmaninoff composed the All-Night Vigil in less than two weeks in January and February 1915.[4] The All-Night Vigil is perhaps notable as one of two liturgical settings (the other being the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) by a composer who had stopped attending church services. As required by the Russian Orthodox Church, Rachmaninoff based ten of the fifteen sections on chant. However, the five original sections (numbers 1, 3, 6, 10, & 11) were so heavily influenced by chant that the composer called them "conscious counterfeits".
Rachmaninoff's work is a culmination of the preceding two decades of interest in Russian sacred music, as initiated by Tchaikovsky's setting of the all-night vigil.[5][6] The similarities between the works, such as the extensive use of traditional chants, demonstrates the extent of Tchaikovsky's influence; however, Rachmaninoff's setting is much more complex in its use of harmony, textual variety and polyphony.[7]
Performance history[edit]
The first performance was given in Moscow on 10/23 March 1915, partly to benefit the Russian war effort. Nikolai Danilin conducted the all-male Moscow Synodal Choir at the premiere. It was received warmly by critics and audiences alike, and was so successful that it was performed five more times within a month.[8] However the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of the Soviet Union led to the government condemnation of religious music,[9] and on 22 July 1918 the Synodal Choir was replaced by a non-religious "People's Choir Academy".[10] It has been written that "no composition represents the end of an era so clearly as this liturgical work".[11]
Individual movements of Rachmaninoff’s Vigil are incorporated by conductors into the actual sacred performance, or celebration (to use the proper Orthodox term), of the All-Night Vigil. On the night of April 2, 2022, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, celebrated a hierarchical All-Night Vigil that included all of the movements of Rachmaninoff’s work, incorporated with the complete order of the service.[12]
In popular culture[edit]
The Russian feminist protest punk rock group Pussy Riot used the sixth movement as the basis for its protest song "Mother of God, Chase Putin Away".[15]