BDENIE: Commemorating the centenary of Rachmaninoff’s All-night vigil
$15-$22
BDENIE commemorates the centenary of the premiere of Sergei Rachmaninoff's All‑night vigil, which took place in Moscow on March 10th, 1915. Rachmaninoff wrote his 70-minute, 15-movement vigil in January and February of 1915, and it was first performed as a fundraiser for war relief efforts. Rachmaninoff's masterpiece proved to be so popular with both critics and the public that it was performed five more times within the month.
The All‑night vigil (Всенощное бдѣніе / Fsyenoshchnoye bdenie) is a setting of the liturgical form of the same name from the Russian Orthodox Church. Sung in Old Church Slavonic, it comprises three liturgical sections: Vespers (an evening service), Matins (a pre‑dawn service) and Prime (the first hour of the day).
Rachmaninoff based 10 of his 15 movements on existing chants from various traditional styles, including Greek, Kievan and the Russian Znamenny style. The remaining movements were entirely of Rachmaninoff’s creation, although he admitted their style to be “a conscious counterfeit of the ritual.” Rachmaninoff dedicated the finished piece to Stepan Smolensky, the professor at the Moscow Conservatory who introduced him to much of the chant employed in the piece.
For this concert series, The Esoterics will intersperse Rachmaninoff’s movements with phrases of Slavonic chant; this will provide an occasional change of texture, alternating between a single melodic voice and the collected voices of the entire choir.