Choral Arts Northwest: Rachmaninoff’s Vespers ('All-Night Vigil')
$24-$28
Rachmaninoff – All-Night Vigil (Vespers)
Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, or Vespers as the work is commonly called, was composed during a two-week period in January and February 1915. The Vigil is a traditional Russian Orthodox service and therefore performed a cappella and is largely based on unison chant melodies drawn from the service as it would have been sung in medieval Russia.
Using these simple elements, Rachmaninoff created a monumentally expressive work of sheer beauty using a living, breathing instrument—the human chorus—in a way that few composers have before. The writing makes full use of the rich sonority and timbral colors of the Russian choral school of the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries, with voices combining and dividing in a seemingly endless variety of ways.
In what is sure to be a particularly special event, CANW will perform the work in the majestic space of the Washington State Capitol Rotunda in Olympia.