Seattle Choral Company: Rachmaninoff's Divine Liturgy

Sergei Rachmaninoff — Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Concerto for Choir: O Mother of God, Vigilantly Praying
Alfred Schnittke — Three Sacred Hymns

Sergei Rachmaninoff is known for his prowess at the piano and stupendous concertos and symphonies. His music is notable for its expansive chords that pushed the limits of early 20th-century Romanticism. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31, one of the composer’s two major choral works, is a rare work that was almost lost to time.

Rachmaninoff composed the work in July, 1910, at his summer estate Ivanovka, following his American tour of 1909. The music displayed Rachmaninoff’s Orthodox faith in a manner that was innovative and fresh. Writing to a friend, Rachmaninoff said of the work, 

"I have been thinking about the Liturgy for a long time and for a long time I strove to write it. I started to work on it somehow by chance and then suddenly became fascinated with it. And then I finished it very quickly. Not for a long time have I written anything with such pleasure."

The work premiered November 25, 1910, in Moscow. Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities strongly objected to the work's "spirit of modernism" and refused to sanction it for use during church services. Unfortunately, Rachmaninoff did not take criticism well. In one instance, when his Symphony No. 1 received lackluster reviews, he fell into a four-year depression, during which time he could not compose. In light of this, it is understandable how the Orthodox rejection of his beautiful liturgy led him to cease all promotion of the work.

This wonderful liturgical setting was long suppressed by Soviet authorities, and may have been lost if not for the discovery of the choral part books in an Orthodox monastery in New York State. Today, Rachmaninoff’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is a celebrated work of sacred music.

The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is the liturgy most commonly used by the Orthodox Church. It is so named because a portion of its text is attributed to John of Antioch, a 4th & 5th century Archbishop of Constantinople known as “Chrysostom” or “Golden-mouth” for the persuasive eloquence of his prayers. The liturgy is composed of a collection of hymns, litanies and prayers sung by the congregation in response to the Celebrant and the Deacon in a Eucharistic rite analogous to the Catholic mass. It is always sung a cappella.

The Seattle Choral Company will perform a modified concert version of the full liturgy, omitting some of the more extended litanies of call and response.

Less well-known is Rachmaninoff’s early concerto for choir, O Mother of God, written in 1893. It was both a culmination of a great tradition and a starting point for so much of what followed in Russia. Such "concertos" were popular in the 18th Century as additions to the Orthodox divine service. Although not subjected to the strict conditions governing liturgical music, they were none the less banned by Tsar Paul I in 1797 and soon fell out of fashion. Rachmaninoff's three-movement "concerto" was very much unique in its day. It received only a single performance during the composer’s lifetime and was published without an opus number only after his death. The theme of the opening movement recalls that of the Finale of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, a work that still lay seven years in the future.

The Three Sacred Hymns, also from the Orthodox liturgy, were composed in 1983 by Alfred Schnittke. The Russian conductor Valery Polyansky had requested an a cappella work for his choir, and though at first Schnittke seemed reluctant, he apparently woke in the middle of the night and wrote down these three pieces, and handed the manuscript to Polyansky the following day. The work was only published posthumously. These settings reflect Schnittke at his most instinctive, and most naturally devotional.

Pre-concert talk at 7pm by director Freddie Coleman.

COVID-19 Protocols: COVID-19 vaccination or proof of recent negative PCR test (within 72 hours) is required to attend concerts in person, and will be checked at the door.

About Seattle Choral Company

Founded in 1982 by Artistic Director Freddie Coleman, the Seattle Choral Company has, over the course of 40 years, become one of the region's most accomplished and respected choral organizations. Maestro Coleman's finely-tuned yet spirited interpretations of the masterworks of classical choral music have been acclaimed by critics and audiences, including Berlioz's Te Deum, Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Haydn's Creation, Mozart's C minor Mass, Bach's St. John Passion, and many more. After a recent performance at Benaroya Hall featuring Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, The Gathering Note wrote that the performance "was anchored by deep emotions, a strong sense of purpose, and an excellent advocate in Freddie Coleman and the Seattle Choral Company."

Freddie Coleman has also championed America's finest contemporary choral composers, offering area listeners their first live hearing of such works as Arvo Pärt's Te Deum, Philip Glass' Itaipu, Hawley's Songs of Kabir, Roxanna Panufnik's Westminster Mass, and Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna. In 2001, the SCC commissioned a new choral work, Seattle, by New York composer William Hawley, as part of the city of Seattle’s sesquicentennial celebrations. Additionally, the Company has commissioned and premiered new works from gifted Seattle composers, such as Donald Skirvin and Bern Herbolsheimer. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer recently applauded this commitment, stating "it's not surprising that Coleman…would devote an entire program to contemporary music. He has long been an advocate for living composers."

In the 1980s the Seattle Choral Company toured to Australia and the former Soviet Union. (Their work as cultural ambassadors was recognized with a commendation from the Washington State legislature.) The many albums it has recorded, including The Moon Is Silently Singing, When the Morning Stars Sang Together, Carmina Burana, and Unearthed, have been highly praised and received extensive radio exposure. The Company has recorded soundtracks for Public Television (Death: the Trip of a Lifetime) and NBC (Crime and Punishment and Noah's Ark), and its recordings have been used in at least a dozen Hollywood movie trailers.

The Seattle Choral Company has become a valued collaborator with other performing arts organizations in the region. It has appeared on stage with the Pacific Northwest Ballet many times, including several mountings of Kent Stowell's staging of Orff's Carmina Burana, and Hail to the Conquering Hero, featuring choruses by Handel. In 2010, the SCC appeared with the Seattle Youth Symphony in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") at Benaroya Hall. The SCC has appeared with the Seattle Symphony on many occasions, including Those Glorious MGM Movie Musicals, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Holiday Pops with Doc Severinsen, Holiday Pops with Marvin Hamlisch, New Year's Eve with the Seattle Symphony, and most recently The Matrix Live In Concert. On four occasions, they have appeared at the Paramount Theater in the touring production of Video Games Live, and members of the Company sang in both the Seattle and Portland productions of Star Wars In Concert. The SCC is partnered with the Northwest Sinfonietta, and is an artist-in-residence at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.

http://www.seattlechoralcompany.org