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Rachmaninoff Vespers
All Night Vigil
Tenebrae
Nigel Short
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"Nigel Short and Tenebrae have just the right balance of control and
passion, reverence and exuberance that makes for such a superb
performance." The Organ
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"The result is both intimate and powerfully atmospheric, shedding new
and memorable light on what usually comes across as a massive choral
spectacular."
Classic FM Magazine
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"The All-Night Vigil is celebrated on the eve of the main feasts of
the Russian Orthodox church with the purpose of showing a sense of beauty
in the setting sun."
Classic FM Magazine
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Signum Classics are proud to release a LIVE recording of the stirring
performance by Tenebrae of Rachmaninoff’s ‘All-Night Vigil’ (Vsenoshchnoye
bdeniye, Op. 37).
The recording was made live at the North Wales International Music
Festival in conjunction with Boosey & Hawkes, Music
Publishers Ltd.
The roots of the Russian Orthodox Church are traceable back into the
Third Century A.D. Whilst Western forms of Christianity continued to
evolve, the Orthodox tradition has been preserved largely intact since the
11th Century, despite persecution of the Church under an intolerant
Communist regime in Russia. The music of the Russian Orthodox Church
features vocal chants, the oldest of which is known as znamenny (from the
Slavonic znamia meaning “sign”). The melody of this chant is extremely
simple, and whilst other composers added their characteristic harmonic
effects, Rachmaninoff consciously preserved the modal purity of the
original in his setting of the Vespers. The all-night vigil is
celebrated on the eve of the main feasts of the Orthodox Church.
Originally it lasted all night and consisted of three separate services to
celebrate the beauty of the setting sun, and to reflect on the spiritual
light of Christ as the new light of the coming day and the eternal light
of heaven. Rachmaninoff’s setting of the vigil was written in 1915, in
the middle of the First World War. He has used authentic znamenny chant in
seven movements, with two movements employing Greek chants.
“Even in my dreams I could not have imagined that I would write such
a work” Rachmaninoff told the singers at the first performance in
March 1915. The work is dedicated to the scholar Stephan Vasilevitch
Smolensky who introduced Rachmaninoff to the repertoire of the church,
however the composer’s inspiration was as much politically motivated as
spiritually – the composition was a powerful affirmation of nationalism
during the war. Tenebrae
characteristically create an atmosphere of spiritual and musical
reflection at their performances, using candlelight and movement within
ecclesiastical venues.
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