Music in the Valley Festival - Rachmaninoff’s Vespers

Show & Culture

Vespers (in Russian: Всенощное бдение, Vsenochtchnoïe bdeniye, “All-Night Vigil”), opus 37, also known as The Vigils, is an a cappella composition for mixed choir by Sergei Rachmaninoff, written and premiered in 1915. It consists of a group of texts taken from the service of the All-Night Vigil of the Orthodox Church. It has been described as Rachmaninoff’s most profound composition and “one of the greatest musical achievements for the Russian Orthodox Church.” It was one of his two favorite compositions, along with The Bells, and he requested that the fifth movement be sung at his funeral. The title of the work is often translated simply as “Vespers,” which is incorrect both literally and conceptually when applied to the entire work: only the first six movements correspond to Vespers in the Liturgy of the Hours, followed by Matins.