The All-Night Vigil (Всенощное бдѣніе, Vsénoshchnoye bdéniye) is an a
cappella choral composition written and premiered in 1915. It consists of
settings of texts from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has
been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement. Rachmaninoff requested that
one of its movements (the fifth) be sung at his funeral.
The Rachmaninov "All Night Vigil" sometimes called "Vespers" is set for up to
12 choir voices, (3 for each section SSSAAATTTBBB), plus alto and tenor
soloists. There is one alto solo in the second movement, and the tenor solo is
optional in movements four and five, the alternative being that it sung by tenor
1 section or a few tenors. Because soloist involvement is minimal, the soloist
parts are included in the relevant recordings. All options are covered.
The tempos for our work are similar to the magnificent recording by the choir
of Kings College Cambridge conducted by Stephen Cleobury.
In a liturgical context, there is a short exclamation sung by the Deacon
(Bass) and Priest (Tenor) that puts the opening "Amen" of movement one into
context. It is printed in some scores, and is provided on our recording.
Please review our sample recordings below and make your selection according
to your requirement.
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