SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
VESPERS
THE PROVIDENCE SINGERS Julian Wachner, Artistic Director Andrew Clark, Artistic Director Designate
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Notes on the Vespers
By Vladimir Morosan Vladimir Morosan, with Alexander Ruggieri, edited the score of the Vespers used to prepare these concerts. The score is part of the “Monuments of Russian Sacred Music” series, published by Musica Russica. These notes are copyright ©2005 by Musica Russica of Guilford, Conn. and are used by permission. |
The crowning achievement of the “Golden Age” Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, Opus 37 – popularly known as the Vespers – stands as the crowning achievement of the “Golden Age” of Russian Orthodox sacred choral music. During this period, which began in the 1880s and lasted until the Communist takeover in 1917, dozens of Russian composers turned their creative energies to composing choral music on texts drawn from the Russian Orthodox liturgy. In doing so, they turned for melodic material to the wellspring of ancient unison chants – known by such exotic names as Znamenny, meaning “notated by means of neumes;” Kievan, referring to Kiev, the “cradle” of Russian Christianity and Eastern Slavic civilization; and Greek, stemming from Byzantium, the Second Rome. To use these chants in contemporary liturgical circumstances required dressing them up, so to speak, in new polyphonic attire. A long-standing problem that preoccupied Russian composers towards the late nineteenth century was what form this attire should take, so that Russian church music would sound characteristically Russian and not Italian or German. Important new directions were shown by the musicologist Stepan Smolensky (1848-1909), who brought to light the historical study of ancient chant, and the composer Alexander Kastalsky (1856-1926), who borrowed part-writing techniques from the Russian choral folk song. Such were some of the formative influences that shaped the creation of Rachrnaninoff’s choral masterpieces, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, written in 1910, and the All-Night Vigil, written in 1915. Viewed in the broad context of twentieth-century European music, Rachmaninoff’s work is quite “conservative” and, at the same time, quintessentially Russian. It is a setting of the curious liturgical concatenation of three services – Vespers, Matins, and First Hour – which was introduced in the fourteenth century, but endured in Russia alone of all Orthodox nations. The music is for chorus a cappella, the traditional vocal complement in the Russian Orthodox Church, which has maintained the ancient Christian prohibition against musical instruments of any kind. Ten of the fifteen hymns are based on unison chant melodies drawn from the medieval Russian service; for the remaining five sections Rachmaninoff composed his own chant melodies. As in all chant-based works, the sacred text serves as the main form-determining element in each section. To ensure the clear declamation of the text, the choral texture is typically homorhythmic: there is very little imitative polyphony and no fugal writing whatsoever. The tonal vocabulary is quite traditional, eschewing all elements of “modernism.” Within these seemingly austere limits, Rachmaninoff created a monumental work that elevates the spirit by its lofty expressiveness and captivates the ear by its sheer beauty. Through the fixed texts of the Vigil – the sung prayers, psalms, and hymns – the composer depicts the epic grandeur of humanity’s worshipful encounter with its Creator. The vesperal portion of the service focuses on the themes of the Creation and the coming of the Eternal Light – the Incarnation of Christ. The matins portion has a different emphasis: the celebration, which takes place every Sunday, of the single most important event in Christian Cosmology: the Resurrection of Christ. (The Russian word for Sunday is Voskresen’ye – Resurrection.) As his musical vehicle, Rachmaninoff uses a living, breathing instrument – the human chorus – in a way that few composers have used it before or since. His choral writing makes full use of the rich sonority and timbral colors developed by his predecessors in the Russian choral school of the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries. Voices combine and divide, soaring heavenward and plunging into the depths, praising and supplicating, as the liturgical text and the individual vision of the composer direct them. At times, voices take on dramatic identities, yet the persistent use of chant keeps their utterings within the epic realm. 1: The Vigil opens with a proclamation of “Glory to the Holy, Consubstantial, Life – creating an Undivided Trinity,” followed by a majestic choral call to worship, Pridite, poklonimsia (Psalm 95:6). The multilayered melody is of Rachmaninoff’s invention, but its undulating, step-wise movement and unsymmetric, text-related structure at once establish its kinship with the ancient Znamenny Chant. 2: Vespers begins, as it does every day, with Psalm 104: Blogoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda, which hymns the wonders of God’s creation. The solo voice personalizes this song of praise, while the choral voices depict two contrasting realms – the earthly and the heavenly. 3: The recitation of psalms is an essential element of every Orthodox service; on Saturdays verses from Psalms 1, 2 and 3, Blazhen muzh, are always sung. Significantly, they speak of righteousness within a world in which evil (“the council of the wicked”) already exists. The three-fold alleluia refrains are reminiscent of those once sung by the entire congregation. 4: Next comes the “hymn of light” – Svete tihiy, an ancient Christian hymn that dates at least to the third century. The hymn originally accompanied the entrance of the clergy and the lighting of the lamp at sunset. The simple four-note motive of the Kievan chant is transmuted into a shimmering musical evocation of the Light Eternal. A solo voice lifts up a song of praise to the Trinity. 5: Having encountered the Savior, the Light of the world, the Church sings in the words of St. Symeon, Nïne otpushchayeshi (Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace). The soloist personifies the venerable elder against a lullaby-like motif in the choral parts. It is understandable why Rachmaninoff wished for this hymn to be sung at his funeral. 6: After giving due praise to God, the Orthodox Church always pays homage to the Virgin. Bogoroditse Devo, perhaps the most widely known hymn from Rachmaninoff’s cycle, captures both the gentle simplicity of the angelic greeting and the awe-struck glorification of her response to God. 7: At this point the vesperal portion of the All-Night Vigil draws to a close. Matins begins with the invitatory verses “Glory to God in the highest...” Slava v vïshnih Bogu... (Luke 2:14) and “O Lord, open Thou my lips...” Ghospodi, ustne moi otverzeshi... (Ps. 51:15), and the ringing of bells, which Rachmaninoff masterfully depicts in layering and juxtaposing the choral voices. 8: One of the musical high points of the Vigil is Hvalite imia Ghospodne (Ps. 135-136), the hymn of “many mercies.” All the lights in the church are turned on, the doors are opened, and the clergy in full vestments proceed to the center of the church to stand with the people. Musically, two layers are evident: the virile, earthy Znamenny chant melody sung by the altos and basses and above it, the sopranos and tenors, wafting like choirs of cherubim and seraphim. 9: The dramatic events of the Resurrection now unfold in a set of narrative hymns, each introduced by the piously whispered refrain: Blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi. Contrasts in the vocal scoring depict the cosmic drama occurring simultaneously in the heavenly realm (“The angelic council was amazed...”) and on earth among the myrrh-bearing women, as they journey early in the morning to anoint Christ’s body and instead encounter an angelic messenger. As the joyous message is reinforced again and again, the murmuring crowd of faithful emerges and joins in a universal hymn of praise “Alleuia.” 10: The faithful’s response to the Resurrection continues in the next hymn, Voskreseniye Hristovo videvshe. Some of the most austere and powerful music occurs in this section, as the text recalls the terrible sacrifice on the cross that preceded the ultimate triumph over death. 11: By composing a heavy chant-like melody that mainly resides in the basses, Rachmaninoff treats the Canticle of Mary, Velichit dusha moya Ghospoda, as an epic, prophetic utterance, which is taken up by all. Contrasted with this is the refrain “Chestneyshuyu Heruvim...” in which Mary’s high rank in the heavenly hierarchy is exalted. 12: In terms of textual depth and musical complexity, the Great Doxology Slava v vïshnih Bogu stands out as the main hymn of the entire All-Night Vigil. The text is carried by a simple Znamenny Chant melody, which Rachmaninoff masterfully distributes to different voices. Every Christian theme, from glorification and thanksgiving to repentance and supplication, is contained in the text of this ancient fourth-century hymn; and Rachmaninoff’s music at every turn seems to resonate appropriately. As the hymn drives towards its culmination in the closing “Thrice-holy,” Rachmaninoff’s treatment of the chorus becomes truly orchestral, again evoking images of bells. 13-14: After the musical intensity of the Doxology, these two hymns serve as a point of repose, inviting one to meditate upon the exalted mystery of the Resurrection. | |||||||||
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Biographical links |
Sergei Vassilyevich Rachmaninoff “Music is enough for a lifetime, Music historians have come to view Sergei Rachmaninoff as the last great figure of the grand Russian Romantic tradition – a Tchaikovskyesque composer devoted to melody and lyricism during a period of dramatic musical upheaval. He was also one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day, with nimble, massive hands that could play 12ths (an octave plus a fifth, from C to G). He was born in Russia on April 1, 1873, on his grandparents’ estate near Lake Ilmen in the Navgorod District. His parents, both amateur pianists, were military people – his father a retired army officer and his mother the daughter of a Russian general – and Sergei himself was destined for a military career. Through a series of financial reversals, however, his father lost the family fortune and then deserted the family. Those financial difficulties sent the family to St. Petersburg, where Sergei studied at the Conservatory, and then to Moscow. Rachmaninoff’s cousin Aleksandr Siloti, a conductor, concert pianist and student of Franz Liszt, recognized Sergei’s talent and suggested piano studies with Nikolay Zverev in Moscow. It was Zverev who gave young Sergei the purpose and discipline he needed (he had always been considered somewhat lazy). When Rachmaninoff graduated from the Conservatory at age 19, he was already known as a composer and concert pianist. His first piano concerto dates from that time, as does his Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, a work that was so wildly popular with audiences that Rachmaninoff was condemned to play it as an encore throughout his life. (He grew to loathe what he referred to simply as “it.”) As a young man, Rachmaninoff was plagued by self-doubt and uncertainty and was subject to depression and emotional crises, particularly over success or criticism of his works. The disastrous première of his Symphony No. 1 in D minor in March 1897 under the baton of Alexander Glazunov sent him into one of his deepest depressions. (Historians have suggested that Glazunov’s conducting was egregiously poor and that the piece was under-rehearsed; Rachmaninoff’s wife later suggested that Glazunov had been drunk.) He was taken to to Dr. Nikolay Dahl, a psychiatrist whose course of therapy ultimately restored Rachmaninoff’s confidence and allowed him to resume composing. He dedicated his Second Piano Concerto (1901) to Dahl and performed the première himself. In the year following that première, a long battle with the Orthodox Church was resolved in Rachmaninoff’s favor: He received permission to marry his cousin, Natalia Satina, after an engagement that had lasted several years. They were married by an army priest in 1902. In 1904, against a background of growing political strife, Rachmaninoff accepted a position as conductor at the Bolshoi Theater. The situation in Russia continued to deteriorate, with strikes, agrarian disturbances, army mutinies and the Revolution of 1905. In 1906, Rachmaninoff left for Italy with his family and then settled in Dresden, Germany, where he continued composing. He wrote his Concerto No. 3 in D Minor (1909) for his first concert tour of the United States, where he made his debut as a pianist in November 1909, with the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch. His tour included conducting engagements in Philadelphia and Chicago, and he was offered the position of conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He declined the offer, left the United States and returned to Russia in February 1910. It was during Rachmaninoff’s second period in Russia – from February 1910 until after the Revolution of 1917 – that he composed his two major sacred choral works, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in 1910 and The All-Night Vigil (Vespers) in 1915. Neither work was welcome in the Orthodox Church, whose ban on such compositions had been in place since 1878, when Tchaikovsky had composed his own Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Critics, however, gave Rachmaninoff’s Vespers an enthusiastic reception. Rachmaninoff’s choral symphony, The Bells, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, also dates from this period. After the Revolution of 1917, Rachmaninoff left Russia and moved his family to the United States, where he spent the remaining 25 years of his life. With the exception of two major works – Symphony No. 3 in A minor (1936) and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934) – he composed very little after leaving Russia, but concertized extensively in the United States and Europe. He died March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hills, Calif. | |||||||||
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The Texts |
The All-Night Vigil, Opus 37 (Vespers) | |||||||||
1
Priidite, Poklonimsya |
Come, let us worship God, our King. | |||||||||
2
Blagoslovi, Dushe Moya, |
Bless the Lord, O my soul, blessed art Thou, O Lord. | |||||||||
3
Blazhen Muzh |
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. | |||||||||
4
Svete Tikhyi |
Gladsome Light of the holy glory of the Immortal One — | |||||||||
5
Nyne Otpushchayeshi |
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, | |||||||||
6
Bogoroditse Devo |
Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. | |||||||||
7
Hestopsalmiye |
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men. | |||||||||
8
Khvalite Imya Gospodne |
Praise the name of the Lord. Alleluia. | |||||||||
9
Blagosloven Esi, Gospodi |
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, treach me Thy statutes. | |||||||||
10
Voskreseniye Khristovo |
Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, | |||||||||
11
Velichit Dusha Moya |
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. | |||||||||
12
Slavoslovie Velikoye |
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. | |||||||||
13
Dnes Spaseniye |
Today salvation has come to the world. | |||||||||
14
Voskres Iz Groba |
Thou didst rise from the tomb and burst the bonds of Hades! | |||||||||
15
Vzbrannoy Voyevode |
To Thee, the victorious Leader of Triumphant hosts, we Thy servants, delivered from evil, | |||||||||