Rachmaninoff Vespers

Sergei Rachmaninoff was one of the last great composers in the Romantic era of classical music. He considered his All-Night Vigil (commonly referred to as “Vespers”) to be his greatest musical accomplishment.

Rachmaninoff’s choral writing has an almost symphonic feel, with a rich texture created by as many as eleven vocal lines. Throughout the nine-movement work, he uses the full range of the human voice, from soaring soprano to the deep bass typical of Eastern Orthodox chant. The composer based several movements on chant and set the text in the medieval language Church Slavonic, giving the a work a sense of timeless beauty.

This choral masterwork will be performed by the Providence Singers, an 85-voice choir under the direction of Dr. Christine Noel.

“This outfit is one of the finest choirs in all of New England, based right here in Providence.”

–Motive Magazine