Akademie voor Koorkunst (Moskou) . Alexej Petrov

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Sergei Rachmaninov fled to the United States. He was forced to leave much of his work behind. The Communist party banned his music, as they did the work of many of his fellow composers. It is only since 'perestroika' that his 'banned' compositions, including the 'Vespers', have been performed again. The 'Vespers' have in the meantime become a standard work in writing for chorus. He wrote these fifteen songs for the Easter vigil in 1915. The words and melodies originate in ancient Russian orthodox mysticism and musical tradition. The exceptional harmonies and great dynamic variations make this work for eight to twelve voices a monumental composition. The composer himself said it was one of his favourite pieces. No instruments were used in the performance of the 'Vespers' because orthodox music does not allow them: it is the voice of the human heart alone that calls out to God. In the first part of this Europalia concert we hear religious choral music by Dmitri Bortnyansky (1751-1825), Mili Balakirev (1837-1910) and Pavel Tchesnokov (1877-1944).