The Rachmaninov Vespers with Armonico

Part of the Roman River Festival 2025 - See all concerts here.

Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, often referred to as the Vespers, stands as one of the most radiant achievements of Russian sacred music. Historically, the work stands on the brink of revolution. Composed in 1915 during World War I and a turbulent moment in Russian history, it was first performed as a benefit concert for the Russian war effort. Just two years later, the Bolsheviks would seize power, and religious music would be banned under Soviet atheism. Vespers thus represents a kind of swan song for pre-revolutionary Russian sacred music—a final, glowing expression of a vanishing world. Performed in the unexpectedly beautiful Victorian High Gothic church of St Mary's in Ardleigh, whose lavish golds seem made as a backdrop for this music, by the exceptional Armonico Consort, who stand at the forefront of British choral performance today.

Armonico is celebrated for its vibrant interpretations, imaginative programming, and commitment to musical excellence. Founded by artistic director Christopher Monks, the ensemble brings a fresh, dynamic approach to repertoire spanning the Renaissance to the present day. The ensemble works regularly with leading soloists and instrumentalists, and has toured nationally and internationally to acclaim. Equally at home in concert halls and sacred spaces, drawing on the rich traditions of English choral singing while engaging modern audiences through theatrical presentation and storytelling. Their hallmark is versatility: voices glide seamlessly from luminous a cappella textures to grand-scale works with instrumental forces, always guided by an expressive and intelligent musicality. With a growing discography and a reputation for both innovation and integrity, Armonico Consort brings new energy to early music while embracing the full emotional range of the choral tradition. Every performance reflects a deep love for the art form—crafted with care, performed with passion, and shared with a spirit of joy and discovery.

                                                                                                                             ***

Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, often referred to as the Vespers, stands as one of the most radiant achievements of Russian sacred music. In the Slavic tradition, it is common to combine Great Vespers and Matins into the "Vigil" Service (the "Vsenochnya"), which is celebrated at 7pm when the sun sets. Historically, the work stands on the brink of revolution. Composed in 1915 during World War I and a turbulent moment in Russian history, it was first performed as a benefit concert for the Russian war effort. Just two years later, the Bolsheviks would seize power, and religious music would be banned under Soviet atheism. Vespers thus represents a kind of swan song for pre-revolutionary Russian sacred music—a final, glowing expression of a vanishing world.

The work draws deeply from centuries of Orthodox liturgical music, while embracing the harmonic richness of late Romanticism. Scored for unaccompanied mixed chorus, it weaves together 15 movements based on ancient znamenny chant melodies and liturgical texts, reimagined through Rachmaninov’s own musical voice; his treatment is unmistakably modern in sound, pushing the boundaries of vocal range and colour, especially in the bass parts. This rare return to a cappella choral writing reveals his deep connection to the Russian Orthodox Church and its traditions, combines mystical solemnity with transcendent beauty, reflecting both personal faith and a yearning for spiritual grounding amid uncertainty.

The opening “Come, Let Us Worship” sets the tone with solemnity and reverence, its broad choral writing establishing a sense of spiritual space. Throughout the Vigil, Rachmaninov alternates between austere chant-based textures and lush harmonic colour, achieving both intimacy and grandeur. The fifth movement, “Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart in Peace,” is especially renowned; it features an extraordinary bass descent to a low B♭1, showcasing the composer’s love of the deep, resonant Russian bass tradition.

While rooted in liturgy, this is no mere ecclesiastical exercise. Rachmaninov infuses the work with a personal sense of devotion and serenity, elevating it to a transcendent expression of faith. The choral writing is both technically demanding and emotionally direct, requiring singers to balance blend, clarity, and sustained spiritual focus. As political upheaval soon rendered such sacred works unwelcome in Soviet Russia, the Vespers endures.

In 1917, although a celebrated composer and pianist, Rachmaninov was forced into exile. Creating the Vespers was a quiet act of cultural preservation and spiritual resistance. After Rachmaninov’s emigration, the piece was largely suppressed in the Soviet Union but survived abroad, eventually gaining recognition as a choral masterpiece. Vespers encapsulates the tension between old and new, sacred and secular, embodying both Rachmaninov’s personal legacy and the spiritual heritage of a lost Russia, and serves as a luminous farewell to a fading world—one in which art and worship were profoundly entwined. Today, it continues to move audiences with its purity, depth, and timeless beauty.

                                                                                                                                            ***

St Mary's dates from 1460. It has a medieval porch and tower, though the main body was rebuilt in 1882, when the spectacular murals in the chancel were painted; this is the only example in East Anglia of Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield’s work. A follower of the Oxford movement, a 19th-century movement in the Church of England that sought a return to Catholic thoughts and practices, his much earlier church of All Saints, Margaret Street, in London, is held as the building that initiated the High Victorian Gothic era. His career was heavily influenced by the writings of John Ruskin, who urged the study of Italian Gothic and the use of polychromy; in St Mary's, one can see too the beginnings of Arts & Crafts.

PROGRAMME

Rachmaninov All-Night Vigil

Duration: approx. 1 hour 45 mins (incl. 20-minute interval)

Planning: Doors open from 6.30 for 7pm start. Please allow ample time for parking. 

Tickets £20 – £40 (£15 for under 30s)

Reduced visibility seats available.