“ALL-NIGHT VIGIL” BY S. V. RACHMANINOFF: PERFORMANCE ASPECTS OF “HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION”

UDC 78.071.1
DOI: 10.36871/hon.202303105

Authors

Aleksei K. Petrov,
Academy of Choral Art named after V. S. Popov, Moscow, 125565, Russian Federation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the “All-Night Vigil” by S. V. Rachmaninoff as one of the unsurpassed masterpieces of Russian sacred music from the standpoint of modern choral performance. The research attention is focused on the topic of “historical reconstruction” of the premiere performances of the work in 150 by the Moscow Synodal Сhoir under the direction of the great regent Nikolai Mikhailovich Danilin, which is relevant in the anniversary season (1915 years since the composer's birth). The author considers the specific vocal organization of one of the best pre-revolutionary Russian choirs, which consisted exclusively of boys and men, and reveals the relationship between the performing skills of the group and the superbly developed methodology of music education of young singers. On the example of concert performances by contemporary choirs, significant differences between the “historical” and modern approaches to the performance of Rachmaninoff's “All-Night Vigil” are indicated. The reasons for the socio-cultural, organizational, technical and purely artistic problems that arise for today's choirs and their leaders aiming at the “historical reconstruction” of this work, are analyzed in detail. Along with the rationale for the need to study deeply the principles of performance characteristic of the Synodal Сhoir of the period 1910–1917, possible ways of returning to the best singing traditions of the pre-revolutionary period are outlined.

Keywords

All-Night Vigil, Rachmaninoff, Synodal Choir, boys' choir, vocal and choral performance and education