Gloriae Dei Cantores releases All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, conducted by Peter Jermihov (internationally recognized specialist in Russian and Orthodox liturgical music) and produced by Richard K. Pugsley, director of Gloriae Dei Cantores. Expressing their ongoing vision of unity through music, Gloriae Dei Cantores is joined by members of the St. Romanos Cappella, The Patriarch Tikhon Choir, and The Washington Master Chorale. Soloists Dmitry Ivanchenko and Mariya Berezovska, of the National Opera of Ukraine in Kiev join the seventy-seven singers for this landmark collaboration. Vadim Gan, protodeacon under the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church sings the clergy exclamations with Dmitry Ivanchenko. All-Night Vigil was recorded by legendary sound engineer, Keith O. Johnson from Reference Recordings.
"Rachmaninoff submitted the newly-composed score of the All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 for evaluation and correction to his former composition teacher, Sergei Taneev (1856-1915). The esteemed master, known for his critiques and detailed insights, complimented the younger composer and returned the score without a single correction. . . He may have recognized the coming into the world of an extraordinary composition."
-- From the Program Notes by Peter Jermihov
Beginning in 2014, Richard K. Pugsley, the Gloriae Dei Cantores choir and conductor Peter Jermihov began studying and preparing extensively to record this masterpiece. Gloriae Dei Cantores' is known for their extensive commitment to the vision of the composer and the expression of the text through the music. The search for authenticity, direct empathy with each word and phrase, and the premise of a religious approach were aspirations that prompted and sustained the vision for this project. Rachmaninoff, although not an avid church goer, was, unquestionably, a pious Orthodox Christian. The spiritual and cultural roots of sacred music were ingrained into his consciousness. This recording, and accompanying fifty-two page booklet, explores Rachmaninoff's vision and intention in a work that has become known as the crowning achievement of the Golden age of Russian Orthodox sacred choral music.
