DISS 2015: Secular and Sacred: The Russian Orthodox Tradition

Jonathan Berman: conductor
Stephen Pratt: conductor
Lancelot Nomura: bass
Cecilia Bignall: cello

Chamber Choir
Big Choir
Dartington Festival Orchestra

10pm
£8 / Under 16s £5

A truly fantastic choral concert, showing off the Dartington’s main choir, as well as the chamber choir.

Rachmaninov’s beautiful a cappella Vespers was premiered in 1915, and takes as its text the Russian Orthodox all-night Vigil ceremony. It has been praised as his greatest achievement, and was Rachmaninov’s own favourite work.

John Tavener’s haunting Svyati was written in memory of a close friend, and also sets a Church Slavonic text. The solo cello represents the priest or Ikon of Christ, and the composer asks for the cellist to play at the opposite end of the hall: ‘as in Greek drama, the choir and priest are in dialogue with each other… the cello must be played without any sentiment of Western character, but should derive from the chanting of the Eastern Orthodox Church.’

Lastly, the Prologue to Mussorgsky’s amazing opera Boris Godunov will lift the roof off. The Russian peasants sing in praise of Russia’s newest Tsar – the mad, distressed Boris – and the concert finishes with the mighty, clangourous Coronation Scene, with chorus singing ‘Slava! Slava!’

Rachmaninov From Vespers Op.37
Rachmaninov no.4 Svete Tihyi
Rachmaninov no.7 Slava y Vyshnikh
Rachmaninov no.2 Blagoslovi dushe
John Tavener Svyati (for chamber choir and solo cello)
Mussorgsky The Prologue from Boris Godunov

Part of the Dartington International Summer School 2015 concert and events programme.

For more information visit https://www.dartington.org/whats-on/event/?id=88801