Dear friends,

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It is a privilege to open Baltimore Choral Arts’ sixtieth anniversary season with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil—a work so deeply woven into the choral canon that it has long been regarded as one of the pinnacles of a cappella music. Written in 1915, during the upheaval of World War I and only two years before the Russian Revolution, the piece represents both the end of an era and a timeless expression of faith. Rachmaninoff drew upon centuries of Russian Orthodox chant traditions, weaving them into a tapestry of luminous harmonies and breathtaking choral textures.

 

Though the Vigil is rooted in the liturgy of the Orthodox Church, its spiritual reach extends far beyond any one tradition. Listeners of every background hear in it the timeless yearning of the human spirit for beauty, peace, and transcendence.

The All-Night Vigil is, quite literally, a journey through the night—beginning at dusk with the hushed glow of the opening movement and carrying us through vigils, prayers, and hymns until dawn. Its sound world is unique: the basses anchor the ensemble with resonant depth (Rachmaninoff famously requested voices that could descend to a low B-flat, producing a foundation unlike anything else in choral literature), while the sopranos soar with lines that shimmer like starlight. Between these extremes, Rachmaninoff layers chords of incredible richness, creating what feels at times like a sonic icon—an image painted not in pigment but in sound.

 

For this performance, however, we have chosen to present the Vigil in a way that also speaks to our contemporary moment. In recent years, the world has watched in anguish as the people of Ukraine endure the devastations of war. To honor their resilience and to acknowledge their suffering, we open the concert with Lux Aeterna by Julija Ovseičiuk, a contemporary Ukrainian composer. Her music radiates with a quiet but insistent light, reminding us that even in the darkest times, the human spirit reaches for illumination. Beginning the program with this piece situates Rachmaninoff’s masterpiece not only in its Russian Orthodox context but also within the broader Slavic choral tradition, one that continues to evolve and give voice to present struggles.

 

Later in the performance, we depart from tradition again by replacing Rachmaninoff’s “Magnificat” with Requiem by American songwriter Eliza Gilkyson. Originally written as a personal response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, this work has since become a universal hymn of mourning, embraced in many contexts of grief and remembrance. Its simple, folk-inflected lines speak with directness and humility, providing a stark but moving contrast to Rachmaninoff’s elaborate harmonic world. By placing this Requiem within the Vigil, the performance moves from being solely a celebration of faith to also being an act of collective lament—an acknowledgment of the suffering faced by Ukrainians and, indeed, by so many in our world today.

 

In this way, tonight’s program embodies the theme of our anniversary season, Timeless Voices. Rachmaninoff’s Vigil is timeless in its artistry and its capacity to suspend us in a sound world beyond the ordinary. Yet the works by Ovseičiuk and Gilkyson remind us that timelessness is not merely about preserving the past. It is also about giving space for contemporary voices to speak into the present moment, to remind us of our shared humanity, and to hold hope in the face of sorrow.

 

In harmony,

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Anthony Blake Clark
Music Director