All-Night Vigil (Tchaikovsky)
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All-Night Vigil for choir Всенощное бдение для хора |
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| by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | |
| Form | Setting of the all-night vigil |
| Language | Church Slavonic |
| Composed | May 1881–March 1882: Moscow, Kamenka, Naples |
| Movements | 17 |
| Vocal | SATB choir |
The All-Night Vigil for choir (Russian: Всенощное бдение для хора, Vsyenoshchnoye bdyeniye dlya khora) is an a cappella choral composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, his Op. 52, written from 1881 to 1882. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox all-night vigil ceremony.
This work, like Sergei Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, has been referred to as the Vespers. Like the Rachmaninoff, this is both literally and conceptually incorrect as applied to the entire work, as it contains settings from three canonical hours, Vespers, Matins and the First Hour.
Prior to Tchaikovsky's setting of the all-night vigil, the only setting in existence had been by Artemy Vedel in the 18th century. Russian church music underwent a period of stagnancy in the 18th and 19th centuries. This was partially attributed to the monopoly on its composition and performance held by Dmitry Bortniansky, while he was the director of the Imperial Chapel.
Tchaikovsky, known primarily for his symphonies, concertos and ballets, was deeply interested in the music and liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church. Like Alexei Lvov before him, he deplored the increasingly Italian influence in church music as written by Bortniansky and Berezovsky, and sought a return to the old Russian style. He published a book in 1875, A Short Course of Harmony adapted for the Study of Russian Church Music.
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