This week on the Ether Game Weekly Music Quiz Podcast, we're feeling spooky! It's a show all about shadows and darkness in music, a show we're calling "In the Shadows"! Can you name this shadowy tune? (The answer is below) Remember to keep your ears out for a portion of Tuesday night's Teaser selection. And don't forget to tune into the full show on Tuesday, October 30th at 8:00pm for a chance to win a prize!
Bogoroditse Devo ("Rejoice, O Virgin")" from All-night Vigil (Vespers), Op. 37
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Paul Hillier, Conductor
All-Night Vigil (Harmonia Mundi)
"Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos" is the EASTERN (RUSSIAN) ORTHODOX equivalent to the "Ave Maria" or ""Hail Mary," a familiar prayer in the Western Catholic Church. This beautifully, serene setting of this prayer comes from Rachmaninoff's work All-Night Vigil (sometimes referred to as Rachmaninoff's Vespers). The work is an extended a cappella choral setting of the Russian Orthodox ceremony of the All-Night Vigil, a very long service of matins and vespers prayers that takes place the night before a holy day, and can last up to three hours. Rachmaninoff was not a particularly devout man himself; he stopped going to church as a young adult. However, in his youth, he heard a performance from the great Moscow Synodal Choir, a marvelous 80-member choir dedicated to performing Russian sacred music. Their rich, powerful sound—particularly in those low bass notes—inspired Rachmaninoff to compose several sacred works.