Cantata Singers to Perform ALL-NIGHT VIGIL in January

Cantata Singers' 51st season continues with two performances of Rachmaninoff's profoundly beautiful All-Night Vigil on the occasion of the work's 100th Anniversary on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 8pm in St. Paul Church in Cambridge and Saturday, January 31, 2015 at 8pm in Houghton Chapel at Wellesley College, in collaboration with the Concert Series at Wellesley College.

Pre-concert talks at 7:00pm with Anna Winestein, Executive Director of the Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership. Post-concert receptions free to all ticketholders.

Cantata Singers' 51st season continues with two performances of Rachmaninoff's profoundly beautiful All-Night Vigil on the occasion of the work's 100th Anniversary. The performances will be held Saturday, January 24th at 8:00pm at St. Paul Church in Cambridge and Saturday, January 31st at Houghton Chapel at Wellesley College. The latter performance will be a collaboration with the Concert Series at Wellesley College. Performing this a cappella masterpiece in the original Church Slavonic, this will be the ensemble's first presentation of the All-Night Vigil.

Rachmaninoff composed the All-Night Vigil 100 years ago-in the midst of World War I during two short weeks in January of 1915. Although the Vigil was popular in Russia after its premiere, the piece's performance history in Rachmaninoff's native country was short-lived. In 1917, the rise of the Soviet Union led to the condemnation of religious music. For years, the All-Night Vigil remained little known and infrequently performed, a situation that changed only with the collapse of Communism in Russia in 1991. The music is lush, poignant, and ethereal, perhaps the reason why the All-Night Vigil is today considered one of Rachmaninoff's masterpieces, beloved around the world.