All-Night Vigil

This edition, often referred to as the "Vespers," features an easy-to-read and pronounce transliteration of the original Slavonic language. The text is also presented in the Cyrillic alphabet for those who wish to read it in the original orthography or those who are learning to read that alphabet. A third line of text features a singing translation in English, making it possible to perform the work in translation. The English text also serves to help the singer understand the meaning of the words being sung when the work is performed in Slavonic.. The edition also contains the Slavonic and English texts in a side-by-side translation format suitable for program preparation with attributions of the Biblical origins of the words. Appendices include a complete pronunciation guide to Slavonic, chants suitable for a soloist to introduce several of the movements, and the original church chants which Rachmaninoff employed in writing his setting of this important evening service of the Russian Orthodox Church. The preface includes information about the work and its historical relationship to events in Russia in 1915 when it was composed and first performed.