VESPERS: RACHMANINOFF’S ALL NIGHT VIGIL
Oct 24 & 25, 2025
Embark on a profound journey of light and hope.
On October 24 & 25, 2025, the choir sang by candlelight Sergei Rachmaninoff’s beloved All-Night Vigil and Reena Esmail’s A Winter Breviary. The Vigil was one of Rachmaninoff’s favorite works, and he even requested the fifth movement (the Nunc dimittis) be sung at his funeral.
Esmail’s A Winter Breviary, takes us from winter’s darkness to spring’s light. Its harmonic language is drawn from Indian Carnatic raags (melodic modes) that are associated with the hours of prayer from dusk to dawn. Poet Rebecca Gaye Howell, who wrote the text, writes: “For more than a thousand years, across the world and often without knowing, these two spiritual traditions have met, together, in song. Both raags and canonical prayers offer a constancy that marks a life by the well-loved day; they both act as a kind of clock for the soul.”
We embarked on a profound journey of light and hope, where we invited our listeners to consider how the idea of vigil – a period of wakefulness and watchfulness – can help us find peace in a chaotic world.
Inspired by musical themes of creating peace and community, a portion of all donations were directed to Re:Source Cleveland, helping them further their mission of helping Cleveland’s newest neighbors to create roots within our Cleveland community. They work with children and adults who come to Cleveland as refugees, humanitarian parolees, asylum seekers, and those with temporary protected status. Their work focuses on supporting newcomers in building thriving lives through education, mentoring, tutoring, mental health and wellness, urban agriculture, employment, content creation, youth sports and recreation, and social services and benefits enrollment.
Charles Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, presented a pre-concert talk 45 minutes prior to each performance.
Friday, October 24, 2025, at 7:30pm at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave., Cleveland
Saturday, October 25, 2025, at 7:00pm at Fairchild Chapel, 50 W. Lorain St., Oberlin
The choir is grateful for the full season grant support provided by The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council, and support by Trinity Cathedral as named Artist in Residence.
