The All-Night Vigil for choir (Russian: Всенощное бдение для хора, Vsyenoshchnoye bdyeniye dlya khora), Op.
[1] 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.
If we follow the service very carefully, and enter into the meaning of every ceremony, it is impossible not to be profoundly moved by the liturgy of our own Orthodox Church.
I also love vespers... to be startled from one's trance by a burst from the choir; to be carried away by the poetry of this music; to be thrilled when... the words ring out, 'Praise the name of the Lord!'
[7] In a letter to Eduard Nápravník, he specified this as a setting of the all-night vigil, stating his desire to improve upon the "untalented and banal" church music issuing from the Imperial Chapel.
[13] Composers like Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov had contributed to the repertoire of sacred choral music, but did not approach it with the intention of producing large-scale works.
The most famous setting of the service, Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, is a culmination of the two preceding decades of interest in Orthodox music, as initiated by Tchaikovsky.
[12][15] The similarities between the works, such as the extensive use of traditional chants, demonstrates the extent of Tchaikovsky's influence; however, Rachmaninoff's setting is much more complex in its use of harmony, textual variety and polyphony.