[1] The overture is scored for a Romantic period-sized orchestra, consisting of 3 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in C, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in B♭, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 timpani tuned to A, D and G, percussion (glockenspiel, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam), harp, and strings.

The first part is prefaced by two verses from Psalm 68:1–2; the second from the Gospel of Mark 16:1–6; and a third by a description of the Easter celebration written by the composer.

Rimsky-Korsakov said in his autobiography that he was eager to reproduce "the legendary and heathen side of the holiday, the transition from the gloomy and mysterious evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious merrymaking on Easter Sunday morning".

American musicologist Miloš Velimirović explains, "The Obikhod was like the Russian's Liber usualis...In 1848 it became mandatory for all of the Churches in Russia.

The piece also appealed to the emotions of Russians because of its expression of the Easter Holiday, the high point of the liturgical calendar.