Voices of Connection: 12/06 Rachmaninoff: Ave Maria

For today’s clip, we return to our Marian theme, with the most quintessential of all of the texts about Mary, the Ave Maria (“Hail Mary, full of grace…”). In this case, a masterful setting by Sergei Rachmaninoff in Old Church Slavonic: the traditional language of the Russian Orthodox rite. I first encountered this piece during my undergraduate years in the Harvard University Choir, where we—with great affection—gave the Slavonic title (“Bogoroditse Devo”) a cheeky nickname based on the phonetic sound which can’t be printed here but ends in “ditsy Diva” and begins with a rather impolite and very British expression which we would address to our fellow choral divas.

The gorgeous setting easily survived our disrespect. The combination of the richness of the back-of-the-mouth Slavonic vowels with the typically Russian choral texture creates an overlapping tapestry of sound that gloriously fills the acoustic of the church in this video. I particularly enjoy, after the opening sung by the whole choir, how the tenors and sopranos take on a soaring countermelody while the altos restate the opening melody. The texture builds until the basses re-enter, near the top of their range, with a fortissimo theme that brings the whole piece to a climax before a reprise of the opening texture that brings the piece to a contemplative conclusion. – Wesley Chinn

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SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Bogoroditse Dyevo (Ave Maria)

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director

Recorded live at the CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Wednesday, December 12, 2018, The Church of the Ascension, New York City
The singers in this performance are represented by the
American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.

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