Opus 48 | Before the Dawn | Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil
University Church of St Mary The Virgin, Oxford, OX1 4BJ
Saturday 14th November 2026 7:30PM
Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, with Ukrainian music of prayer, night and blessing
Opus 48 opens its season with Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil — fifteen movements of some of the richest, most atmospheric and most demanding unaccompanied choral music ever written.
Composed in 1915, the Vigil takes its shape from the ancient offices of evening and morning prayer. Rachmaninoff draws on centuries-old chant and liturgical tradition, but the musical world he creates is unmistakably his own: deep sonorities, long-breathed melodic lines, moments of almost complete stillness and, at other points, an extraordinary fullness of sound.
Our concert, Before the Dawn, comes directly from that world. This is music for the hours of night: for watching, reflection, praise and the gradual movement towards morning.
Alongside the Vigil, Opus 48 performs music from the Ukrainian sacred and folk traditions. Artemy Vedel’s May Our Mouths Be Filled sits alongside the traditional blessing Mnohaya Lita. A different kind of night appears in Misiats na nebi (The Moon in the Sky) a lyrical Ukrainian folk song in which moonlight, stars and a song heard across the water provide the setting for a much more intimate human story.
The works come from related traditions of worship and song, but from distinct histories and musical worlds. Heard together, they reveal very different ways of setting prayer, blessing and the imagery of night, with Rachmaninoff’s remarkable score at the centre of the evening.
Opus 48 – named in honour of Fauré’s Requiem – is an exciting medium-sized choral society in Oxfordshire, performing an impressive range of repertoire to the very highest standard. Opus 48 rehearse and perform under the baton of Musical Director, David Crown, one of the leading choral conductors in the UK. To read more about Opus 48 and their upcoming season, please visit their website:
www.opus48choir.co.uk
Opus 48 opens its season with Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil — fifteen movements of some of the richest, most atmospheric and most demanding unaccompanied choral music ever written.
Composed in 1915, the Vigil takes its shape from the ancient offices of evening and morning prayer. Rachmaninoff draws on centuries-old chant and liturgical tradition, but the musical world he creates is unmistakably his own: deep sonorities, long-breathed melodic lines, moments of almost complete stillness and, at other points, an extraordinary fullness of sound.
Our concert, Before the Dawn, comes directly from that world. This is music for the hours of night: for watching, reflection, praise and the gradual movement towards morning.
Alongside the Vigil, Opus 48 performs music from the Ukrainian sacred and folk traditions. Artemy Vedel’s May Our Mouths Be Filled sits alongside the traditional blessing Mnohaya Lita. A different kind of night appears in Misiats na nebi (The Moon in the Sky) a lyrical Ukrainian folk song in which moonlight, stars and a song heard across the water provide the setting for a much more intimate human story.
The works come from related traditions of worship and song, but from distinct histories and musical worlds. Heard together, they reveal very different ways of setting prayer, blessing and the imagery of night, with Rachmaninoff’s remarkable score at the centre of the evening.
Opus 48 – named in honour of Fauré’s Requiem – is an exciting medium-sized choral society in Oxfordshire, performing an impressive range of repertoire to the very highest standard. Opus 48 rehearse and perform under the baton of Musical Director, David Crown, one of the leading choral conductors in the UK. To read more about Opus 48 and their upcoming season, please visit their website:
www.opus48choir.co.uk
Event Details
Starts at 7:30PM
