The large work is Passion Week, by Russian composer Alexander Gretchaninoff (1864-1956).
Had it not been for the stubborn opposition of his uneducated father, who could barely read, Grechaninov may have developed sooner. He began study on the piano at the relatively late age of 14, mainly owing to the urging of a caring sister-in-law. Grechaninov enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory in 1881 over the objections of his father.
He left Moscow in 1890 for further study with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His Concert Overture (1892 - 1893) gave Grechaninov his first success, and his 1894 String Quartet captured a prize at the Belyayev Chamber Music Competition. He supported himself and his wife (whom he married in 1891) during this time as a piano teacher.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, Grechaninov arranged many songs of ethnic origin for children, producing several popular numbers and giving him great prominence among Russian composers. In 1906, he accepted teaching posts at the Moscow Conservatory and Gnessin School of Music. Throughout his career, Grechaninov composed many works in the sacred genre and in recognition of this continuing work, the Tsarist government granted him a yearly stipend of 2,000 rubles.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, he lost the stipend and ultimately his faith in his homeland, feeling his religious and political convictions were at odds with those of the Communist regime. After several trips abroad, he emigrated to Paris in 1925, where he established a career as a pianist and still managed to devote much time to composition.
In 1929, he made the first of several trips to the United States, a country he felt increasingly drawn toward. In 1939, he emigrated to the United States, ultimately making New York his home (1940). He became a U.S. citizen in 1949, at the age of 85.
Passion Week, composed in 1911, premiered in 1912, then lay dormant for 80 years, finally being revived in the early 1990s by the Russian State Symphonic Cappella. A 2007 recording of the work by the Phoenix Bach Choir and Kansas City Chorale brought it international attention.
Passion Week is made up of 13 choral pieces, each setting a text from an Orthodox liturgy or from scripture. The texts are written (and will be sung) in Old Church Slavonic (roughly akin to the Ecclesiastical Latin in pre-Vatican II Catholic masses) - don't panic; we'll include a translation.
We'll be presenting 4 of the works - 3 during the first 5 weeks of Lent, the fourth on Good Friday.
The texts are fascinating; while they refer to stories and concepts altogether familiar to us, they often use an imagery very different from that to which we're accustomed. The opening line of the work we'll sing the evening of Good Friday is a good example; it refers to Christ as:
Thou, who clothes Thyself with light as a garment
Nothing objectionable there; it's just a different way of looking at a familiar scene (this one happens to be about taking Christ down from the cross).
I'll have more to say about the individual texts as we proceed through Lent.
But the texts, interesting as they are, pale next to the music. Simply put, this is stunningly gorgeous music. It relies heavily on the bass section, and their deep, sonorous voices help create a solemn tone in each piece. The music is never in a hurry; think of long arcs, think of high, old cathedrals, think of mountain valleys - think of anything majestic and a little bit larger than life.
The function of this music in our worship is a little bit different from our usual anthems. Our standard practice is to present choral works which either reinforce one of the lessons of the day or provide a general element of praise to God.
These pieces are more to carve out a moment in the service when you might commune with God, an extra moment of meditation or prayer, perhaps. I think the best way to listen to these works is to close your eyes and let the music take you where it will. Their majesty and solemnity tell us that God is bigger and more powerful than anything which confronts us.
I hope you will be as moved by the music of Passion Week as are those of us preparing to share it with you.
