On this new recording of Rachmaninov’s two great a capella sacred works, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and Vespers, award winning choral group Accentus and its musical director Laurence Equilbey are joined by the chamber choir founded by her teacher and mentor Eric Ericson. When combined, their forces make up an ensemble of 65 voices.

Founded by its current director Laurence Equilbey, Accentus is a professional chamber choir which appears in the leading concert halls and international festivals. The group collaborates regularly with prestigious conductors and orchestras (Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble intercontemporain, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Haute Normandie, Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik). The group’s recordings have received numerous prizes from the musical press.

These two vast sacred compositions by Sergei Rachmaninov may be seen as a striking manifestation of the return to the roots of Russian music which was at its height in the early twentieth century. Their appearance marks the conclusion of a century-long era inaugurated by Glinka. Rachmaninov achieved a synthesis of the school of St Petersburg (Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov) and that of Moscow, the ‘new school’ of church composers (Kastalsky, Chesnokov, Grechaninov). Rachmaninov used original melodies for certain movements and copies of them for others.