Choral Christmas: Haunting Slovak

At 9am GMT on each day of Advent, I’ll be posting a YouTube video of a piece which, in my opinion, celebrates the best of music made by the human voice. You can access the full Choral Christmas here.

Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil, movement 8: O Praise the Name of the Lord

The video can be watched on YouTube.com in HD, by clicking on the player twice.

This movement, part of a glorious work sung in Church Slavonic, has some magnificent interplay between male and female voices, and of course the impact of the sheer volume of singers is breathtaking. You can find a score here (select movement 8). The translation below is reproduced from Signum Records.

The words

(Polyeleyinye Stikhi)
KHVALITE IMYA GOSPODNE. Alliluya.
Khvalite, rabi, Gospoda. Alliluya.
Blagosloven Gospod ot Siona, zhivyi vo Iyerusaleme. Alliluya.
Ispovedaitesya Gospodevi, yako blag. Alliluya.
Yako v vek milost Ego. Alliluya.
Ispovedaitesya Bogu nebesnomu. Alliluya.
Yako v vek milost Ego. Alliluya.

(Polyeleos Verses)
PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD. Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O you his servants. Alleluia.
Blessed be the Lord from Zion, he who dwells in Jerusalem. Alleluia.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. Alleluia.
For his mercy endureth for ever. Alleluia.
O give thanks unto the God of heaven. Alleluia.
For his mercy endureth for ever. Alleluia.