By Candlelight: Choir of King’s College London at St Albans International Organ Festival
11th July 2025
Joseph Fort conductor
Sergei Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil
A late-night performance in the atmospheric and historical setting of St Michael’s Church, St Albans AL3 4SL
Rachmaninoff’s extraordinary Vespers immortalises the music and rituals of the Orthodox Church. Lasting just over an hour, this quintessentially Russian work celebrates ‘magnificent melodies’ the composer remembered from his childhood – ten movements quote directly from ancient chants, and the remaining five use his own ‘conscious counterfeits’.
Presented by the St Albans International Organ Festival: celebrating organs and a lot more besides
