‘Hymn to the Cherubim’ is probably the most frequently performed section of Rachmaninov’s Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op 31, a sequence of twenty movements. ‘St John Chrysostom’ is the title given in the Russian Orthodox Church to the Eucharist-like liturgy used on weekdays and on most Sundays. ‘Not for a long time have I written anything with such pleasure’, Rachmaninov commented on completing the work. The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom was performed shortly afterwards, in November 1910. It thus predates by some five years the composer’s only other significant piece of liturgical music, the Vespers, Op 37. Rachmaninov had long been interested in Russian Orthodox music, and during his teens had even attended classes in Moscow with Stepan Smolenski, one of the leading figures in the field. Though the Liturgy contains no chant material, the simplicity of the harmony—the score of the ‘Hymn’ contains only a handful of accidentals—reflects this interest. Not everyone approved. Alexander Kastalsky, Director of the Moscow Synodal Choir, whom Rachmaninov had consulted during composition of the work, objected to certain ‘subjective’ elements in the music and, remarkably, performance in church was banned owing to the work’s ‘spirit of modernism’.

from notes by Martin Ennis © 2018