Schnittke / Vedel / Bortniansky: Choral Concert

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Cultural Revolution sought to eradicate the influence of religion in the Russian Empire. Sacred music fell into public oblivion. Although Schnittke, whose father emigrated from Germany to the Soviet Union in 1926, was shaped by an atheistic state education system, he spiritually believed in "something greater". In 1982 he was baptized Catholic, and shortly before his death he was received into the Orthodox Church. This search for a religious identity can also be traced in his works. Vedel and Bortniansky are among the most important composers of 18th-century Ukrainian classical music. Little is known about Vedel's life. The works attributed to him, including 31 choral concertos, are all set to liturgical texts or Bible verses. In these works, the traditions of the Orthodox church music of his homeland, the Ukrainian Baroque tradition, and folk music merge with a new Western European operatic and instrumental style. Bortniansky is highly regarded for bringing the genre of the sacred concerto to its peak. Consisting of set verses from the Psalms, which were sung during the Eucharist in church services, its purpose at the time was much broader: as a universal genre, it was the highlight of the Orthodox liturgy, the adornment of state ceremonies, and was also intended for a kind of domestic music-making. In the Western repertoire, it is closest to the instrumental concerto grosso, with the difference that no instruments are permitted in the Orthodox church service.