Rachmaninov | Liturgy of st. John Chrysostom

Sergei Rachmaninov's setting of the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom - Eastern Christianity's common Eucharistic service liturgy - is regarded as one of the great cornerstones of 20th-century sacred music. This work of symphonic proportions was composed in the summer of 1910, in less than three weeks. After its completion, Rachmaninov wrote to a friend that he had been carried away by the project and that it had been a long time since he had written music with such pleasure. The outcome was judged by contemporary church officials as "...absolutely wonderful, even too beautiful... it is not church music."

Sergei Rachmaninov Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
Latvian Radio Choir
Soloists | Kārlis Rūtentāls, Gundars Dziļums
Conductor | Sigvards Kļava