The Seraphim Singers, with the Renaissance Men ensemble, performed Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil at Holy Name Church in West Roxbury on March. 7. Interspersed with Ukrainian folk songs, Greek chants, and displayed icons from The Icon Museum in Clinton, MA, the recital created a spiritual atmosphere of music that focuses on peace and an end to violence and cultural loss worldwide.

Music Director Eric Christopher Perry led 30 singers in Russian and Ukrainian solemn folk songs which blended well with the religious Rachmaninoff piece. Included was “Oh, a duckling swims on the Tysa River,” a song now used as a requiem for fallen Ukrainian protesters and soldiers killed in the current war with Russia, and “Oh, on the hill, on the hill,” a Ukrainian Cossack song. Program notes included historical context and translations from Cyrillic, highlighting the spiritual aspects of the works.

Perry said it is Seraphin’s mission to perform music that reflects diverse composers, examines deeply human themes, and challenges audiences to act on the world’s issues.

“The conflict occurring in Ukraine is still ongoing and is still very, very heavy for all of us. We here at Seraphim also love the great choral masterworks, the big pieces. The Rachmaninoff All Night Vigil is certainly something that, while Seraphim has done a couple of movements, has never done it in full.”

Perry said he felt that pairing Ukrainian folk songs brings commonalities and creates more meaningful context.

“Whether it be chant or folk song singing, monodic singing that is solo and a capella, but also to find ways to hopefully bring an end to this conflict through music and to find a way to make a great expression of peace with all of the music in the region,” he said.

The concert understandably required many months of preparation. “It took three weeks alone to be sure the text and translations were correct, and working with the ensemble was almost three months, making it about an eight-month long project,” said Perry.

He said he feels good about the outcome. “Remember, too, that this piece was not intended for church use, and so I felt that there was a little bit of license to explore different options in terms of how this music could be presented,” he said.

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The little over-one-hour concert provided time for solos so that other singers could catch their breath and have a sip of water.

“As a vocalist myself – as a tenor who has sung in the chorus for the Rachmaninoff All Night Vigil many times – I can tell you that it is tour de force vocally,” he said. “And so, if there is any moment to gather emotional thought, spiritual thought, vocal energy, like if there are moments to do that, then yeah, we're happy to be creative and use it to our advantage.”

Perry said he feels that the result has been a success due to the skill of the singers.

“So many of the members in this group have musical lives beyond Seraphim, which is one of the great advantages of working with this ensemble, is that they're incredibly astute musicians,” he said. “And also, just as the mission states that we are a broader cultural and social awareness type ensemble where it comes with music, I think that kind of sensitivity also shows with the personnel as well.”

To learn about upcoming Seraphim concerts, go to www.seraphimsingers.org.