Victor Kalinnikov (1870–1927) was the younger brother of symphonist Vasily Kalinnikov, who died in 1901. After joining the faculty of the prestigious Moscow Synodal School of Church Music, Victor Kalinnikov composed 24 sacred choral settings for the Russian Orthodox All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy. Written in a chant-like idiom, these choral miniatures display a sonorous richness that foreshadows Rachmaninoff’s monumental All-Night Vigil. In an extraordinary piece of research, Russian scholar Marina Rakhmanova provides detailed biographical and analytical information about this talented composer, whose contributions have never been documented in the musical literature.
