This intense supplicatory prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is the best-known movement from Chesnokov’s cycle In Days of Battle, op. 45, written during World War I. The evident success of this piece led the composer also to make an arrangement for men’s choir and alto solo, shortly after the publication of the original version for mixed choir. The powerful homophonic chords of the opening, employing rich Romantic harmonies, are followed by an insistent, litany-like repetition of a pleading melody in the top voices with murmured responses of the men’s parts. This is richly emotional music, expressing misfortune and desperation turning into hope and comfort.
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