Though Rachmaninov the composer is best remembered for his concerti and other piano works, the Symphony No. 2 (1906-1907), the tone poem Isle of the Dead (1909), and numerous songs, he also produced a small but distinguished body of choral music. The "choral symphony" The Bells (1913) is probably the best-known example of this part of the composer's output, but Rachmaninov also produced a number of other important choral works during the same decade. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom for chorus, Op. 31 (1910), was composed during one of the composer's regular summers in Ivanovka, a retreat where he also composed the Études-tableaux, Op. 33 (1911), and the Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 (1913). The namesake of The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (ca. 307-407) is one of the most revered saints in the Orthodox tradition. St. John (whose full name denotes "golden mouth") is held in particular esteem for his powers as an orator and theologian. He has been honored by composers on numerous occaions; the mass text that bears his name was set by, among other composers, Tchaikovsky (his Op. 41, composed in 1878). Rachmaninov's setting of St. John's Liturgy reflects the work's age-old origins in the Orthodox Church. In keeping with the Liturgy's roots, Rachmaninov makes use of unaccompanied voices, which sing the traditional text in Slavonic. Early on, the Russian Orthodox Church rejected the "modernist spirit" of Rachmaninov's work, causing it to lapse into obscurity as the Russian Revolution approached. The Liturgy, lost for decades, was reconstructed in the 1980s from archival sources and part books located in a New York monastery.

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