Composed in 1969-1970, this magnificent contemporary oratorio in 5 parts for 2 mixed choirs, 5 solo voices and symphony orchestra is a spine-tingling evocation of deep religious and otherworldly experience; although the text is taken from Old Church Slavic writings concerning the Russian Orthodox liturgy of Great Saturday and Vespers of Good Friday, this music speaks to the naked soul - the one existing before the churches appeared, revelation that could be Buddhist just as well as Christian. The elegant choral and orchestral material consists of tone clusters with major/minor chords embedded in them, wordless drones, chants in the rhythmically repeated chord style of the Russian Orthodox Church and ecstatic reaching for the highest notes in the soloists' range, whispered speaking, percussive and brass punctuations, random rushing sounds, steely bow cymbal sustains, and more, taking us into an inter-dimensional world of boundless interior and exterior.

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