The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is a series of choral a cappella hymns in 15 movements, one of the most significant spiritual works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

The idea of creating his own musical compositions intended for playing in Orthodox churches came to Tchaikovsky in the late 1870s. In one of the letters to von Meck, written in 1878, Tchaikovsky mentions his desire to “do something in the field of church music.”

At the same time, the composer noted that the works of Bortniansky and Berezovsky, in his opinion, did not correspond to the style of icons, the architecture of churches or even the very spirit of Orthodox Christianity.

In his religious music, Pyotr Tchaikovsky intended to choose a different path, without completely rejecting the achievements of his predecessors, but not trying to imitate them. The composer wrote,

The liturgy was the composer’s first experience in the field of sacred music. For the first time it was performed in the church of Kyiv University, then in one of the Moscow churches, and in November 1880 — in a secret spiritual concert of the Moscow Conservatory.

The first performance open to the public took place on December 18, 1880 at the emergency meeting of the Russian Musical Society in Moscow, in the hall of the Assembly of the Nobility. It caused a wave of mixed opinions.

After the premiere, the performance of the Liturgy in churches was prohibited. The ban was lifted only after Tchaikovsky’s death: the synodal choir, which performed the Liturgy at the Moscow memorial service for the composer, has since sung it annually on Tchaikovsky’s Memorial Day.

In addition to the Liturgy, the composer wrote for the Church “All-Night Vigil”, “Nine Spiritual and Musical Compositions” and the choral composition “The Angel Cried”.