The Concerto for Choir , premiered in 1986, is one of Alfred Schnittke's most important vocal works; The tradition of Russian-Orthodox church music is renewed and re-thought in him. Schnittke composed his concerto for chorus in the mid-1980s. The A cappella work in Russian is based on a medieval prayer collection. Schnittke processes elements of orthodox church music and translates them stylistically into the present. The result is chormusik in large format: mystical, archaic and of majestic luminosity.