Russian Easter Festival

'Russian Easter Festival Overture' (La grande Pâque russe), is a concert overture written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888. It is based on themes from the 'obikhod', which is a printed collection of the most important and most frequently used canticles of the Russian Orthodox Church. The overture begins with a long introduction of a very slow tempo in which the voice of an archangel is represented by a dark trumpet solo. The slow introduction is followed by joyous allegro conveying a sense of excitement.

Dutch arranger Christiaan Janssen transcribed the overture for a large symphonic wind orchestra.