Anthony Antolini must be used to triumphs. After the monumental victory of retrieving Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom” from obscurity, where it had fallen under Soviet control for most of this century, he also has made it a personal mission to make up for those 70 years when no one heard the Russian composer’s liturgical work. Since he first performed the piece in the late 1980s, he has traveled around the country as well as to Russia to spread the word that this choral odyssey is vitally intact.

Antolini’s dogged efforts paid off with winning success again last night when he directed the Bowdoin College Chorus and the Down East Singers in a presentation of “The Liturgy of St. John,” which lasts a little over an hour and is sung a cappella in the original Slavonic language. Although one might not readily link the symphonic sounds of this work with, say, the piano concertos for which Rachmaninoff is best known, it still has the emotionalism and deeply Russian sensibilities that are, indeed, integral to Rachmaninoff’s music.

In the tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, the music moves through 20 segments of prayer. From the haunting qualities of the first antiphon through the chants of an augmented litany, the waves of alleluias, and joyful explosion of the closing “Glory Be to the Father,” it was clear that the world owes a debt to Antolini. Additionally, he has shaped two amateur choruses into inspired groups of singers whose confidence and acumen with this work are truly laudable. Given that many of the singers are untrained, the concert had an amazing resonance and sophistication.

Missing from the presentation was Andre Papkov, whose basso voice usually carries many of the solo parts. Papkov was scheduled to sing with the group but was detained when his flight to Maine got canceled. Antolini, a tenor, took over many of Papkov’s sections. Other solo parts were dropped or sung by Bangor native Clayton Smith.

Despite the last-minute change, this Bangor debut of “The Liturgy of St. John” overflowed with precise, subtle exuberance. And given the journey the piece has made from its beginning in 1910 to being nearly forgotten, there was plenty to celebrate.