In the realm of Russian Orthodox church music, Our Father from Liturgy No. 2 represents a highly innovative setting of the Lord's Prayer. Rather than set this text in the traditional Russian Orthodox style of simple recitative on a few changing chordal patterns, Gretchaninoff chose a much more melodic style, using motives reminiscent of znamenny chant. The resulting work is much more extended and larger in scope than any previous settings of the Lord's Prayer; as such it is probably better suited for performance in a sacred concert than in the course of a church service.
