By contemporary Orthodox music, we mean religious music written by Orthodox composers in recent years. Chronologically, we consider 1988, the year of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', as the starting point of Orthodox modernity.
Vladimir Fayner - the composer's professional interest and creative inspiration is given to the issue of applying the contrapuntal principles of the development of melodies and tunes in relation to the applied tasks of liturgical performance.
The reproduction or, if you like, the illustrated embodiment of the declared method has been convincingly embodied in a whole series of capital opuses, which are of undoubted interest for performance.
"Bless, my soul, the Lord"- a work for a choir or three soloists with developed voices. It is necessary to work with each voice separately and then combine the parties in a polyphonic system.
"Trisagion"- a work for a choir or three soloists, each voice is sufficiently developed. There are many melodic chants in the parts, which are complex intonationally and rhythmically.
Irina Denisova- the author of more than 80 church hymns, harmonizations and adaptations. The musical collection of her compositions "Singing All-Moving", published by the publishing house of the St. Elisabeth Monastery, has already undergone a second edition and is in demand among Orthodox musicians in Belarus and Russia. The same publishing house recently released an "author's" CD by I. Denisova under the same title. A significant role in the works is played by a single intonation built on the synthesis of "archaic" and "modern" musical structures. This type of intonation is becoming an important sign of modern thinking in composer creativity.
Concert "Under Your Grace"- very expressive concert chanting, requires work on the harmonic system, since deviations are very common, chromatic moves in parts should be worked out. Rich dynamic ensemble.
Kontakion of Akathist to the Apostle Andrew- in the chant there are deviations in different keys, which can cause certain difficulties for the performers. It is also necessary to pay attention to the change in size in the middle of the work and to the tempo dramaturgy.
III.Conclusion
Thus, I would like to emphasize that sacred music is a fertile ground for the vocal education of a choir, since initially it was based on singing practice, and not on abstract composer research.
Simplicity, spirituality, flight, tenderness of sound - this is the basis for the performance of church compositions. Immersion in the atmosphere of spirituality, the desire to embody the high images embedded in the chants, a reverent attitude to the text, natural expressiveness from the heart, educates the soul of the child and has a positive effect on the formation of his aesthetic views. And therefore, it is necessary to include compositions of Russian sacred music in the repertoire of children's choirs.
Russian music, and indeed all Russian art throughout its history, has been most closely connected with the deep Orthodox worldview. It is here that the roots of the originality and originality of our culture. Over the past century, this connection has been forcibly destroyed. Restoring this spiritual connection is the most difficult task facing our society. Only on this path I see the future of our art.
G.V. Sviridov
When I think about music, I am reminded that it was performed in cathedrals and churches. I want her to have the same sacred, the same reverent attitude, so that our listener would look for, and most importantly, find answers to the most important, most intimate questions of her life, her destiny.
G.V. Sviridov
METROPOLIT HILARION (ALFEEV)
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He is the author of a number of musical works of the chamber and oratorio genre, including: "St. Matthew Passion" for soloists, "Memento" for a symphony orchestra, "May the Saints rest in peace" for male choir and orchestra.
Metropolitan Hilarion's works are performed by the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Moscow Synodal Choir.
Metropolitan Hilarion is the creator of the genre of Russian spiritual instrumental-choir oratorio on liturgical texts using the intonations of Russian church singing, elements of the Baroque musical style and the style of Russian composers of the 20th century.
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ARCHIMANDRITE MATTHEW (MORMYL)
Everyone should sing as if he sings for the last time in his life.
Archimandrite Matthew (in the world Lev Vasilyevich Mormyl) is an outstanding church composer and choirmaster. Born on March 5, 1938 in the North Caucasus, in the village of Arkhonskaya, in a Cossack family with hereditary musical traditions.
Father Matthew directed the choir of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra for almost 50 years. During this time, he created a school of church singing, transcribed many hymns and wrote a large number of works that today are commonly called "Lavra".
In the 1950s and 1960s, he collected and recorded fragments of traditional church and monastic singing that had been almost completely destroyed in previous decades. When churches and monasteries began to open throughout the country in the 1990s, copies of his arrangements became the basis of the repertoire for the newly created church choirs.
DEACON SERGIY TRUBACHEV
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In 1950 he graduated from the Institute. Gnesins, in 1954 - the Moscow Conservatory.
Deacon Sergius Trubachev created numerous church singing works, made harmonizations of monastic and ancient Russian chants.
GEORGY VASILIEVICH SVIRIDOV
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In 1936, Georgy Sviridov entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he became a student of D.D. Shostakovich.
One of the key themes in Sviridov's work is Russia.
He created liturgical works for church choirs.
DAVID FYODOROVICH TUKHMANOV
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Creativity of David Tukhmanov has won national recognition and love. He composed about two hundred songs, music for films and performances. The composer also works in the academic genre, he wrote works: the oratorio "The Legend of Yermak", the poem for violin and orchestra "Holy Night", numerous chamber vocal compositions. His opera The Queen was staged at the Helikon-Opera in Moscow and on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
David Fedorovich Tukhmanov is a holder of the badge of honor of the Russian Foundation for Public Recognition.
Since 2008 - member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Culture and Art.
Since 2010 - Member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture.
PATRIARSH CHOIR OF THE TEMPLE OF CHRIST THE SAVIOR
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The choir at the church was founded in 1998, and already in 2000, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II, the team received the status of the Patriarchal Choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Since 2007, the choir has been directed by the choir director Ilya Tolkachev.
In addition to performing spiritual chants during divine services, the choir participates in important church and state celebrations, arranges classical music concerts in the Hall of Church Cathedrals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The basis of the repertoire of the Patriarchal Choir is made up of outstanding works of Russian sacred music, arrangements of Russian folk songs and works by Russian composers: P.I. Tchaikovsky, S.V. Rachmaninov, P.G. Chesnokova, A.T. Grechaninov.
The Patriarchal Choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is actively touring.
(FLV file. Duration 12 min. Size 97.3 Mb)
CHOIR OF MOSCOW SRETENSKY MONASTERY
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Today the choir consists of 30 people, their own composers and arrangers.
Choir director - Honored Artist of Russia Nikon Zhila.
In addition to regular services in the Sretensky Monastery, the choir sings at solemn Patriarchal services in the Moscow Kremlin, participates in international music competitions and missionary trips of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The choir performed at concert venues: the library of the US Congress in Washington, Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center in New York, the Arts Center in Toronto, Town Hall in Sydney, Berliner Dom, Cadogan Hall in London, repeatedly gave concerts in Notre Dame de Bet.
In addition to sacred music, the choir's repertoire also contains the best works of the song tradition of Russia, which consists of Russian, Ukrainian, Cossack folk songs, romances and songs of the war years.
(FLV file. Duration 16 min. Size 123.5 Mb)
MOSCOW SYNODAL CHOIR
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At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, the choir's repertoire included not only church hymns, but also works of secular music, as well as arrangements of Russian folk songs. The choir performed works by Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Kastalsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
In 1919, when the Kremlin cathedrals were closed, the choir ceased to exist for a long time.
On January 3, 2010, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill gave his blessing to revive the Moscow Synodal Choir on the basis of the church team at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Bolshaya Ordynka.
Today the choir has 80 members.
(FLV file. Duration 14 min. Size 109.1 Mb)
Church music has existed as long as the Church itself has existed. For two thousand years, it has turned into an art that requires the highest skill, absorbed the traditions of the peoples into whose culture it came, but still retained its unique property to bring a person closer to God.
The path of Russian spiritual music was not easy: it sometimes became more complicated, sometimes it strove for simplification; it used ancient Russian, Greek, Byzantine, Italian, Georgian singing traditions; the primordially Russian hook notation was forgotten and revived again. And yet it has not ceased to be a prayer - simple and bright. The history of music can be studied, but it cannot be conveyed in dates - It becomes understandable only through Biographies and the work of the people who create it.
This publication presents a collection of articles devoted to the life and creative path of composers who have left their mark on the history of sacred music. Written by different authors at different times, they form a work that is unique in its breadth of coverage.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHURCH MUSIC
Singing in the Christian First Church. Archpriest D. Allemanov
Songwriters and hymn-singers of the primordial Church
Church singing in III and IV centuries
Songwriters and song-singers of III and IV centuries
Singing in the V-VII centuries
Songwriters and singers of the 5th - 7th centuries
Singing and songwriters of the Greco-Eastern Church from the 8th century
Songwriters and song-singers from the 8th century. until the 15th century inclusive
Singing of the Western Church
Names of the most prominent theorists of the sacred music of the Western Church
Venerable John of Damascus, chanter of Eastern Orthodox
Churches. Archpriest D. Razumovsky
Historical review of the chanters of the Greek Church. Archbishop Filaret (Gumilevsky)
Saint Basil the Great
Saint John Chrysostom
Reverend Roman the Melodist
Venerable Cosmas of Maium
CHURCH MUSIC IN RUSSIA
Singing groups and singers of Ancient Rus'. . V. Martynov
Liturgical singing and composer creativity. V. Martynov
Beginning of partes singing in Russia. Archpriest D. Razumovsky
The first polyphonic, or partes, singing of the Russian Church
The second era of partes singing in Russia
Partes singing in the Russian Church at Bortnyansky
Partes singing of the Russian Church after Bortnyansky
About Church singing. L.Pariyskiy
Introductory Lecture on the History of Church Singing. S. Smolensky
One of the "sick" questions of church singing. A Nikolsky
Ecphonetics in Orthodox worship. B. Kutuzov
Life rules for an amateur regent. Archpriest A. Pravdolyubov
Religious tasks of the church choir. Archpriest A. Pravdolyubov
CHURCH MUSIC COMPOSERS
Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky. M. Rytsareva
Bortnyansky Dmitry Stepanovich. A. Kashpur, V. Avramenko
About the personality and church-musical creativity of AL. Wedel. V. Petrushevsky
Petr Ivanovich Turchaninov. S. Sheburenkov
Archimandrite Feofan (Feodor Alexandrov). G.Alfeev
Glinka and his spiritual and musical activity. I. Solovyov
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. A. Kashpur, V. Avramenko
Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky. V. Bakumenko
Stepan Vasilievich Smolensky - the founder of the new
directions. Hierodeacon Andrew (Danilov)
In memory of the church composer AD Kastalsky. I. Parisky
Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov. V. Avramenko
Grechaninov Alexander Tikhonovich. V. Avramenko
Church hymns D.V. Allemanov. S. Sheburenkov
Viktor Sergeevich Kalinnikov. A Kashpur, E. Ignatieva
Church composer priest Vasily Zinoviev. V. Bakumenko
Milestones in the life and work of P.G. Chesnokovkh Deacon A. Nefedov
Alexey Evlampievich Turenkov. A. Kashpur, E. Ignatieva, E. Targonskaya
Father Matthew: I never built anything on someone else's foundation. M. Denisov
50 SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF CHURCH MUSIC COMPOSERS. E. Ignatieva
GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS
View other books and CDs
The beauty of Orthodox Divine Liturgy is determined by a number of complementary factors: church architecture, bell ringing, clergymen's vestments, adherence to ancient liturgical rules, and, of course, church singing. After decades of state atheism, ancient chants are returning to the churches of Holy Rus', and new musical works are appearing. Today we asked the regent of the Holy Resurrection Church in the city of Maikop, Professor Svetlana Khvatova, to talk about composer's work.
About modern church composer creativity
The process of temple construction and temple decoration in the post-Soviet period is associated with the widespread restoration of the singing business and is characterized by an unequal approach to its implementation. These years were fertile for filling the restored and newly opened churches. Somewhat earlier, in the 60s-80s, music schools and colleges were opened everywhere (in every city of regional significance), conservatories (in large regional centers). D. D. Kabalevsky's program was implemented in schools, one of the main ideas of which was "each class is a choir." The specialty of the choirmaster was extremely in demand. There were more than ten standards of the choral profile (academic and folk, professional and amateur orientation, middle and higher level, etc.). The choral class was included in the curricula of other specialties (for example, music theory). After the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', the creative potential of the musicians who chose the church service found a diverse application and was realized in various forms: this is regency, singing in the choir, liturgical reading, musical and pedagogical activities in Sunday schools, and - if necessary - harmonization, arrangement, arrangements for church ensembles and choirs. Not surprisingly, the new activity has become quite popular. The newly minted singers, who did not have theological training, but who knew choral technology and were trained in theoretical disciplines, the basics of composition and stylization, enthusiastically began to work on the kliros. Only the lazy did not write for the temple.
While investigating this problem, we have collected more than 9,000 pieces of writings by more than a hundred authors of the post-Soviet period who referred to canonical liturgical texts. Informatization of all spheres of activity has led to the uncontrolled spread of the remake. The quality of the scores that rushed into the temples like an avalanche, to put it mildly, is different.
An analysis of the liturgical writings published in the last twenty-five years shows that this time period can be conditionally divided into two periods:
The first is the 90s. - the time of a significant increase in the number of church composers, the filling of church libraries with musical material of a variety of styles and quality, the time of "trial and error", an increase in the share of modern author's music for ensembles and choirs, and appeal to various liturgical texts - from everyday to the rarest Second - 2000s - the time of intensive work on the quality of the sound in church choirs, explanatory work with the choir directors, the organization of Internet resources with a didactic focus, the resumption of the procedure of a kind of “sharpening of notes” recommended for performance (“By the Blessing ...”, etc.). All this has borne fruit: church choirs have become more careful in the selection of repertoire and more cautious in creative experiments; the number of those writing for the kliros has sharply decreased, a group of the most performed authors has emerged, and sheet music of works that have received recognition in the regency environment are being published and republished. Regency websites and forums became more active, discussions crystallized, if not a common opinion, then at least a position…
Ways of development of liturgical singing creativity today exist both radically renovationist and fundamentally traditional. Between these directions, in the shadow of the recognizable style of liturgical music, there are dozens of composers and hundreds of chanters-arrangers, subordinating their author's individuality to service, warmed by the thought that they are doing for the glory of God.
These are musicians who have received both a special musical and spiritual education, who serve in the temple - choristers, choir directors, clergymen. They work selflessly, earnestly, sometimes taking monastic vows, sometimes reaching a fairly high level in the church hierarchy (among them are three archbishops). Ideal, but, as you know, quite rare. If at the same time they are talented and gifted as composers, phenomena of the level of Chesnokov, Kastalsky are born. The activities of many of them - A. Grinchenko, ig. I. Denisova, archbishop. Jonathan (Eletsky), archim. Matthew (Mormyl), P. Mirolyubov, S. Ryabchenko, deacon. Sergius (Trubacheva), S. Tolstokulakov, V. Fainer and others - this is a "dedication to the church choir": regenting, liturgical singing and composition - a single whole and the main work of life.
There are also choir directors and choristers for whom singing in the church choir is a festive (Sunday) affair, the rest of the time is devoted to secular work, pedagogical, concert, etc. They are regularly engaged in arrangements, harmonizations, presentation “in a similar way” of troparions, kontakions that are absent in musical sources , stichera, and only occasionally creating the original author's chant. This is a weekly duty, a kind of "production necessity", making up for the shortcomings of traditional singing training. The artistic level of their creative works is different. Realizing this, the authors publish only the most successful and in demand chants in their opinion.
There are also composers and performers who experiment with the canonical word, bring in the latest techniques, and re-text their favorite music.
A modern composer, when creating spiritual chants for the church, more or less consciously chooses an artistic prototype for “imitation”, “work on a model”: everyday life, “in the spirit of Byzantine chants”, a recreation of an already found textural device, which later became typical in the works of others on the same liturgical text.
They exist in many works as role models. These include chants in the harmonizations of A.F. Lvov and S.V. Smolensky, prot. P. I. Turchaninov. "Models for imitation" and today are the above style models, as well as specific notes, sometimes used as "citations". Often these are the Liturgy of the Byzantine chant (Liturgy of ancient tunes) as presented by I. Sakhno, Everyday life in the harmonization of A.F. Lvov, Everyday life in the harmonization of S. Smolensky, tunes into the voice of tropar, procimne, stichera and irmoloy Kiev, Moscow and St. Petersburg (on the southern parishes are especially loved by Kiev parishes).
This happened with P. Chesnokov's "Angel Crying" - in imitation of the genre of "choral romance", a lot of chants for solo and choir were created with the melody of a romance warehouse, an intimate-lyrical figurative plan. This is a fundamentally new ratio of voices for an Orthodox church - not a “canonarch - choir”, not an exclamation - an answer, but a soloist who expresses his deeply personal feelings, his intimate attitude and the experience of prayer not as a conciliar act into which it is necessary to “join”, but as a deeply personal, individually colored statement.
The author's style can become a role model. The stylistics of the works of A. Arkhangelsky, P. Chesnokov, A. Kastalsky, A. Nikolsky, and today S. Trubachev, M. Mormyl had a tremendous impact on the development of church music (and continues to have). The lyric-sentimental shade of some church compositions, their “spiritual” structure inevitably leads to the penetration into the chants of the means inherent in other genres, including modern song intonations: I. Denisova, A. Grinchenko, Y. Tomchak.
The psychological effect of the “joy of recognition” of familiar melodies is assessed in two ways: on the one hand, the eternal problem of “secularization” of liturgical chants is again actualized, on the other hand, it is precisely such chants, more spiritual than spiritual, that resonate with the parishioners, since this is the language they know . One can treat this phenomenon in different ways, but this is an objective fact that characterizes the specifics of the processes taking place in the temple arts. Many priests stop such composing experiments, arguing that the author should not impose his emotional attitude to the text - in the liturgical Word everyone should find their own prayer path.
Today, composers, proceeding from personal taste preferences, auditory experience and singing traditions of a particular temple, most often choose stylistic guidelines for the so-called "melodic" and "harmonic" singing. The first is defined by the authors as a reliance on the traditions of Holy Trinity master singing (as in S. Trubachev and M. Mormyl), however, sometimes declarative, when external signs of chant or its individual elements are used, less often - quotations (as in Yu. Mashina, A. Ryndin, D. Smirnov, Vl. Uspensky, etc.).
Choosing the style of "harmonic singing", the authors follow the patterns of different eras: the music of classicism (M. Berezovsky and D. Bortnyansky, S. Degtyarev, F. Lvov A. Lvov), romanticism (A. Arkhangelsky, A. Lirin, G. Orlov) , "new direction" (A. Grechaninov, A. Kastalsky, S. Panchenko, P. Chesnokov, N. Cherepnin).
Many composers freely combine stylistic devices of different epochs and trends in one composition (cycle or separate issue) - “The Severe Litany”, “My Soul” by S. Ryabchenko, “The Hourly Prayer of Iosaph Belgorodsky” by S. Trubachev, etc. Thus, based on specific liturgical and artistic task, the author chooses the stylistic device that, in his opinion, is most consistent with the plan.
In the perception of the parishioner, chants of any style are related, in comparison, for example, with mass music that sounds from everywhere, or with the so-called elite, based on the latest, sometimes extremist composing techniques. From this point of view, any church chants are quite traditional.
The style of secular music could not help but influence the choice and nature of the use of stylistic clichés. Therefore, let us pay attention to the fact that the arsenal of means of musical expressiveness of spiritual chants of the post-Soviet period is constantly changing, with more caution than in the "secular" genres, but is steadily expanding. Despite the constant and persistent "style-preserving" efforts of church leaders, the stylistic evolution of liturgical hymns goes almost parallel to the general musical one, of course, with the taboo of what is not characteristic of sacred music.
Without resorting to the search for hidden signs of figures, in many works we find bright sound-visual and theatrical techniques that are correlated with the corresponding sound emblems. For example, in the chants “Play, Light” by L. Novoselova and “Angel Crying” by A. Kiselev, in the choral texture, you can find methods of imitation of bell ringing (and in the Easter collection edited by M. I. Vashchenko there is even a special performance remark to Troparion " Christ is risen" - "bell"). A. N. Zakharov in the concert “The Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos” in the part of the choir depicts the steps of the Virgin and the gradual ascent of the steps (to the words “Angels Entry ...”), against which the soprano solo tells about the event in a lyrical romance vein (“ The Holy Mother of the Virgin The Ever-Virgin is lightly see-through").
The effect of light and shadow is used by I. Denisova in the “Kontakion of the Akathist to St. Great Martyr Catherine” (high register loudly to the words “enemy of the visible” and a sharp change in dynamics and transition to a low register to the words “and invisible”). In the concert by Y. Mashin for male choir in the second part (“My Soul”), the words “arise” with an octave ascending leap indicate a petition for spiritual uplift, which in the context of a singsong traditional melody is perceived explosively. In most of the Cherubim, the words “Let us raise the King of all” use ascending to the upper register, the words “Angelic invisibly” turn off the lower voices, and the phrase sounds as transparent as possible.
In the canonical genres of the ROC chants there are unchanging liturgical texts that are repeated daily, and therefore familiar to the parishioner. If we consider the phenomenon of unchanging chants from this point of view, it becomes clear why they attracted the attention of composers - the question was not what to say, but how to do it. Moreover, since the XVIII century. the parishioner was familiar with other music - theatrical and concert, which, perhaps, had a stronger emotional influence on him.
Tradition, assessed as a triviality in secular music, in liturgical music, on the contrary, becomes a necessary quality. In the context of church writing, the idea that “the unity of traditionality (canonicity) and variability is a general artistic pattern” (Bernstein), applicable to musical art, seems fair.
Borrowings have always served as additional incentives for the development of church music: "external" - mainly due to the chants of other areas of Christianity (more often - Catholic and Protestant) and due to the music of secular genres (choral and instrumental) and "internal", traditionally associated with the introduction into worship Russian Orthodox Church of the hymns of Serbian, Bulgarian and other composers of the Orthodox diaspora. They can be organic to varying degrees. In some cases, the composer was brought up within the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra or other major spiritual and educational centers in Russia and is familiar with Russian traditions, in others, the chant is composed taking into account local national traditions and using appropriate linguistic means (A. Dianov, St. Mokranyats, R. Tvardovsky, Yu. Tolkach).
These tendencies reflect (in a broad sense) the peculiarity of Russian culture - its susceptibility to the foreign, the ability to accumulate the necessary artistic means to achieve the desired result, in order to include them in the traditional context, without violating the canonical prayer dispensation of the corresponding rank. The relative closeness of church art does not become an obstacle to internal and external borrowing.
There is a certain conflict potential in this openness, since the temptation of “radical renovationism” is always great, which, however, is sometimes indefinable for a worldly person by ear - innovations fit so organically into the musical range of worship.
At the end of the 20th century, church choirs turned into a kind of experimental platform. It can be assumed that there were even more authors composing liturgical hymns - not all of them were published, but a lot was sung during the service.
The system of artistic and aesthetic means of church chants at a number of turning points in the development of liturgical music was close to destruction, but survived due to the presence of variable chants of the day, which are a stylistic guide for the composer and an appeal to the experience of arranging znamenny chant, as a necessary step in mastering the "technology" of creating liturgical chants . Author's music is influenced by general musical processes, but the means of musical expression are included in the arsenal of "allowed" very selectively. The introduction of chants of various styles into the musical palette of the liturgical day contributes to their perception as a kind of “multiple unity”.
The canonical "work" is never the product of the author's own creativity, since it belongs to the conciliar cause of the church. In the conditions of the canon, the freedom of the author's self-expression is very limited. The nature of the work of modern composers who create for the church has its own specifics, which differ both in motivation and expected results, and in the criteria for evaluating the created works, in their attitude to the problem of tradition and innovation, in the choice of means of musical expression, in the use of one or another compositional technique.
The rules for the chanting presentation of liturgical texts for the partes style were described by N. P. Diletsky. Later, in the manuals of N. M. Potulov, A. D. Kastalsky, and, in our time, E. S. Kustovsky, N. A. Potemkina, N. M. Kovin, T. I. Koroleva and V. Yu. Pereleshina explained in detail the structural regularities of the melodic-harmonic formulas of troparia, kontakia, prokimnos, stichera and irmos, guided by which one could “sing” any liturgical text. And this at all times was perhaps the main component of the regent's professional competence.
In the 19th - early 20th centuries, graduates of the regency class received a very versatile training: the program included training in theoretical, auxiliary and additional disciplines: elementary music theory, harmony, solfeggio and church singing of the middle course, playing the violin and piano, managing a church choir, reading scores and church rules.
By the Decree of the Holy Synod of 1847, in accordance with the regulation on the ranks of regents developed by A.F. Lvov, “only regents with a certificate of the 1st highest rank could compose new choral music for liturgical use. The certificate of the highest category was issued in exceptional cases. There were practically no regents of such qualification in the province. And even in a later period, when the position had already lost its force (after 1879), the lack of appropriate skills hindered the development of composer creativity. For the most part, the regents were practitioners, so their composing experiences did not go beyond transcriptions and arrangements.
And today, composition is not taught in regency-singing seminaries and schools, the discipline “choral arrangement”, which allows elements of creativity, is aimed at adapting the musical text to one or another composition of the choir (which corresponds to the essence of arrangement). In our opinion, this situation is due to the fact that the traditional, continuity of the repertoire was valued much more than its renewal.
Until recently, such a type of choir obedience as the rewriting and editing of liturgical notes was widespread. In the process of work, the musician got acquainted with the style of regular tunes, with musical graphics, which could not but affect his own arrangements that subsequently appeared. They are a stylistic guide for the composer so that his chant does not create dissonance with others.
Those who serve in the temple often do not consider such experiments, and the creative work associated with it, to be their own creativity. Authors understand "renunciation of one's own will" in different ways: many of them do not indicate authorship. Among the choir directors and choristers, it is considered bad form to indicate the authorship of such works, and the highest praise for the composer is the assertion that the chant is imperceptible among other liturgical ones. Thus, the church composer initially thinks of his role as the role of a “second plan”, he favorably represents the sounding tradition, offering arranged statutory melodies in the most convenient and natural form for performance.
In a situation where the vast majority of parishes in Russia practice polyphonic singing in parts, almost every regent needs to master the skills of harmonization and arrangement, and knowledge in the field of shaping sacred choral music is also relevant.
Since the changeable chants of the day are often absent in the notes, and the musicians who have received a “secular” musical education in singing “to the voice” do not speak, the regent (or one of the choristers who own this “technology”) has to make up for the missing, following the existing examples of a similar genre . It is also possible to “exactly follow the original”, when the liturgical text is sung “like it is”. This type of creative work is a very common occurrence in preparation for the All-Night Vigil (“completion” of the missing stichera, troparia or kontakia). The process of creating a chant is associated with a detailed analysis of the syntactic structure, the rhythm of the verse of analogues, copying typical melodic-harmonic turns, and “placing” the proposed text within the framework of the melodic-harmonic formula of a certain voice. This can be compared with the creation of a copy of the famous miraculous icon or other work of ancient or close to us in time ecclesiastical art.
There are well-known guardians of church affairs who devote their “musical ministry” to the presentation of liturgical texts “on voice” in accordance with the canon, music typing, editing and distribution in Orthodox Internet resources.
Osmosis is a stylistic reference for any Orthodox composer. It is precisely through changing chants that the singing system of worship remains capable of restoring the lost balance.
The work on liturgical compositions with an orientation to samples of different eras and styles is in general in line with the general artistic trends of the second half of the 20th century. At this time, various stylistic layers coexist in the art of music, uniting in a kind of supra-historical context. For church singing, "multiple unity" is traditional and natural; in the second half of the twentieth century. it was mastered by composers, being subjected to theoretical comprehension. The church singing tradition demonstrated an organic combination of stylistically heterogeneous material, since such a practice of compiling a “musical row” of worship is not new.
The evolution of the style of liturgical chants forms a kind of wave-like movement, when the artistic principle is either relatively released, or again completely subordinate to the canon. On the example of the work of church composers, one can observe how they work towards expanding the means of the poetics of liturgical music, periodically returning to transcriptions and arrangements of ancient melodies, as if measuring the results of their work with canonical samples tested over the centuries.
The appeal to the ancient Russian cultural and singing heritage serves as an incentive for renewal, changes in the liturgical singing culture. Octoechos in it is a value that does not depend on the time of the appearance of the chant and its arrangement, and contains a complex of essential features that determine the type of chant. Variant, and not original creative refraction of canonical hymns is due to the desire to preserve the traditional singing prayer dispensation of worship. The presence of a system of norms and rules is characteristic of both ecclesiastical and secular arts. Both of them are designed for the perception of the laity, therefore, when creating an essay, the borrowing of language means is inevitable.
The radical difference between the two types of creativity lies in the highest goal that the author sees in front of him. For a church composer, the process of serving God, coupled with boldness, hope, humility and obedience, is just a series of steps on the path to salvation. While service to Art, associated with the desire to be “more skillful than everyone”, to become the first in one’s work, efforts towards achieving the goal, overthrowing the old authorities, creating new rules, is aimed at acquiring fame, the desire to be heard. Perhaps, in some happy cases, the “ultimate goals” - regardless of belonging to one or another branch of Christianity - coincide, and these names remain in the history of art as inaccessible peaks (J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, S. V. Rachmaninov, P. I. Tchaikovsky).
Svetlana Khvatova, doctor of art history, professor, regent of the Holy Resurrection Church in Maikop, Honored Art Worker of the Republic of Adygea.
The secular works of outstanding Russian composers organically included images of Orthodox spirituality, and found a vivid embodiment of the intonation of Orthodox church music. The introduction of bell ringing into operatic scenes became a tradition in nineteenth-century Russian opera.
Coming to the roots
Possessing high value orientations, carrying moral purity and inner harmony, Orthodox spirituality nourished Russian music, in contrast, representing and denouncing the insignificance of worldly fuss, the baseness of human passions and vices.
The outstanding heroic-tragic opera by M. I. Glinka “A Life for the Tsar” (“Ivan Susanin”), the drama “The Tsar’s Bride”, folk musical dramas by M. P. Mussorgsky, epic operas by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and others, it is possible to comprehend deeply only through the prism of Orthodox religious culture. The characteristics of the heroes of these musical works are given from the point of view of Orthodox moral and ethical ideas.
Melos of Russian composers and church hymns
Since the 19th century, Orthodox church music has been abundantly penetrating into Russian classical music at the intonation-thematic level. The quartet-prayer sung by the heroes of the opera A Life for the Tsar by the genius Glinka is reminiscent of the partess style of church hymns, the final solo scene by Ivan Susanin is, in essence, a prayerful appeal to God before his death, the epilogue of the opera begins with a jubilant choir "Glory", close to the church genre "Multiple Years". The solo parts of the characters in the well-known musical folk drama about Tsar Boris Mussorgsky, revealing the image of Orthodox monasticism (Elder Pimen, the Fool-for-Christ, Kaliki passers-by), are permeated with the intonations of church hymns.
Severe choirs of schismatics, sustained in the style, are presented in Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina. On the intonations of Znamenny singing, the main themes of the first parts of the famous piano concertos by S.V. Rachmaninov (second and third).
Scene from the opera “Khovanshchina” by M.P. Mussorgsky
A deep connection with Orthodox culture can be traced in the work of the outstanding master of the vocal and choral genre G.V. Sviridov. The original melos of the composer is a synthesis of folk-song, church-canonical and Kantian principles.
Znamenny chant dominates in Sviridov's choral cycle "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" - based on the tragedy by A.K. Tolstoy. "Chants and Prayers", written in church texts, but intended for secular concert performance, are Sviridov's unsurpassed creations, in which ancient liturgical traditions organically merge with the musical language of the 20th century.
The bells are ringing
Bell ringing is considered an integral part of Orthodox life. Most composers of the Russian school have a figurative world of bells in their musical heritage.
For the first time, Glinka introduced scenes with bell ringing into Russian opera: the bells accompany the final part of the opera A Life for the Tsar. The re-creation of the bell ringing in the orchestra enhances the drama of the image of Tsar Boris: the scene of the coronation and the scene of death. (Mussorgsky: musical drama "Boris Godunov").
Many of Rachmaninov's works are filled with bells. One of the clearest examples in this sense is the Prelude in C-sharp minor. Remarkable examples of the recreation of bell ringing are presented in the musical compositions of the composer of the 20th century. V.A. Gavrilina ("Chimes").
And now - a musical gift. A wonderful choral Easter miniature by one of the Russian composers. Already here the bell-likeness manifests itself more than clearly.
M. Vasiliev Easter Troparion “Bell”
