Sometimes the choir director honestly warns his choristers in advance: you can’t take a breath between this and that phrase. Sing on the chain. Sometimes such a warning is duplicated by some kind of cheironomic symbol, like clasped fingers (often observed, honestly). Does not help. Half of the chanters still take a breath in the indicated place, causing the righteous wrath of their leader.
The above methods are useless. The regent's communication with his "subordinates" should not be expressed only in intellectual cooperation - "I said, but you understood." The impact of the regent's gesture on the singer's body occurs on a subconscious level, when the hands control breathing, ligaments, resonators and other parts of the body without any verbal substitutes.
In relation to chain breathing, this means the following.
Any choral practitioner knows that chain breathing is a physiological effort. This is overcoming the natural desire to take in air where it does not entail a violation of singing - in the breaks between words, even in short ones. And since this technique is an effort, then in its show the regent is obliged to convey this effort with his own hands.
The academic method is quite sufficient and simple. However, since the printed edition does not allow me to show it with my own hands, I will try to do it figuratively:
You are holding in your hands the last sound of the phrase you have just sung.
Imagine (and show your chanters) that this sound is bricks that you have grabbed from above.
At the junction of musical phrases, with appropriate effort, slowly transfer these bricks over the barrier (height from 5 to 10 cm) that stands in front of you.
Drop them to the first beat of the next phrase.
That's all. There is no need to inform the singers about the coming chain breathing, it is necessary to "live" it in the hands. The main thing in working it out is not to imitate the effort of transfer, but to really, muscularly live it. The singer who has entrusted his body to your hands will not believe the imitation.
sound attack
An attack is the beginning of a sound, it affects the nature of the closing of the ligaments, the quality of singing breathing, and the formation of sound.
Wrong attack - wrong intonation.
Attack is divided into three types:
* soft - the closure of the ligaments is not tight, occurs at the time of the formation of sound along with exhalation
* hard - the ligaments are tightly closed, the formation of sound is a “breakthrough” of the subglottic air through the closed ligaments
* aspiratory - closure of the vocal cords after the start of exhalation, as a result, a short inhalation is formed in the form of a consonant "x"
The following conditions must be observed:
* a group of incoming choir voices must use the same type of sound attack
* before attacking a sound, you need to mentally imagine the height, strength of the sound, the nature of the sound, the shape of the vowel, and then take the sound easily and freely
* when attacking sound, there should be no entrances and noise overtones.
If a sluggish, relaxed sound is formed, a hard attack is used.
To release the clamped sound, exercises with aspirated breathing are used.
Tip - sing the Choir in advance!
high notes
The note preceding the high or awkward note should be a springboard, taken in the same manner as the next difficult note. It is necessary to prepare both the place of sounding and the position of the mouth. Well prepared - the note will appear as if by itself (although the same difficult note in another case can be taken differently, easier).
It greatly helps to take an uncomfortable note by clearly pronouncing the consonant that precedes it, especially if it is sonorous or helps to resonate well.
Do not get carried away singing on high notes, take them in fast passages, and most importantly - do not shout them out - harm.
If a high note comes after a pause and you have to take it with a special attack, you should try to keep the position of the larynx of the previous note and, when breathing resumes, do not forget it, do not lose it.
Lvov figuratively said that each singer was allotted only a strictly limited number of extreme upper sounds, and therefore they must be “spent” extremely economically.
The pitch of the sound is directly proportional to the voltage, but it is necessary that the listener does not feel this.
The young singer's mistake is carelessly, inattentively sung previous sounds and the desire to "take" the top sound. A carelessly sung end of one phrase inevitably leads to a convulsive restructuring of the vocal apparatus for the upper beginning of the next one. This deprives the singing of smoothness and sound evenness.
It is necessary to have the habit of tirelessly monitoring the preservation of the unity of the sound position. This will make it easier to develop a lead to the upper sounds.
“... to remove the clamp on a high note, you need to put the larynx and pharynx in exactly the same way as it is done during yawning.”
If it is necessary to perform extreme high sounds, very concentrated breathing with a retracted stomach and an extremely open pharynx is required at a high position of the voice.
The sound should produce a "piercing" impression
Education of the upper sounds is not only not required to start with the lower notes, but on the contrary, it is very dangerous. At the same time, we run the risk of including muscle elements in the sound extraction when the voice moves to the upper notes, which can create a picture of functional inhibition and delay the further development of high tones, because the muscles are included in the work with their entire mass, and when the sound moves up, they try to fully participate in the formation upper sounds. This is a hindrance to work, and therefore, the participation of muscle elements in the formation of high notes should be individually limited.
Covered sound. White sound. Belcanto
The essence of the manner of singing with a covered sound is expressed in the fact that some vowels, for example, "I", "E", "A", are sung, approaching "Y", "E", "O", that is, they are rounded. To a greater extent, this applies to unstressed vowels.
The mouth should not be opened too wide - this can lead to a "white" sound.
The articulatory apparatus of all singers must take the form corresponding to the given vowel (mouth, lips, tongue, teeth, soft and hard palate).
The sounds of the upper, head register require especially careful rounding. The oral cavity plays an important role in rounding.
Rounding is achieved by the maximum elevation of the upper palate, due to which the resonator cavity of the mouth expands and takes on a domed shape.
The degree of "cover" in the practice of academic singing can be extremely different.
In order to avoid changing the timbre on the medium, according to some singers, it is necessary to soften the previous notes and strengthen the subsequent ones, which is quite amenable to the efforts of the will.
Cheerful things should be sung with a lighter sound, without turning into “white”, which is unpleasant, vulgar and tires the throat.
White sound, open - due to the enhanced sound of the upper harmonics and insufficient - the lower formant, which gives the sound depth, roundness.
Requirement: “Do not stretch the mouth horizontally”, freely open it downwards, pronounce words significantly, rounding the vowels “A”, “E”, “I”, helps to master the correct, covered sound.
Bel canto - beautiful singing - is characterized by melodiousness, fullness, nobility of sound (singing on a support), mobility to perform virtuoso passages.
Italian bel canto is closer to Russian chant.
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"CHOIR AND MANAGEMENT THEM" - P. G. CHESNOKOV
1. Technique helps inspiration, and therefore learn the composition with the choir, first of all, technically perfectly.
2. Do not take on work on an essay that you do not fully perceive with your consciousness and feeling.
3. If, while working on a composition, you notice that the choir does not accept it because it is below the capabilities of the choir, remove this composition from work. If the composition for the choir is difficult, develop and improve the choir by working on easier compositions, and then return to the temporarily abandoned difficult composition.
4. Remember that you are the leader in your business; the consciousness of responsibility will help you in overcoming many difficulties.
5. Do not come to the choir with a composition that you have not previously studied, not analyzed comprehensively.
6. If the choir sings badly, blame it not on him, but on yourself.
7. When directing the choir, always be at least partly on the rise; lack of lift weakens performance.
8. Do not devalue compositions by overly frequent performance. If you notice a deterioration in the quality of performance and the appearance of errors, remove the composition from the repertoire for two months, and then work on it additionally.
9. Do not introduce into the choir's repertoire works that are ideologically and artistically insignificant and weak.
10. Don't be rude in choir practice; it will humiliate you in the eyes of the choir, and will only harm the cause. Be lively, inventive, witty; win prestige with the choir by interesting activities and artistic performance of learned compositions.
11. Do not get carried away by any one author; this will create uniformity. Take from each author the best and valuable.
12. Do not tire the choir excessively in class: if you are tired, there will be no productive work.
13. When you first come to a new choir for you, do not forget that he lived his life before you, his habits and traditions. Beware of destroying them too hastily: take a closer look, leave all the good, and gradually replace the bad with the best.
14. Do not be long-winded with the choir: say only what is necessary and will bring practical benefits. Remember that verbosity tires the choir: be restrained both in gestures and in words.
15. In class, do not force the choir to aimlessly repeat the same thing; at each repetition, first explain why you are doing this, otherwise the choir's confidence in you will gradually fall.
16. Always remain strict in the requirements for yourself, as a conductor and as a person; this will ensure a normal relationship with the choir.
17. Maintain an atmosphere of creative community and unanimity in the choir.
18. Be a senior comrade for a choral singer in the best sense of the word; at the same time, be demanding in your work.
19. Studying the composition with the choir, point out to the singers the parts and details of it that are best in design and in music; this way you will bring up in them an aesthetic feeling.
20. If you fail to arouse in the singers a sense of admiration for the artistic merits of the composition being performed, your work with the choir will not achieve the desired goal.
21. If you yourself do not feel satisfaction and do not find joy in your studies, then you will not give anything to the singers. Consider such activities unsuccessful.
22. In any technically dry activity, try to bring animation and interest.
23. Study each singer as a person, delve into his psychological characteristics and approach him accordingly.
24. Appreciate and respect the choir singer, if you want to be appreciated and respected in the choir; mutual respect and goodwill are necessary conditions for artistic work.
25. Remember that choral art is one of the manifestations of human culture.
P.S. Although these tips are taken from a book addressed to secular musicians - choir conductors, however, in our opinion, with a few exceptions, almost all of them are not only applicable, but also extremely useful for any regent.
SINGING IN THE TEMPLE SHOULD BE ENJOYED.
Church singing - if it is good and beautiful - rarely leaves anyone indifferent. Sometimes people come to the temple just to listen...and stay. This is how their path of churching begins.
About church singing - our conversation with Marina Pavlovna Rakhmanova, a guest and participant in the Pimenov Readings, Doctor of Arts, leading researcher at the State Institute of Art Studies, academic secretary of the State Central Museum of Musical Culture named after M.I. Glinka.
Does an Orthodox person, if he is not a chorister and not a choir director, need to understand sacred music, know styles, authors - or is it enough just to stand in church and listen?
If a person goes to the temple for a long time, loves it, loves the service, then he becomes interested in who the author of the paintings is, what time the icons are that they sing in the service. In Moscow (and in Saratov, probably, too), the parishioners of the older generation, who went to church back in Soviet times, knew all the names of composers and choir directors; They knew when this or that chant was sung. Today this is not the case. I think it's also because there used to be a more unified style of singing. Now in Moscow churches, for example, they sing differently everywhere, there is no single style. And it's impossible to know everything.
What gives an understanding of liturgical singing?
The main thing is not singing, but the word. If we are talking about monophonic styles, such as Znamenny, Greek and other chants, then this is obvious there: the sound is the shell of the word. If the music is polyphonic, author's, then everything is much more complicated. To understand what the composer wanted to say, how he voices the liturgical word, one must understand the language of this style, get used to it. Today, the choir of the Holy Trinity Cathedral performed Veleumov's Great Doxology at the Vespers. This is the author of the very beginning of the XIX century, there is no information about him. It is clear from his last name that he was from a clergy or from a family of a priest. In Moscow they love him, and in Saratov they sing him. But in order to sing Veleumov properly, in a church way, the regent needs to understand the language of that era, and the cathedral regent Svetlana Khakhalina showed a rare sensitivity here. Veleumov sounded great after the Vespers!
I think everyone will agree that church singing should be professional. However, watching the choristers on the kliros, who have a conservatory education and sing very beautifully, you can see, for example, that they chew gum during the service, come to the kliros in trousers, tying scarves over them, and talk during the service ... Which is better: professionals who sing just to make money, or a choir of sincere grandmothers?
- Such behavior is unacceptable. Than indifferent singers - the choir of grandmothers is better!
Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov), who loved and appreciated good, artistic singing, has a wonderful statement on this score.
In a letter to his close friend and confessor, the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony (Medvedev), who once complained that the singing in the Lavra skete was “not very good” and that more monks should be accepted into the skete in order to strengthen the singing, the saint Filaret replies: “No. It is necessary to take people to the skete according to their spiritual structure, and not according to their voices. And he goes on to tell how once he himself served a liturgy with a deacon who sang alone - and "discorded with himself" - but the service was good.
It turns out that the most important criterion in evaluating church singing for an ordinary parishioner of the temple is the criterion of "like - dislike." Does it create a prayerful mood or hinder it?
The feeling of prayer comes from different things: both from the “spontaneous” singing of the village parishioners, and from the refined singing that we heard today. There are many gradations here. In small temples, in villages - where can a choir come from? - there is one priest who sings the entire service himself, or his mother helps him. And it can be absolutely wonderful.
Today spiritual music can be heard not only within the walls of temples. Many church groups conduct active concert activities, record CDs. What do you think about it?
I have a great attitude, only if they are very good teams. It makes no sense to go into concert life with average singing - you need to show a high class on the professional field. And it is necessary to evaluate concert choirs from a professional point of view.
As early as the beginning of the 20th century, smart critics, including those from the clergy, said two things: firstly, that good concert spiritual singing (they called it “virginal”) is the way to the temple, and secondly, that for spiritual concerts it may be necessary to draw up special programs that may or may not coincide in some way with what the choir sings on the kliros. On the eve of the First World War, the Holy Synod even tried to ban the singing of the chants of the Eucharistic Canon in concerts. But the ban practically did not lead to anything, because each choir wanted to sing exactly “Cherubic”, “It is worthy to eat”, “Grace of the World” - the central chants of the liturgy, which exist in a variety of singing options. It seems that the performers, guided by common sense, can still organize their program in such a way that it does not offend anyone.
Applause after "Cherubim" does not cut the ear?
In Moscow, they seem to have taught the public not to applaud at spiritual concerts (only at the end of the program). But this doesn't always work out. If the concert takes place in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, where a lot of intelligent people gather, they most likely will not applaud there. At one time, at the first festivals of Orthodox singing, the hall amicably stood up during the performance of some hymns - for example, during the performance of "I Believe", "Our Father". Now, unfortunately, they no longer stand up ...
Is it necessary to perform only spiritual works, or can secular music be included in your repertoire?
For example, there is a practice of performing Russian folk songs. Some people who come to the concert to listen to the church choir are outraged ...
- It is not good if people were deceived. They need to know what program they are going to. But in principle, the church choir can sing folk music - this is a deep and very valuable layer of traditional culture. In different departments or combined with spiritual chants - each choir decides this in its own way. Such a tradition existed, for example, in the Synodal Choir. Very rarely, but they performed folk songs in concerts, the anthem "God Save the Tsar." There was also such a wonderful Choir of the Don Cossacks under the direction of Sergei Zharov. Now discs with records of this choir have been released, where, along with church hymns, folk songs in amazingly virtuoso choral arrangements make up a significant share, and many male choirs have begun to focus on this style. With regard to the perfection of choral sounding, a lot can be learned from Zharov. But his choir was primarily a concert group, and when he sang in a church (and he sang in any city where he came on tour and where there was an Orthodox church), I think he sang a little differently. And in general, it is useless to imitate Zharov - it will not work anyway. Recently, I happened to be present in Moscow at a wonderful concert where Russian folk songs in Zharov's arrangements were sung by the men's group of the St. Petersburg Chapel conducted by V.A. Chernushenko, and sang not “according to Zharov”, but in her own way: restrained, classically, with an exceptionally beautiful sound. And the audience did not want to leave for almost an hour after the end of the concert.
Returning to liturgical singing: there was no choir in the early Christian Church; the people praying in the church performed hymns during the divine service. So today, many people standing in the temple sang along with the choir. Is such popular singing possible during the service?
If so, as they sang today - perhaps. People sang with enthusiasm, sang correctly, entered where they needed to. I sang along myself. Another thing is nationwide singing as a principle: if the temple is small, and the parish is very close-knit, then this can work out. But in a large church where hierarchal services are held, this is hardly possible. This is also a very old discussion. Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) - a great man, a remarkable figure in the Russian Church - based on the experience of the eastern countries where he lived, wrote, back in the middle of the 19th century, that singing in the church should be nationwide, that all people should be involved in the service, and pay money to the choristers seems to be immoral. To which Metropolitan Philaret replied that according to this logic, priests, deacons, and everyone who does something in the church and for the church should not be paid. The essence of the issue is that bad, discordant singing violates the course and meaning of the service, and this should not be. 
CHURCH SINGING AND READING STUDY GUIDE
You will need
- - Literature in the Church Slavonic language (prayer book, New Testament, Psalter);
- - notes of those chants that your church choir performs;
- - musical instrument;
- - voice recorder;
- - a computer.
Instruction
Learn to read fluently in Church Slavonic. To do this, read the prayer book and other books in Church Slavonic every day at home, practicing pronunciation and understanding of it.
You will not only have to perform musical works from notes, but also sing to the texts of troparia, stichera, etc. to the liturgical voices. Such books as the Menaion, the Oktoikh, the Book of Hours were published precisely in the language of communication with God - Church Slavonic.
For proper singing in the church choir - it is also called - study musical notation and solfeggio. If little is left in your memory from school singing lessons, sign up for courses or a church singing circle for.
They will help develop the connection between your voice and hearing. Ask your parish priest or diocese about which churches have such circles.
If you have zero musical training, and the desire to learn church singing is very strong, do not worry. In the absence of courses and circles, contact the director of the amateur choir. After listening to you, he may allow you to sing. At first, you will only sing the litanies "Lord have mercy." Sing softly and listen to the sound of the entire choir.
(In St. Petersburg, there are amateur choirs in the Cathedral of Prince Vladimir (see. http://www.vladimirskysobor.ru/klir/ljubitelskij-hor), in the Kazan Cathedral, in St. Anastasia the Solver, in Chesmenskaya, in the temple of Seraphim of Sarov. For men, we can recommend an amateur choir at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).
Don't try to learn the osmosis on your own, as each temple has a slightly different chant. It is better to immediately learn the melody of the temple in which you are going to carry the choir.
To learn church singing, stand next to a more experienced one in the choir. Better to have him sing in your ear. Pay close attention to how he sings, repeat your part after him to learn it.
This will help you understand the main moves of your game, understand its logic. And in the future it will allow you to sing more confidently, consciously. When working with the choir, hone the accuracy of hitting your note, the direction of the sound, pronunciation, breathing, volume.
Do your own music lessons at home. Ask the regent for notes and learn church chants with a musical instrument. Sing chants to the accompaniment of the instrument, using notes instead of syllables. Watch the duration of the notes. In the learning process, you can play, for example, one part (soprano), and sing another (for example, viola).
With diligence and labor, in a year you will be tolerably singing on the kliros, glorifying God with all the kliros.
God help you!
The girl sang in the church choir
About all the tired in a foreign land,
About all the ships that have gone to sea,
About all those who have forgotten their joy.
And it seemed to everyone that there would be joy,
That in a quiet backwater all the ships
That in a foreign land tired people
They got a bright life.
Alexander Blok
Oh! How good!.. But no. I recently realized: it turns out that Blok's girl sang badly.
A person comes to the temple for the first time, stands, does not understand anything, except “Lord, have mercy!” ... But if no one pulls him, does not offend him, he can feel that ... there will still be joy, that in a quiet backwater all his thoughts -ships, he can hear how well the choir sings, what wonderful voices the singers have, especially the baritone ... And this is bad. Why? Why did the Holy Fathers generally forbid sweet sounds? And what then is good for the church choir? Who are these people who have the good fortune to sing to God for us, instead of us? Or maybe you, the reader, today far from the Church, tomorrow could take your place ... on the kliros?
We started a conversation about all this with the regent of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Yakutsk, Ekaterina Sergeevna Pavlova.
Mother Ekaterina, indeed, we often strive to enjoy music and singing. Therefore, the words of Professor I.A. Osipov, who himself sang in the church choir for decades, came as a shock to me: “The concepts of “worship” and “concert” differ, like Christ and Antichrist.” What then is the task of spiritual singing? Why, if emotions, feelings come to life in you, or you enjoy the sound, is it bad?
Because you are thinking about the baritone, not about God. Church singing should set the soul in a prayerful mood, and emotions, feelings are spiritual. Spiritual music is called not to give birth to sensual images, but to prayer. Sensuality leads away from prayer. The purpose of church singing is not the delight of the ear, but the word, the word of prayer. Church art is generally alien to sentimentality and theatricality.
According to Orthodox teaching, church hymns are echoes of Heaven, which the hymnographer only captures and transmits to people. In the ancient Church, monophonic singing was practiced, and now this tradition has been preserved in some monasteries. Old Russian Znamenny singing is even, without passion. But someone said that in order to sing like a banner, one must live like a banner. It was only in the 17th century that partes (poly-voiced) singing came to our Church from the West, which gradually began to turn into an ornament of worship. The multicoloredness and diversity of the canonical manner was sacrificed for the concert style and choral virtuosity.
But we are already so accustomed to this beauty of music that I catch myself on the fact that all the time I want to find something new, to learn. When in the early years I came on vacation to my mother, I suggested to the local priest: “Father, well, can we learn this, we will sing this.” He answered categorically: “No, remember: the choir sings what always. You sing the Cherubim, I hear in the altar and think: “Oh! Beautiful! ”, And that’s it - the prayer immediately leaves.”
The church choir is trying (how we do it is another matter) to gather and express the prayers of the believers. Our everyday music does not distract a person. Although it can be sung sincerely. I agree with Alexei Ilyich Osipov that the most terrible thing is when passion begins in singing: "Where there is passion, there is no God." Passions, feelings must be removed.
- What is everyday music? Voices?
The everyday life of church singing is the simplest church tunes that have evolved over many centuries. Voices are several basic melodies to which liturgical hymns are sung. Traditionally, the Church uses eight tones. Possessing this melodic system, the singers can perform any text in the voice indicated in the liturgical book.
In the Neskuchny Sad magazine (No. 1-2, 2007), in the article “Singing with the Whole Church,” one singer says that their regent, in order to teach them to perform any texts to voices, at rehearsals gave them a guide to cars to sing to the melody of voices. Have you tried?
Tried. Just not in sings. With the guys in the theological school, we sometimes sing ... newspapers. Archimandrite Tobias suggested this to me, he is a regent with great experience. It is only necessary to carefully choose the texts, otherwise we write such things sometimes! Once I slipped some newspaper on the exam, and then ... But in general it turns out great.
How do you feel about the fact that pop artists, say, Nadezhda Babkina or the Na-na group, perform sacred music?
I don't know. Did not hear. If it's sincere... Maybe someone will come to God through this. Most likely, if a person performs spiritual music only, as they say, “with his mouth”, and he himself does not even strive to live according to moral laws, then it seems to me that people will still feel falseness in his singing, no matter how high a professional he may be.
I have always said that artists (with rare exceptions) do not know how to read poetry, because they do it professionally, "with expression." Does it happen that professionalism interferes with singing in a church choir? And who is easier - believing non-professionals or unbelieving singers?
It is easier for believing professionals. But everything is very different. It is especially difficult for vocalists to readjust. They are accustomed to self-expression, demonstration of the individual, personal, they strive to show their voice, their vocal abilities. And the choir is a single organism, you need to be able to listen to others. The choir should have, as it were, one breath, a sense of shoulder. Your emotions need to be removed. I can say just like you that church hymns cannot be performed “with expression”.
Lay believers have a huge advantage. After all, they can beg God for the ability to sing, as happened with St. Roman the Melodist. He was a deacon, but he had neither voice nor hearing, he often heard ridicule, and once publicly disgraced. But St. Roman prayed so earnestly to the Mother of God that a miracle happened: he received a beautiful, melodious voice and at the same time a poetic gift. He even became a singing teacher.
- So you prefer non-professionals?
No, of course, professional singers are the dream of all regents. It is easier with them, because they can do everything - read notes from a sheet, own their voice. It is more interesting to work with them, the repertoire is expanding.
Mother, isn't there a contradiction here: You said that the task of worship and spiritual singing is to help a person to pray. Can someone who does not know how to pray himself help in this?
You see, now is such a time, many come to the temple without faith, already adults, and if they stand on the kliros, it helps them to get into church, to understand worship, to gain faith. And then, the main backbone of the church choir is Orthodox Christians, they help an unbeliever to feel the depth of chants, worship, and this prayerful mood is transmitted to the whole church.
Yes, I heard some singers say that they stayed in the Church because they immediately got to the choir, and one choir director admitted that he really began to understand the service when he began to lead and learn the liturgical charter: “I then realized that worship is it is union with God, nothing less.”
And I do not know how my life would have turned out if I had not been called to the kliros. Like all Orthodox Christians, I tried not to miss the holiday and Sunday services. And when I got into the choir, I felt even greater responsibility, now not only before God - I was afraid to let down both the choir director and the choristers. With the birth of children, it was not always possible to get out to the temple, and such a feeling arose as if something had been missed, something was gone.
- Are you a professional in your field? How and when did you come to the choir, to the temple? Why did you become a regent? Where did you study?
In the first grade, my parents sent me to a music school for the piano department. As a child, she loved to sing. I remember that I always drew singers with a microphone in their hand. But I'm not a singer, no. When I was in high school, a priest came to our village and began to restore the temple. My mother and I began to go to services and help as much as we could. Almost immediately she was invited to sing in the kliros.
You did not create the current choir "from scratch" - it was inherited from the previous choir director. It's probably much more difficult, isn't it? Do you feel that some "old men" compared you with the former leader and not always in your favor?
Yes, it was difficult. And compared, and, of course, it offended purely human. But after all, all people are different, I can never become exactly the same as the previous choir leader. There can't be two completely identical regents, like two completely identical people - someone likes one thing, someone else, and the requirements are different. Everyone has their own handwriting, their own manner, even if there is only one school. Therefore, change inevitably occurs when the leader changes - in any organization. Thank God, there are people who understand you in many ways and try to help, suggest, support, and kindly guide you. But without obedience, nothing good will come of the kliros, either spiritually or musically.
- The ideal choir in your understanding?
I am not talking about the musical abilities of the singers, it goes without saying. But in the church choir, as nowhere else, relationships with each other and with God are important. When there is love, mutual understanding, unity, peace, consent, which is born by a common faith. When the team is so united that everyone feels each other, pray for each other. If there is no love and understanding in the church, what can we demand from others? Where else to look for love?
How far from ideal is today's choir? Is there a vote deficit? What is the optimal number of choristers for a kliros?
Our choir is far from ideal. And because we ourselves are imperfect, alas, and because there is a catastrophic lack of voices, and all of them. In a small mixed choir there should be twelve people - three singers in each part - at least. Even such a choir is forced, as a rule, to confine itself to pure four-parts. If there are fewer singers, then this is no longer a choir, but an ensemble, and its capabilities are much more modest.
- How do you recruit singers? What are your requirements for kliroshans?
Musical literacy is desirable but not required. There are individuals who instantly grasp everything, such an ear for music is a gift from God. Naturally, they are easy to work with. And it happens that a person knows musical notation and studied singing, but it’s hard with him.
It is very important to have a musical memory, a desire to learn, to be ready to work on yourself. And one more thing - the ability to listen to others, to sacrifice oneself, one's ambitions for the sake of a common cause, to subordinate oneself to the interests of the choir and the requirements of the leader.
One priest said that the initial period of study and being on the kliros would probably be a difficult, albeit very useful, school of humility. Why is it so difficult on the kliros?
Because, you know, the closer to the altar - the more temptations. Where there is no Christ, there is nothing for the devil to do. And the kliros is a special place. After all, even in order to set foot on it, you need the blessing of a priest. Not just: he wanted - he sang, he wanted - he didn’t come, today he performed, received a fee, and other plans for tomorrow.
- Do you have to put up with yourself?
Humility is too high a concept. I'm far from it, grow and grow... And sometimes you have to swallow.
- What?
Attitude - I don't know if it's for me personally or for worship - when a person may not show up for a service or for a rehearsal. Sometimes you sit at a rehearsal and wait for someone to come or not. Or when the chorister himself decides whether to pray today in another church or sing on his kliros. This is incomprehensible to me: a person tries not to be late for his main work, and even more so not to skip, but here it is the service of God, the Lord Himself calls, and we treat His gift so carelessly.
And it happens that you make a remark, and they start arguing with you. As a result, not only does the general sound fall apart - bickering destroys the prayer. We, like a swan, a crayfish and a pike, each start pulling in our own direction. It is clear that everyone thinks in their own way, and in order to come to unity, one must obey the requirements of the regent. After all, I myself was a singer and I know that if the regent made a remark, I must put up with it.
Have there been cases in your practice when you had to “excommunicate” the singers from the kliros? What do you feel about it?
Not here, thank God! Because it is very unpleasant, the sediment remains for life, regardless of whether you are right or wrong. When I was regent during my vacation in my native parish, one chorister on the eve of the bishop’s service (and there is this huge event - the arrival of the bishop!) left the rehearsal, ignored the rehearsal before the service the next day, appeared at the very beginning of the service, and I said: “Go and pray today ". The man left the service completely, left with resentment. And although then we became friends again, I still remember it with bitterness. I really don't want this to happen again.
- What is church singing for you - ministry or work?
Service, only service. Of course, earnings are also important for someone, but, in my opinion, the best reward is to get to the kliros. After all, many people want to sing to God, but some have no hearing, some have voices...
The chanter is the voice of the praying people. Singing should return those who have scattered and fallen away from common prayer into the context of worship. But in reality, the kliros often becomes a temptation for parishioners. More than once I have heard lamentations that the singers chatter, and some even sit during Communion. People see ... Osipov says harshly: "If there is no reverence, then the entire choir with its music is out of the temple." Why are you allowing this?
Because the fish rots from the head. This is primarily my fault. Discipline is the first business of the regent, and he must not only demand, but also set an example himself. And to be honest, I'm not a model. Of course, sometimes you need to consult something, discuss something ... Although this is not an excuse, everything should be worked out and thought out in advance. On the kliros, the atmosphere should be extremely reverent. Unfortunately, what often happens in the Church is “getting used to the sacred”. This is scary.
The fact that the chanters are sitting, especially when the Chalice with the Holy Gifts is being taken out of the altar and Communion is taking place, I don’t understand this. We STAND before God in the service - we do not SIT. Some hide behind infirmity, but I don’t know what is more here - infirmity or impiety. After all, even grandmothers stand the whole service from beginning to end. Of course, there are different situations, and some young man really needs relief, but still, you should understand that you are going to work, and in the temple you need to give yourself to the fullest. In the heart there should be the fear of God, reverence for the temple.
- What is the most difficult thing in the work of a regent?
Probably, to gather, rally the team.
- If everything is so difficult, why do people strive for kliros? What gives church singing?
Yes, the closer to God, the more temptations, but the closer to God, the more grace. And the grace of God softens the heart, heals passions, reconciles, and gives spiritual joy. And you also feel satisfaction from the fact that the God-given talent was not buried in the ground, that you give it to the Lord. Joy that you sing to God and help people to pray.
Often after the service, especially during Great Lent and at Easter, church hymns resound in me for a long time. You work, talk, wash the dishes, but inside - “Lord, have mercy!”, then “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice ...”, then “Like cherubim ...” Do prayers sound in you? And do you want to listen to other music after that?
Of course! I really love Lenten chants, especially the blessed Saturday, when the soul is filled with quiet joy, waiting for the Risen Savior, both Easter and Christmas. In general, each holiday has its own special chants that I like.
To be honest, lately I've been listening to all sorts of music to distract myself. Sometimes, not only for the sake of a beautiful melody, there are songs with a very deep content. But this is somewhat alienating from the Church, especially when it changes the sense of proportion.
- Do you want your sons to become, like their father, priests, and your daughters, like their mother, to become regents?
I would like them to become, first of all, good Orthodox Christians. If they have faith and love for the Church, then, even having worldly specialties, they will remain in the temple, with God.
- Do church hymns happen at home - with the whole family? Or non-church?
Yes, on the eve of holidays, Sundays, the priest and I usually sing the troparion, kontakion and greatness, and the children sing along with what they know. And by Christmas and Easter we learn children's songs, although now less often - there is no time for mom.
Sometimes you stand in the service, and someone nearby howls in a bad voice. On the one hand, it would have “turned off” such a “singer”, but on the other hand, how you want to sing yourself! But our parishioners sing only “Our Father”, “Symbol of Faith” and sometimes, before prayers, “O Heavenly King”. I know that there are churches in which the entire parish sings the service. Don't you want, mother, that we also have more hymns to be performed in conciliar?
It seems to me that it is now impossible to sing the entire service by the parish. Our grandmothers memorized all the chants, but this is gone, people do not know the tunes, they do not know the words. Many churches have a wonderful tradition - during Communion, all the people sing: “Take the Body of Christ, taste the Immortal Source,” but for some reason this is not instilled in us. And I would like to.
As for the “howls”… This greatly disturbs not only the parishioners, but also the kliroshans, especially if such a “singer” stands close and sings loudly. You react to someone else's falsehood, and it distracts.
Beautiful church singing, which accompanies almost any divine service, can hardly go unnoticed. Such a design of the service invariably attracts the attention of parishioners and even people who are far from music, at least for a minute, but dream of joining the church choir.
Kliros is a temple area intended for the placement of choristers (singers). If earlier church singing was monotonous and monotonous, today it is a complex polyphonic choir imitating angelic singing.
To get into the church choristers, you need:
- have a good ear for music;
- to be the owner of a beautiful sounding voice.
It is desirable, but not always necessary, to have a musical education. Church singing is accompanied by fast reading of music, and if you don’t know musical notation, you will have to master it.
The choristers prepare for the musical accompaniment of the divine service at least 5-7 hours a week. During the rehearsals, the position in the choir is determined, which depends on the height of your voice.
Choral singing is different. Allocate:
- Znamenny (hook). The choir sings with one voice.
- Partesnoye. Submitted by multiple votes.
- Everyday life. During the chants, simple scores are performed.
Church hymns are permanent and variable (vocal). In the first case, the tunes are classical and are performed in the same way in all temples without exception.
Troparia, canons, stichera, and others are referred to as vocal or variable church hymns. They have also been published as books. But each temple has its own traditions of performing voices, which are transmitted by the choir director.
Basic Rules
The songs of the Russian Orthodox Church are not only very beautiful, but also extremely difficult for an unprepared chanter. Therefore, the regent (leader of the church choir) will be happy to accept a new vocalist, if not with a professional musical education, then at least with basic knowledge and skills.
To master church singing, you must:
- Learn to read church books written in Old Church Slavonic. For this, it is necessary to read aloud several pages of the prayer book every day. This will help not only to learn how to pronounce words correctly, but also to understand the text itself. The main assistants will be such publications as the Menaion, Book of Hours and Oktoech.
- Learn music on your own or seek professional help.
- Be sure to take solfeggio lessons.
It is necessary to abandon attempts to independently develop osmoglasnost. The fact is that they are different everywhere and then it will be very difficult to relearn. It would be wiser to immediately begin to learn the tunes of the temple in which you plan to act as a chanter.
If you are allowed to join the choir, then stand next to an experienced chanter and listen carefully to his singing. So you can understand the melodies, understand how the accent is placed and learn other nuances.
While singing in the choir, you should strive to hit the notes as accurately as possible, carefully monitor the sound of your voice, pronunciation of words, the volume of the melody and the correctness of breathing.
To master church singing, it is important not to stop studying at home.
- Ask the regent for notes and start learning the parts at home, but instead of words, you need to sing the notes in the prescribed sequence.
- The melody itself should be soothing. You should want to listen to church singing, understand the words uttered by the chanter.
With due perseverance and daily work, church choral singing can be successfully mastered in 1 year. Classes with an experienced teacher who will point out mistakes and correct them will help speed up the learning process.
Many people experience the desire to sing in the kliros. Is it worth taking the craving for church singing as a vocation? Do you need to make your wish come true? Is it possible? Will it benefit the Church? About one such experience - a first-person story in our today's section.
Initially, I had very strong doubts that I should realize my desire to sing in the church choir. However, the circumstances developed in such a way that not to stand on the kliros would mean disobedience to the rector of the church that I attended. And I couldn't decide on this.
Outskirts of the temple, a small women's team. Almost everyone had a main job, and many came to the kliros when they had free time from it. The priests were happy about that too - there were not a lot of choristers. Many of us obediently sang stichera, troparia and musical chants, which the regent pointed out, but we did not understand the rules on our own and could not sing the service without the regent. Once I arrived early, the time for the beginning of the Liturgy was inexorably approaching, and the choir director and other choristers were late. The priest looked out of the altar and, seeing one chanter, nodded with satisfaction: he didn’t even know that this chanter was an oak-tree and alone he wouldn’t even sing “Lord, have mercy” in the right place. When I realized that the priest could begin the service without waiting for the arrival of the late choir director, I ran away from the kliros headlong. It's a shame, of course, but it's better than to endure shame later, during the service. After the second such incident, I began to think that something should be done with my education in this area.
It turned out that in Saratov, a person employed in his main job from 8 am to 5 pm has nowhere to study church singing. But I've been incredibly lucky...
Save our ears!
Once I received an offer to sing in the temple in the name of the holy righteous Lazarus of the Four Days, which is at the Novo-Elshansky cemetery. There were no people who wanted to be singers there: it was difficult to get there, and there were no parishioners in particular due to the remoteness from the city. And somehow everything converged on me: I live nearby, in Jasmine, I have my own car, the desire to raise my level in the field of church singing and the opportunity to do this without damaging the hearing of parishioners.
A few evenings before the first Liturgy, which I was to sing on my own, the regent of the Nikolsky Church studied with me. She streamlined my knowledge and skills in my head, and I began to understand the course of the service, and also quite tolerably sang the main chants. There was no more time for classes - the weekend was approaching and my first “solo swimming”.
As soon as the service began, I was paralyzed with fear. From what?! I learned the course of the Liturgy, I knew the priest for a long time, the candle-maker is a good friend, and the altar boy lives next door to me. There was no one else in the temple, except for the incorporeal Forces. "That's what they're all about!" - I then felt it in my soul. Subsequently, the trembling before the service always arose, even when I was already confident in my abilities. I realized that worship is the most important thing that happens on earth. And the person participating in it bears a colossal responsibility for the quality and every second of this mysterious action.
At that first Liturgy, I read and sang as if in a fog, completely unable to understand anything from fear. The turn of reading the Apostle has come. On padded legs, I went to the central lectern and to the exclamation of the priest from the altar: “Wisdom!” for some reason, instead of the phrase “Reading the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Galatians,” she solemnly said: “Let us listen!”. The only thing that at that moment was enough for my mind, paralyzed by fear, was to understand that I had blundered something wrong ... A ringing silence hung. This moment of silence seemed like an eternity to me, I swayed on my wadded legs, struggling with the desire to fall into a saving swoon. The priest brought me out of my stupor, corrected the situation, I read the epistle to the Galatians and, with grief, finished singing the Liturgy in half.
At the all-night vigil, which is more complicated than the Liturgy, at first I also threw out tricks. Poor priests who served in the Lazarevsky Church in shifts! They all understood that there was nowhere to go from me. The choristers who could sing the entire service on their own, alone, could then be counted on the fingers of the city…
And just in the last few years, the situation in our city has changed. I even envy a little those who are learning to sing now, because these people have great opportunities to gain deep knowledge, and no one's ears will suffer from their student's mistakes!
Hobbyists
Amateur choirs now exist in almost all Saratov churches, and in some, in addition to amateur adult choirs, there are also children's choirs.
I talked to the directors of amateur church choirs, asking them if it was possible to learn church singing without having a musical education. Are there any chances to learn to sing beautifully if your voice does not please the ear of the interlocutor? Is this possible if you are mercilessly out of tune, but you really want to sing?
“There would be a desire,” says Irina Kataryan, regent of the Ilyinsky temple in the village of the Eastern Volga of the Saratov city. - I'm not rejecting anyone. Hearing can be worked out, a voice can be put. It all depends on the industriousness of a person, and it is often necessary to notice how people with less vocal abilities leave behind those who are gifted with a good ear and voice. Our lovers are already singing the Liturgy on Saturdays. I believe that practice is very important and it is the application of knowledge in worship that speeds up learning.
“It's very pleasant to work with an amateur choir,” says Maria Nikitina, a teacher of church singing at the singing school of the Peter and Paul Church in Saratov. - They are like excellent students: their important quality is diligence.
“In the singing school of the Peter and Paul Church, the rite of worship (charter), Church Slavonic, vocals and singing itself are taught,” says Victoria Usova, director of the amateur choir. — Lovers sing at the evening service on Fridays and at the Liturgy on Saturdays. On holidays, they go to services in villages where there are no choristers. We currently have 30 students.
Natalya Fedotova works with the amateur choir of the church in the name of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh.
“The choir has existed since July 2015,” says Natalia. - We are still learning the Liturgy (everyday life) and troparion tones. The results are already there. Of course, you have to spend a lot of time teaching music notation to beginners, because the majority of students have no musical education, but this is an insurmountable obstacle.
Church singing courses organized by the missionary department of the Saratov diocese work in the former seminary building at Radishcheva 24. Training also takes place in several areas - from the setting of breathing and voice to the study of the rites of the Divine Liturgy, the all-night vigil, a prayer service and a memorial service.
Why is this needed?
There are many extinct ghost villages in Russia. And somewhere in the outback, life still glimmers. For example, in the ancient Russian village of Sinodskoye in the Voskresensky district of the Saratov region, the population once reached 2,500 people. In the center of the village stood a stone church with a bell tower and an altar in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. In the Soviet years, it was destroyed, and Sinodskoe, like many other Russian villages, fell into decay. And in 2015, the building of the former rural office was handed over to the community for worship.
Sunday morning, a few parishioners are drawn to the temple, and each carries with him or carries on a sled a small log - a wood-burning stove is installed in the temple. On big holidays, a priest sent from Saratov comes to serve in Sinodskoye, and on weekends missionaries arrive from Saratov - Nadezhda Anatolyevna Popova and Oleg Fedorovich Zlobnov. They come because it is necessary for the believing residents of Sinodsky. Oleg attends courses of the missionary department of the diocese, Nadezhda attends church singing courses. In Synodskoe, they serve the midday service of the worldly rank and read the hours. Nadezhda sings, after the service Oleg Fedorovich explains to the parishioners the essence of the chapter of the Gospel and the Apostle, which were read that day.
There are few parishioners, more and more old women.
“Of course, it's sad to see that there are only weak grandmothers in the church,” says Nadezhda. “But it warms the thought that the old women always come first, and the young people start to follow them. And it is believed that if the church is revived, the village will also be revived.
“There are not enough priests, it is not yet possible to organize regular worship in remote villages, so the goal of our courses is to prepare people who could serve the Church on the kliros,” says Priest Dionisy Kamenshchikov, head of the missionary department of the Saratov diocese. - Then the inhabitants of the outback will be able to pray in the church not only on major holidays, but also every weekend. We understand that there will hardly be many such people, because it is a real asceticism - every weekend to go to a distant village, despite the weather, well-being, mood. This is a real sacrificial ministry, and there are only a few people capable of it. But we are looking for such people.
Probably, when there is a desire to serve the Church, God and people, and for this all opportunities are provided, you need to grab them so that years later you don’t have to feel bitterness for wasted God-given time and buried talents.
Newspaper "Orthodox Faith" No. 02 (550)
