Կոմիտասի գրադարանը

Կոմիտասից պահպանված գրականությունն ընդգրկում է 300-ից ավելի գիրք, որը չի կազմում նրա գրքացանկի ամբողջական թիվը։ Կոմիտասի գրքերն ուղեկցել են նրան իր կյանքի և գործունեության տարբեր ժամանակահատվածներում, ունեցել են տարբեր գործառույթներ և ծառայել են տարբեր նպատակների՝ կրթությունից մինչև մասնագիտական հետազոտություններ։ Հոդվածում դասակարգված է Կոմիտասի գրականությունը՝ ըստ մասնագիտական, գեղարվեստական և այլ ոլորտների, ներկայացված են տեղեկություններ որոշ գրքերի մասին, ինչպես նաև Կոմիտասի կրթության և գործունեության ճանապարհին այդ գրքերի դերն ու նշանակությունը։ Կոմիտասի գրադարանում ծավալուն տեղ են զբաղեցնում երաժշտական գրքերը՝ ներառյալ հոդվածներ, կլավիրներ, պարտիտուրներ, օպերաների լիբրետոներ և այլն։Կոմիտասի հիմնավոր երաժշտական կրթությունը, տարբեր երկրների և ժամանակների երաժշտության պատմության մասին աշխատությունները, հայ եկեղեցական և հոգևոր երաժշտության մասին մեծ թվով գիտական (ներառյալ խազաբանական) հետազոտությունները, կոմպոզիտորական, խմբավարական, կատարողական գործունեությունը առիթ են եղել բազմաբնույթ գրքերի ձեռքբերմանը։ Հարուստ և բազմատեսակ գրականության ձեռքբերմանը նպաստել են նաև Կոմիտասի մի քանի լեզուների իմացությունը, հետաքրքրությունը հայ և արտասահմանյան գեղարվեստական գրականության, արվեստի և գիտության այլ ճյուղերի հանդեպ։ Կոմիտասի երաժշտական գրականությունն ընդգրկում է երաժշտատեսական, պատմական, գեղագիտական, միջնադարագիտական, ֆոլկլորագիտական, կոմպոզիտորական, կատարողական, մանկավարժական-մեթոդաբանական գրքեր։ The preserved literature that we have received from Komitas includes more than 300 books, which is not the complete number of books on his list. Komitas's books accompanied him in different periods of his life and activities. They had different functions and served different purposes, from education to professional research. In this article, Komitas’s literature is classified according to professional, artistic, and other spheres. Their role and significance in Komitas’s education and activities is presented. Information about special books is also presented. Music books occupy a large place in Komitas's library, including articles, pianos, scores, librettos of operas, etc. Komitas's thorough musical education, works on the history of music of different countries, times, numerous scientific (including “Khaz”) studies on Armenian church music, composing, conducting, and performing activities have been the occasion for acquiring various books. The acquisition of rich and diverse literature was also facilitated by Komitas's knowledge of several languages, his interest in Armenian and foreign fiction, art, and other branches of science. Komitas's musical literature includes music theory, historical, aesthetic, medieval, folklore, composition, performance, and pedagogical-methodological books.

Event-Review: Chinese Church Music since the Tang Dynasty

This short review is dedicated to the long-awaited event ‘Beijing Symposium of Sinicised Catholic Theology – The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ’ and deals with the historical background of some its events. It is also a personal document filled with statements derived from the given observations.

Paying a Church Musician in the Nineteenth Century: Between Possibilities and Necessities

In Europe, the nineteenth century had its own kind of an impact on the development of church music: fellowships that looked over the repertoire of music played in churches and encouraged research into the sources of the old church music and the Gregorian chant started emerging in many different countries. In the middle of the said century, the Holy See released documents that repeatedly and strictly regulated music and especially the music played during masses. Bishops were ordered to establish new music schools, reinforce the existing ones, and form committees in charge of the repertoire, musical performance and care of musicians in dioceses. The salary of the members of church chapels depended on the length of their work and the level of their professionalism. Sometimes the best musicians earned as much as the chapel leader. The leader, who received a certain amount of money to be spent on salaries from the seniors of the church every quarter of the year, distributed it on their own accord, taking into the account the intensity and quality of the instrumentalists’ performance. Each choir singer received the same amount of money, and the salary of the organist depended on the number of masses. Gregorian chanters received smallest salaries. Often the musicians were paid in kind: in food, candles, clothes, footwear, vodka, beer, honey, and the like. Some church chapels even had a cook who prepared breakfasts and lunches specifically for the musicians. Unfortunately, at the end of the nineteenth century, the financial situation of church chapels the financial situation of church chapels changed for the worse much worse.

Jenő Ádám’s Church Music Compositions

"In the present study I intend to present the church music compositions of Jenő Ádám. I will analyze the choral works of the composer that were based on the melodies of Protestant church hymns. The composer was also active as a conductor, but his name is primarily known in the field of music pedagogy. He played an important role in the elaboration and implementation of the Kodály method. In his works pertaining to church music, he adapted the melodies of the most representative church hymns of different ages. He uses both homophonic and polyphonic approaches with his works that have strophic structure or are through-composed. Keywords: Genevan Psalter, Protestant hymn, Kodály method, strophic form, through-composed works, homophonic and polyphonic approaches in composition."

Bach the Humorist

From chortling gags heard in his church music, to the off-beat physical humor enlivening his first published keyboard music, to the jesting chutzpah of his Brandenburg Concertos, Bach’s wittiest creations display the composer/performer’s irreverence for expectation and reflect his musical—and social—daring. While no composer’s image is sterner than that of Johann Sebastian Bach, his early admirers painted a more varied picture of the composer than did later commentators driven by the imperatives of Art and the rigors of unsmiling scholarship. Convivial, dramatic, domestic, and courtly contexts could spark Bach to indulge in droll escapades and jokes, but even beyond such occasions, the prankster lurks in the transgressions of genius.

Beyond Hand Waving: Indices For Hymn Leading in Corporate Christian Worship

The paper examines the significance of the selection, planning, and factors that affect the leading and singing of hymns in corporate Christian worship. While myriads of scholarly literature abound on hymnology, through bibliographies and an in-depth library search, the paper seeks to discuss the guidelines that engender the leading of congregation hymns and methods required for a dynamic leading of hymns. The research findings reveal that in some Nigerian churches where there are no trained music ministers, many untrained song leaders merely stand before the congregation to announce the hymns for the congregation to sing without performing a leadership role. Others merely stand to wave a hand. Leading congregational hymns requires training and vivaciousness in skill application. The three major areas of focus include planning, leading, and congregational response to hymn singing. The paper concludes that planning and selection of hymns are both spiritual and intellectual exercises that involve basic knowledge of the rudiments of music. The research will help the church musicians and academics in further research into church music and congregational hymn singing. Keywords: Song Leader, Hymn, Hymnody, Worship, Corporate Christian Worship

J. S. Bach’s Church Cantatas and Church Music Today

How do we as Christians today learn about worship and church music? How do we think about not only what music we will sing in Christian worship, but also the principles that should guide us in choosing and leading church music? Certainly, there are many different ways we answer that question: we study the Bible, we sing the words of the Scriptures, we read what theologians, worship leaders, and scholars of church music are writing today, we attend lectures and conferences by scholars and practitioners of church music. In this article, I offer and explore yet another example of how we live out God’s call in leading music for the Christian church: by studying the example of a faithful Christian musician from the past. My particular example for this article is the German composer and church musician Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). I want to clarify from the start that I am not arguing that J. S. Bach is the best example of a Christian church musician and certainly not that he is the only example. But Bach does offer us one example of a musician who dedicated most of his life to creating and leading music for the Christian church and sought to do so faithfully, creatively, and skillfully.

”Sävelet tekevät tekstin eläväksi”: paaston ja pääsiäisajan liturginen kuoromusiikki sanoman kannattelija

Hanna Remes’s artistic doctoral degree, which focuses on choral church music in worship, is the first of its kind in Finland. The demonstration of proficiency carried out 2016–2020 comprises two masses, a worship service, a passion drama and an Easter concert. She elucidates changes in guidelines for the liturgical use of the choir according to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s 2000 church manual from those of the 1968 church manual. The dissertation stands at the junction of liturgy and the history of church music. Remes compares and analyses the liturgical role of the choir in the Church of Finland as stated in the latest church manuals and supplementary materials and explains the guiding principles of the manuals’ preparation.