The Liturgical Singing Tradition of the Old Believers Priests of the Village of Koida (Based on the Materials of the Pushkin House Expedition in 1975 and 1976)

В 1975 и 1976 годах состоялись фольклорные экспедиции Института русской литературы в с.Койда Мезенского р-на Архангельской области, в ходе которых были записаны разнообразные в стилевом и историческом отношении духовные стихи, а также богослужебные песнопения. До настоящего времени коллекция звукозаписей, хранящаяся в Фонограммархиве ИРЛИ, не становилась предметом специального изучения. В ходе исследования удалось атрибутировать гимнографические тексты, выделить особенности распевов и духовных стихов, выявить их источники, частично реконструировать условия звукозаписи. На основе материалов более поздних фольклорно-археографических экспедиций ИРЛИ были восстановлены сведения о жизни старообрядческой общины, которая принадлежала к белокриницкому согласию. Коллекция богослужебных песнопений в музыкальном отношении разнообразна: она содержит пение «по напевке», «на глас», распевы письменной традиции, памятогласие. Внебогослужебная лирика представлена популярными духовными стихами позднего происхождения, за исключением эсхатологических стихов, распевы которых опираются на богослужебную традицию гласового пения. In 1975 and 1976, the Institute of Russian Literature (the Pushkin House) arranged expeditions to the village of Koida, Mezensky District, Arkhangelsk Region, during which spiritual verses and liturgical chants diverse in style and history were recorded. Until now, the collection of sound recordings (32 items) stored in the Phonogram Archive has not been a subject of special study. In the course of the research, it has become possible to attribute hymnographic texts, to highlight specifics of the chants and spiritual verses, to identify their sources, and partially reconstruct conditions of the sound recording. The materials of later folklore and archaeographic expeditions, provided the following information: facts about the life of the Old Believer’s community that belonged to the Belokrinitsky concord, the names of mentors, forms of mentoring and transmitting the singing tradition. The chants and spiritual verses were recorded from two significant performers — mentors Nadezhda Malygina and Nikandr Malygin. The collection of chants is diverse and contains oral and written versions of chants, mnemonic (pamyatoglasie). Non-liturgical music is represented by popular spiritual poetry of late origin, except for eschatological verses, the melody of which is similar to the chant.

The Theoretical Codex of the Mid-17th Century as a Phenomenon of Church-Singing Art

The first musical-theoretical manuals of ancient Russia appeared in the 15th century. They were rather small in volume and contained information that was predominantly educational. The changes that were taking place in the singing system over several centuries were reflected in new types of manuals, conveying the peculiarities of the singing art (znamenny chant) of the time. By the middle of the 17th century, the codices began to occupy a significant place in manuscripts, which contained monuments of Russian liturgical singing. They were large-scale consolidated documents, including a selection of relatively independent musical-theoretical manuals, each of which revealed a separate aspect in the theory of znamenny chant, carried out according to special musical signs — kriuki (hooks). The tradition of handwritten copying of documents contributed to the fact that each type of theoretical manual was simultaneously in many copies that never matched the text with absolute accuracy and always contained discrepancies. The codex, analysed in this article, in the mid-17th century manuscript of V. F. Odoevsky’s Collection No. 1, which is kept in the Russian State Library, is a set of numerous copies of different theoretical manuals that were formatted by that time. These are the notable azbuka (ABC) that explain individual neums; kokizniki and fitniki, expounding upon the principles of formula singing; manuals that reveal the sound-naming system, as well as a meaningful layer of author’s comments that interpret and generalizing material for educational purposes.

Christian Liturgical Chant and the Musical Reorientation of Arvo Pärt

Working in the spirit of recent scholarship that has enriched our understanding of change and continuity leading up to, across, and beyond Pärt’s nominally “silent” period of 1968–76, this chapter reconsiders Pärt’s relationship to Christian plainchant. The chapter suggests that in tintinnabuli emerged a musical system that recreates by different means some of the key organizational procedures of traditions of Latin, Byzantine, and Slavonic liturgical singing.

The Ruthenian Version of the Early Rus᾿ Exegesis on the Easter Canon and the Functioning of Ruthenian

The Ruthenian version of the Early Rus᾿ Exegesis on John of Damascus᾿ Easter Canon is published here according to the sole known mid-16th century manuscript from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Saint Petersburg, The Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, P. Dobrokhotov collection (f. 37), No. 18, f. 302‒308). The text belongs to the little known in Early Slavic studies genre of exegesis (commentaries) on hymnography and is a part of a larger (and still unpublished) set of Old Church Slavonic hymnopgraphic commentaries compiled in Pre-Mongol Kievan Rus in the late 12th‒early 13th c. From the entire set, merely the exegesis on the Easter Canon is known to be translated from Old Church Slavonic into Ruthenian.The translation confirms the earlier conclusion that Ruthenian was never used in liturgical singing in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, since it was functioning as a lingua ad homines and clearly differed from Old Church Slavonic, which was used as a lingua ad Deum, e.g. the only Slavic Eastern Orthodox liturgical language directly addressed to God. The publication is accompanied by a description of themost important general characteristics of the Ruthenian version, which is a later and already corruptedcopy of the original translation.

Composer’s interpretation of the Christian ethos in the music art of sovereign Belarus

For the first time in the Belarusian liturgical musicology analysis of the attitude of domestic composers to Christian sources: themes, images, style, church singing culture in general is carried out. It is proved that the interest of the Belarusian musicians of the period of state sovereignty focuses on two Christian denominations – the Western and Eastern European; that the compositions of composers in their essence are representatives of musical art, and not of liturgical singing practice, and also, that the basis of the composer’s work is the phenomenon of interpretation. Three types of composer interpretation of church tradition are distinguished: «leverage» (transposition, re-establishment), author’s transcription and conventionality. The main conclusion of the work: the spiritual stratum of the national musical culture of modern times, presented by composer creativity, is a peculiar aesthetic euphemism between Eastern and Western Christianity, which manifests itself in various aspects.

ЦЕРКОВНА МУЗИКА В КОНТЕКСТІ МИСТЕЦЬКОГО ЖИТТЯ ЗАХІДНО-УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ НАРОДНОЇ РЕСПУБЛІКИ (1918–1923)

Системно відтворено розвиток церковної музики (дзвоніння, богослужбовий спів, гра органа) у контексті мистецького життя Західно-Української Народної Республіки (ЗУНР). Інтерпретація матеріалів утверджує герменевтичне вивчення музики й анропологічний підхід в її студіях. Розвій мистецтва зумовили духовне піднесення українців, боротьба за свою державу на фронті й у тилу, сплеск виявів побожності серед людей, прагнення випросити благовоління для оборонних змагань. Богослужіння, чин поховання природно супроводжувалися відповідним співосупроводом, дзвоніннями, грою органа.Ключові слова: Західно-Українська Народна Республіка, церковна музика, богослужбові співи, дзвоніння, орган, священник, капелан, ритуал. The development of church music (bell-ringing, liturgical singing, organ playing) has been systematically researched in the context of the artistic life of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic (WUPR). The interpretation of the, material confirms the hermeneutical study of music and the anthropological approach in its studies. The development of art caused the special spiritual uplift of the Ukrainians, the struggle for their state at the front line and at the home front,a burst of manifestations of piety among people, the desire to seek God’s favor for the people’s fight. The liturgy, the act of burial were naturally accompanied by appropriate singing, bell-ringing, and organ playing.Key words: Westukrainian People’s Republic, church music, liturgical chants, bell-ringing, organ, priest, chaplain, ritual.

Homo cantans : On the Logic of Liturgical Singing

Why does it seem that humans are in need of ritual and contemplative practices, such as singing, for their intellectual reasoning on theological matters? First of all, this study introduces Liturgical Theology as an endeavor to establish liturgy as an activity that connects physical and intellectual dimensions of faith. Secondly, insights into the dialogue between theology and the natural sciences will provide a framework for the engagement with research on singing. Finally, selected studies on singing from different fields of human sciences can unearth evidence for mutual influences between singing and human thinking as a prerequisite for academic theology.

The Cherubic Hymn in The Romanian Choral Creation

The Cherubic Hymn (gr.) o heroubikos ymnos) was introduced in the Byzantine Liturgy in the 5th century, by a decree of Emperor Justin the 2nd, issued in 574. The document stated the replacement of an old psalm, once sang during the offering of bread and wine gifts at the altar by the church-goers (ofertorium), with the new hymn. The replacement of the ofertoriumului ritual with the one of Presentation of the Euharistic Gifts (the Great Exodus) and the introduction of associated memorials, determined the fragmentation of the hymn in two different parts. Initially sang monodically, the introduction of the art of chorale in the Orthodox Church determined the development of this liturgical singing in two parts with a different musical nature, based on the principle of contrast: Cherubic, in large tempo (Adagio) and That we may receive the King in moderate tempo (Moderato). The first induces an atmosphere of mystical chastity, leads to introversion, and the second is a glory hymn, imposing and majestic. Literary, The Cherubic consists of the following three sentences, which determined the subsequent form of homonym choral creations, We, who mystically represent the Cherubim,/ And chant the thrice-holy hymn to the Life-giving Trinity. Let us set aside the cares of life, Followed by another two sentences and the threefold repetition of the ovation “Hallelujah!”, which form the second hymn: That we may receive the King of all! Who comes invisibly escorted by the Divine Hosts! Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! In the Romanian liturgical chorale creation the Cherubic hymn bears the following stylistic directions: 1. of Slavic influence; 2. of Classical-Romantic inspiration; 3. which capitalizes the Byzantine church singing.