“...Pure Byzantine singing - how sweet it is! It pacifies and softens the soul. Correct church singing is an outpouring of the inner spiritual state. This is divine fun! That is, Christ rejoices the heart, and a person speaks with God in joy of the heart...” Rev. Paisiy Svyatogorets
Story
Byzantine church singing originated during the formation of the Byzantine Empire. In the 4th century. the cessation of persecution made it possible to develop all aspects of church life, including church singing. During this period, all the best achievements of universal human life are borrowed into church life. For liturgical singing, the church fathers began to use ancient Greek music, the most highly developed musical system of that time. From this musical system everything that was incompatible with the correct spiritual structure was discarded. Subsequently, this musical system was refined and enriched by the works of many spirit-bearing church fathers and Christian hymnals. Such as: Roman the Sweet Singer, John of Damascus, Cosmas of Mayum, John Kukuzel and others. The Holy Fathers were careful about the use and preservation of this liturgical singing.
Thus, Byzantine church singing became an integral part of sacred church tradition. It is still used in many local churches: Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, as well as St. Mount Athos.
Peculiarities
The characteristic features of Byzantine church singing are: the vocal system (osmoglasie), consisting of 4 main and 4 plagal (derived) voices; the use of several scales with intervals unknown to European music; the presence of regular musical phrases or turns; original music recording system (neutral notation); monophony and isocratima (ison); antiphony and different types of melos.
Another integral feature is kratima. This is the chanting of meaningless words, such as “to-ro-ro”, “te-re-rem”, “ne-ne-na”, etc. The Greek verb “krato” means to hold or hold. The main practical significance of kratima is to enable clergy to slowly complete all necessary actions. As a rule, kratima is used in the chants of the papadic melos (cherubic and sacramental verses), as well as in some chants of the all-night vigil. Kratima means spiritual delight or unspoken angelic singing, in which the soul is poured out in song without words.
Advantages
Unlike the European musical system, where only major or minor is possible, and, accordingly, joy and sadness, Byzantine church singing is richer in its musical properties to express the versatility of the church’s prayer experience. For example, in the patristic heritage there is such a concept as joyful crying. It is obvious that the Byzantine musical system of church singing has more tools for expressing such a concept, and therefore is more conducive to achieving the purpose of our life.
You will need
- - Literature in Church Slavonic (prayer book, New Testament, Psalter);
- - notes of those chants performed by your church choir;
- - musical instrument;
- - voice recorder;
- - computer.
Instructions
Learn to read Church Slavonic fluently. To do this, read prayer books and other books in Church Slavonic at home every day, practicing speaking and understanding it.
You will not only have to perform musical works from notes, but also sing to the texts of troparions, stichera, etc. to voices for liturgical services. Such books as Menaea, Octoechos, Book of Hours were published precisely in the language of communication with God - Church Slavonic.
To sing correctly in a church choir - it is also called - study musical notation and solfeggio. If you don’t remember much from your school singing lessons, sign up for courses or a church singing club for.
They will help you develop the connection between your voice and hearing. To find out in which churches such circles exist, ask your parish priest or the diocese.
If you have zero musical training, but the desire to learn church singing is very strong, do not be upset. If there are no courses or clubs, please 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 quietly 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 the Church of St. Anastasia the Pattern Maker, in the Chesme Church, in the Church of Seraphim of Sarov. For men, we can recommend the amateur choir at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).
Do not try to learn the osmoglas on your own, as the chants are slightly different in each temple. It’s better to immediately learn the chant of the church in which you are going to perform choir obedience.
To learn church singing, stand next to a more experienced singer in a choir. It's better if he sings in your ear. Carefully watch how he sings, repeat your part after him to learn it.
This will help you understand the main moves of your game and understand its logic. And in the future it will allow you to sing more confidently and consciously. When working with a choir, hone the accuracy of hitting your note, the direction of the sound, pronunciation, breathing, and volume.
Conduct your own music lessons at home. Ask the regent for sheet music and learn church chants using a musical instrument. Sing chants accompanied by an instrument, naming notes instead of syllables. Watch the duration of the notes. During the learning process, you can play, for example, one part on a synthesizer (soprano) and sing another (for example, alto).
If there is no tool, use other benefits of civilization. Record your part or the general sound of the choir on a voice recorder. Listen at home, sing it several times, correcting any mistakes that arise.
Use a music learning program downloaded from the Internet. Then move on to sight reading.
Ask an experienced teacher to work with you individually. He will notice all your flaws and tell you in which direction you need to work.
Achieve angelic singing - bright, majestic, peaceful. Remember that church singing should not sound like opera. And at the same time, it should not be wildly popular.
Don't get carried away by beautiful harmony, musical effects or complexity of performance, remember that words are primary and music is secondary. Don't be narcissistic.
Having applied diligence and work, in a year you will sing passably in the choir, glorifying God with all the choir residents.
God help you!
According to the Tale of Bygone Years, in 987, the ambassadors of Prince Vladimir went to Constantinople in order to find out about the faith of the Greeks. Upon their arrival, the emperor ordered “to prepare the church and clergy,” and the patriarch “performed a festive service according to custom, and lit censers, and arranged singing and choirs... And he went with the Russians to the church, and they placed them in the best place... They were in admiration, wonder and praise for their service.” Having returned to their country, they reported to Prince Vladimir: “We didn’t know whether we were in heaven or on earth: for there is no such spectacle and such beauty on earth, and we don’t know how to tell about it, we only know what is there.” God is with the people, and their service is better than in all other countries. We cannot forget that beauty, for every person, if he tastes the sweet, will not then take the bitter; So we can no longer stay here.”
Thus, largely thanks to the beauty of the Constantinople divine service, which made such a strong impression on the ambassadors, Prince Vladimir accepted the Orthodox faith, and the course of the history of our country changed radically. In this article, we invite you to take a closer look at the most impressive external element of Greek worship - Byzantine church singing.
Byzantine church singing, or Byzantine church music as it is often called, has a long and interesting history of development. Unlike other ancient forms of music, its history has not been interrupted, and it is still used for worship in the Greek Orthodox Church, as well as some other Local Churches. The roots of Byzantine church music can be traced back to the early centuries of the Eastern Roman Empire, founded in 330 by the holy emperor Constantine the Great. It also has a historical connection with the musical culture of ancient Greece. Although Byzantine singing has come a long way in development, changing in style over time, it continues to amaze listeners with its beauty even today. “Pure Byzantine singing - how sweet it is! It pacifies, softens the soul,” said our contemporary Reverend Paisius the Svyatogorets. At the same time, many ancient compositions have reached us in manuscripts unchanged and, today, centuries later, some of them are beginning to be performed again:
Sunday prokeimenon “O Lord, Thy mercy be upon us” from the repertoire of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople. Voice 1. According to the manuscripts Patmos 221 (1162-1179) and Vat. Gr. 345 (XIII century)
Byzantine church music has a number of special characteristics that should be noted:
Firstly, it belongs to the genre of so-called “modal music”. Unlike European music, which mainly uses major and minor modes, Byzantine music is built on the basis of 8 different modes, or “voices”, each of which has its own characteristics, such as: scale, tonic (or initial degree of the mode), melodic contour, range and emotional melodic nuance. One of the most important features is that each of the 8 voices belongs to one or another scale, of which there are only 4 in Byzantine music. Each of these scales differs from one another in its sound intervals (the sound distance between the notes of the scale).
Secondly, the sound intervals of the modes of Byzantine music do not have a uniform musical structure, that is, they contain microtones. In other words, the vast majority of Byzantine music cannot be performed, for example, on a piano, which has sound distances of one tone or semitone.
Thirdly, there are a number of limitations in classical Byzantine music. For example, regarding the permitted rhythm: it is not difficult to notice its recitative character, which is especially pronounced in some shorter compositions:
"Let our lips be filled..." Voice 5
Finally, the most important feature is how new compositions are composed. For example, a composer who wants to write new music for some chant must use melodic formulas - the so-called “fesis”, corresponding to the voice and genre to which the liturgical text for which the new music is being composed belongs. In other words, the composer cannot start composing a new melody “from scratch”, but must build on existing melodic “fesis”, thus preserving musical tradition by imitating the style of older, classical compositions. “Fesis” is “a certain combination of signs, which represents a melos (chant, melody. - Note ed.). Just as in grammar the syllabic combination of twenty-four elements of language forms words, so sound signs combined with knowledge form melos and, in this case, are called phesis. “Fesis” can be understood as “a musical formula with a certain beginning and end, into which a certain number of syllables with a certain stress “fits.” Many of the fesis are used within a very strict framework, requiring combination with a certain number of other fesis and implying a further certain development of the melos or suggesting use only in certain places of the melos.”
However, the above limitation does not mean that the composer has few resources for his own creativity when composing new melodies, since there are several thousand melodic formulas that allow the composer to create an immeasurable number of melodic variations.
A musical composition in Byzantine singing art is created using a non-neutral notation system, which in origin precedes the European one and consists of signs indicating the movement of the voice (up or down), rhythm, etc. (Latin neuma, from ancient Greek νεῦμα ; originally - a sign with the head [nod] or with the eyes -. Note ed.).
Over time, the Byzantine notation system naturally developed and changed, but its basic external form and essence remained the same. Currently, during divine services, choristers use the so-called “new method” of Byzantine notation, which was introduced in 1814 by three composers and theorists of Byzantine music - Chrysanthus of Maditsky, Gregory Protopsaltes and Khurmuzius Chartophylax, who later received the nickname “three teachers”. However, their innovation was not the invention of a different notation system. In essence, this was a reform and standardization of elements of the same system, which will be discussed in more detail below.
Thousands of years later, using non-neutral notation, composers of Byzantine music composed an immeasurable number of musical works, ranging from short, simple melodies to much more complex and elegant ones:
Cherubic song of Manuel Chrysaph (XV century). Voice 1. According to the manuscript Iviron 1120 (1458)
Saint John Kukuzel. 15th century image from the musical codex of the Great Athonite Lavra. Of the most revered composers of Byzantine music, the following are often highlighted: the Venerable Romanos the Sweet Singer (VI century), John of Damascus (VII century) and John Kukuzel (XIV century), as well as Peter of the Peloponnese (XVIII century) - an outstanding post-Byzantine composer, whose original musical works and transcriptions of older works into the “new method” of Byzantine notation formed the basis of the modern use of Byzantine church singing.
It is necessary, however, to pay more attention to the Monk John Kukuzel - the main creator of a more drawn-out and richly decorated genre of Byzantine church singing, nicknamed “calophonic”, or “beautiful sounding”. The name of this genre of church music comes from the ancient Greek word for “beautiful” (Greek: καλός).
Even centuries later, the melodies of hymnographic works continued to have some common features. However, in the 14th century, according to Protopsalt John Boyer, the writings of the hesychast monk, Reverend John Kukuzel, “revolutionized the musical tradition of the Orthodox Church.” The manuscripts that have come down to us containing his musical compositions, as well as the compositions of his contemporaries who wrote music in the calophonic style, give us an interesting insight into the liturgical life of the hesychast monks. The daily life of the monks was strict and simple, taking place in constant prayer. However, when the brethren gathered on Sundays and holidays, sometimes very complex, melodically rich chants were performed during the service, as evidenced by the manuscripts of Byzantine music that have reached us.
“I will open Your hand...” (Ps. 103:28-35) by St. John Kukuzel and the anonymous composer. Voice 8. According to the manuscripts Sinai 1257, Sinai 1527 (XV century) and Athens 2458 (1336)
Since the 14th century alternative melodies to liturgical texts begin to appear in manuscripts, often immediately following the original composition and having such inscriptions as “τὸ αὐτὸ καλοφονικὸ παρά Ἰωάννου τοῦ Κουκουζέλ ους" (“the same in beautiful sound from John Kukuzel”). Over time, the practice of calophonic singing became so popular that calophonic versions of the chants were composed for all major church holidays, and collections containing these compositions began to appear. These festive compositions were used to complement or replace one or more classical melodies of chants relating to the celebrated event.
Over the course of the long history of Byzantine music, in addition to the creation of calophonic versions of chants, changes can also be traced in the way the original melodies themselves were performed. At a certain stage in the development of Byzantine music, many chants gradually began to “lengthen,” explains protopsalt D. Boyer. In some cases, centuries later, this led to a doubling of the rhythmic component. That is, what previously had the duration of one beat began to have two, and then four, eight and even sixteen. In addition to increasing the duration, each note or group of notes “expanded” and turned into an entire musical “formula”. This development was subsequently called "αργή εξήγηση" - "slow interpretation" of the melody.
As an example of this phenomenon, below is a small group of notes with three different levels of interpretation (performed by protopsalt D. Boyer). 
In a simple interpretation, the above group of notes sounds like this:
Whereas in the middle degree of “interpretation” this same group of notes will sound like this:
And finally, in the subsequent degree of “interpretation”, this same group of notes will already sound like this:
These three performances differ in the number of notes sung, but the choirboy of the time, when looking at the score to sing these three examples, did not see three different versions in front of him, but just one, shown in the picture above. In other words, if desired, the execution of the second or third option was carried out “impromptu”, using knowledge from memory of an orally transmitted tradition.
Thus, Middle Byzantine notation gradually began to acquire a shorthand character (that is, certain combinations of notes began to be abbreviations denoting larger groups of notes). Initially, however, the Middle Byzantine notation, if it had a shorthand recording nature, was to a small extent still more analytical (that is, initially the chants could be performed one to one according to notes or close to it, or, in other words, certain combinations notes then were not abbreviations denoting larger groups of them). But, over time, the practice began to develop to perform or “interpret” a certain combination of notes in a more “long”, “decorated” way, and at the same time, these “interpretations” were not recorded in musical notations, but were memorized and passed on orally, which, finally, led to the shorthand nature of the recording. This topic was studied by Professor John Arvanitis, who described the development of Byzantine notation as follows: “Notation was not originally so shorthand. It was stenographic in nature, perhaps to a moderate degree, having a short melismatic style, or it was not stenographic at all. There was a certain shorthand in the Paleo-Byzantine notation (notation before the 12th century), in which there were no indications of intervals and melismas, and the so-called. "femata" were sometimes written with just one sign. But the shorthand was analyzed in Middle Byzantine notation." That is, the musical abbreviations of the Paleo-Byzantine notation were replaced with their full meanings in the Middle Byzantine notation. However, then, over time, “notation again acquired a shorthand character” thanks to the development of oral practice described above.
Byzantine notation (Sloane manuscript 4087, XVI-XVII centuries)
It should be noted that the above-described phenomenon was practiced only with a certain part of the repertoire of Byzantine music, and it does not at all indicate that initially its entire repertoire was extremely simple and had only short melodies, while complex chants appeared only at a late stage in the development of Byzantine music, being the fruit of the above-described phenomenon. In fact, quite complex compositions already existed at earlier stages.
Part of the Antiphon of Vespers of Pentecost. From Ashburnhamensis 64 (1289)
Thus, over time, the oral component of Byzantine music, due to its volume, became a real obstacle to learning church singing. For example, a certain melodic phrase could be written using nine symbols, but these nine musical symbols could represent over forty notes, and the singer had to know the meaning of this nine-note musical formula by heart (that is, seeing only nine musical symbols on a sheet of music, sing forty ).
It should be noted that this or that chant could possibly be interpreted in varying degrees of length, depending on the need. For example, on ordinary days, some chant or type of chant, for example, stichera, could be performed with a short melody, while on holidays - with a longer melody. In other words, several orally transmitted versions of the notation could simultaneously exist (conventionally, a shorter and a more drawn-out one).
In 1814, the above-described problem of the shorthand nature of notation was solved thanks to the introduction of the “new method” of analytical notation (which was mentioned earlier), created by three composers and theorists of Byzantine music - Chrysanthus of Maditsky, Gregory Protopsaltes and Hurmuzius Chartophylax. The name “new” was given to this system in order to distinguish it from the previous, less analytical one.
In the transcriptions of the repertoire carried out by three teachers using the “new method” of notation, the established oral tradition was recorded. In other words, any composition was taken, written in the old notation, which by that time had a shorthand nature, and was rewritten so that all the notes were indicated that would actually be sung when the old notation was read by a singer who had mastered the established oral practice. That is, if a certain combination of notes in the old notation - say, 9 of any note signs - in practice by that time it was customary to “interpret” so that in the end, say, 40 notes were sung, then, shifting the chant from the old notation to “ new method”, this nine-character combination of notes would be written “expanded”: instead of 9 characters - all 40 in accordance with the established practice of interpreting this group of notes (an example is presented below). Thus, with the advent of the “new method,” the need to memorize such long musical “formulas” disappeared.
Now, in order to better understand how Byzantine notation works, let's look at its main elements.
As mentioned earlier, unlike European notation, Byzantine uses symbols that, instead of indicating an exact pitch, indicate melodic movement (up or down) relative to the previous note. Such signs form the bulk of Byzantine notation. For example, a symbol called an "ison" instructs the singer to repeat the previous note, an "oligon" symbol indicates going up one note, and an "apostrophe" means going down one note. Another type of neumas denotes time categories such as tempo, breathing, etc. For example, “clasma” placed above a note indicates that the duration of the note becomes one beat longer. Another group of signs consists of symbols indicating qualitative changes. For example, the “psiphiston” sign under a note means that it needs to be played with some emphasis, more expressively. And finally, there are signs indicating the starting note and designating the voice (and, accordingly, the scale) in which the chant is sung; signs that change the scale or change its intervals, as well as signs that change the intervals of individual notes, for example, by a quarter tone, semitone, etc.
Byzantine music had a long history of development, and to this day, being a living tradition, its repertoire continues to expand. With the help of a non-neutral notation system, composers of Byzantine music continued to create new musical works that not only imitated classical styles, but also those that were in some way completely unique:
Psalm 33 Jer. Gregory of Simonopetra (XX century). Voices 1, 3 and 5
“The Trisagion” by Thrasivoulos Stanitsas (XX century). Voice 3
I would also like to note that Byzantine singing today is performed not only in Greek. Thanks to the works of Hieromonk Ephraim, a resident of the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great (Arizona, USA), free materials necessary for working on both the creation and transcription of Byzantine music into one language or another are available on the Internet. When translating Byzantine music into another language, it is impossible to simply “subordinate” the old melody to the new text, but, on the contrary, it is necessary to create a new melody in imitation of the original, observing all the spelling rules of Byzantine music and focusing on the permissible melodic “fesis”, which were mentioned earlier. In this way, music is created that is easily perceived by ear, and is also capable of effectively concentrating the attention of listeners on the content of the liturgical text. Otherwise, the arrangement will be, at a minimum, unpleasant to the ear and unnatural sounding, and the content of the chanted liturgical text may be more difficult to understand.
Thus, thanks to the works of Hieromonk Ephraim, it became much easier to translate Byzantine music into other languages, while observing the necessary rules of composition and thereby creating music that has a natural sound due to the harmony between text and melody. For example, with the help of these materials, today almost all the chants necessary for the full annual cycle of services (including a certain number of original compositions) have been translated into English and placed in the public domain as electronic music collections, which together make up , over six thousand pages.
An example of Byzantine chant in English. Sunday troparion “From on high you came down...” with verses. Voice 8
An example of Byzantine chant in English. “For let us raise up the Tsar...” Peter of the Peloponnese (XVIII century). Voice 8
Byzantine music in this notation system was and continues to be translated into Church Slavonic. However, given the scope of this topic, I would like to consider the history and current state of Byzantine singing in Church Slavonic in a separate article.
Fedor Nemets, reader
Key words: Byzantine church singing, voice, fesis, new method, notation, calophonic singing, arrangement.
Arvanitis I, prof. The Heirmologion by Balasios the Priest. A middle-point between past and present - The Internation Society for Orthodox Church Music, 2007. - P. 244.
Right there. C. 264.
Right there. C. 256.
Right there. C. 241.
Right there. C. 43.
Right there. C. 50.
Right there. C. 55.
In church singing, everything is subordinated to the word. Even if you follow the musical features, the emphasis is placed on prayer
01.07.2018 Through the labors of the brethren of the monastery 4 877
In 1991, Gennady Ryabtsev came to Valaam. He has a great musical past behind him: the Soviet underground, the group “Dynamic” and the solo project “Gennady Ryabtsev”, guitar, flute, saxophone. From that time he took only knowledge: the former rock musician was blessed to restore the Valaam singing tradition, which is based on the ancient Znamenny chant. On April 11, 1996, he was tonsured a monk with the name Herman, in honor of St. Herman, the Wonderworker of Valaam. On November 22 of the same year he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon. Hierodeacon German tells the site's correspondent about the musical experience of his new life.
From the business centers at the Belorusskaya metro station it’s just a stone’s throw from Tverskaya-Yamskaya. The Moscow courtyard of the Valaam Monastery is an oasis of peace. Outside the windows of the temple in the name of St. Sergius and Herman, Valaam miracle workers, there is the hum of cars and the flickering of city lights. It is reflected from the walls, merging with the shine of the lamps.
– There is such a reverent atmosphere here... silence, twilight,– Father Herman looks around the vaults, – as if not our time, but somewhere in old Moscow.
- How is it on Valaam?
- Yes. We have the same rules as on Valaam, and the atmosphere is the same prayerful.
– It turns out that you work in the same atmosphere as in the 90s in the monastery on the island?
– I was invited to the Moscow courtyard and given the opportunity to independently determine the repertoire in order to revive here the tradition that had been established in Valaam. In the early 90s there were no materials or music books yet. He brought all this to the island from Moscow, from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
“We got “Obyhod” right away, and if it weren’t for him, it’s unclear how we would have sung. Probably in the usual chant. And so we began to sing in Valaam. Then some leaves appeared in the zefaut key .
Entering the Internet space, the shop of the Valaam Monastery, one of the strongholds of Orthodoxy in Rus', does not pursue commercial interests, but is called upon, first of all, to quench the spiritual thirst of those who follow Christ.
In 1992 I entered the Moscow Theological Seminary. When I went to the session, I took the full daily and annual cycle from the library at my own risk - five books with the Znamenny chant, as I joke, “the Pentateuch.” I went to a friend, made a photocopy, and bound them. This is how Znamenny singing appeared on Valaam. Already real, original, restored from books.
OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD
– What was your work like then: research or creativity?
– Both. The Znamenny chant was new. The notes there are unusual, the so-called hatchets. Both the singers and I needed to learn to read them fluently. At the same time, the creative process was going on. I tried to combine two traditions: the ancient znamenny, untouched material that has never changed, and to add to this the Byzantine ison - an echo, a lower tone. Thus, the concept of the Valaam Znamenny Chant, or Znamenny Chant with Ison, appeared. Anatoly Grindenko used to do this. At the St. Petersburg Conservatory I attended lectures by Professor Kruchinina, she gave me a lot, she is an amazing specialist. In parallel, there was research, work with more ancient sources, singing on hooks. Thus, by the end of the 90s this tradition was established.
–
There is a version that in ancient Russian Znamenny singing there was also once an Ison
.
– The version is not documented, but if we think logically... After the Baptism of Rus' there were no liturgical books of our own, everything was Greek. There was no priesthood - the Greeks served. And the singing, accordingly, was also Greek: they sang in Byzantine chant. When and how the znamenny chant appeared - hardly anyone will say for sure. The oldest handwritten source dates back to the 11th century. It is kept in the Russian National Library. Nowhere is it written that the ison is there, but in the Greek tradition the ison is not written down, only the melody is written.
– Do we have an ison recorded?
- Yes, sure. We do not have any oral tradition associated with Ison. This is their native chant in Greece, but with us everything was new. I always prescribe an image, but not of the Byzantine type, but the author’s. In order not to bore you with musical terms, I will say briefly: it is more mobile, sometimes more like a leisurely two-voice.
– What do you rely on when you prescribe Ison?
– In church singing, everything is subordinated to the word. Even if you follow the musical features, the emphasis is placed on prayer. And when an ison is written as an element of melodic material, this is reflected in the word.
– If we talk about melody as an integral part of the divine service, does it have any theological interpretation, like, for example, iconography: there we analyze everything down to the tablet, which is the image and material of the outside world? What is melody in a theological context?
– Znamenny chant has both deep theological meaning and its wonderful form. In graphical form it is a hemisphere. On the key words of the prayer, so-called fits are often used: these are chants, quite lengthy, sometimes very long, in several lines. Some feats can contain up to eighty characters. This is done in order to stop your thought, stop your mind on the key words of prayer. It is very beautiful when one syllable is sung for a long time. Znamenny chant disposes a person to pray rather than to idle listening.
WILL YOU SING ALONE...?
– Were you familiar with temple singing even before you came to Valaam?
- Yes, sure. For a year and a half I lived at a church in a small community on Vyatka, completely remote and isolated from society. There he sang in the choir. Father served from memory, and they sang from memory. But we had an idea about worship, the rules. Afterwards I went to Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he blessed me to go to the monastery on Valaam. Father Kirill wrote a note to the abbot, with which I came to the courtyard in St. Petersburg. The boss asked if I could read and sing. I answered in the affirmative, and they told me: “Come.” When I arrived with my things, he told me right on the first day: “No one came, dear, come on, sing the Liturgy. Have you ever sung the Liturgy? - “Of course, he sang.” - “Will you sing alone?” - “I’ll sing.” From the first day I sang in the choir.
– Have you guessed what kind of work lies ahead?
- Of course not. I had no idea about the znamenny chant, although I knew that there was one. Even before Valaam, I heard the choir of Anatoly Gridenko from Moscow for the first time. I was amazed and wanted to do it. But I didn’t think that later I would not only be involved, but also devote my whole life to it. This is how the Lord arranged it. I came to Valaam and found out that they sing there only in Valaam style - a slightly simplified, rounded version of the Znamenny chant.
MORE COMPLEX than ANY JAZZ
– Was the transition difficult for you? You have a lot of experience working with rock, but here a completely different “music” began.
– No... It was interesting, especially when I came to Valaam. And when it’s interesting, you give it your all. And this is not a burden, but a joy. When meeting with old musician friends, he said then: “Guys, you have no idea, znamenny chant is more complicated than any jazz: there is no time signature, no meter, very complex melodic patterns.”
– How long did it take to hear what you came to on Valaam?
- Fast enough. For nine months he “sang” in the St. Petersburg courtyard. Before that, I hadn’t sight-sung for many years, since music school. There was a very great desire to learn. He locked himself in the refectory at night and read from the sheet until four o’clock in the morning, singing the Valaam Znamenny chant. And after two months it was already bouncing off my teeth. Then they gave me the chance to preside over not only the brethren, but also the singers. When he moved to Valaam as regent in the early 90s, he took it seriously.
– When you live for something, that’s all you think about. There, in the monastery, he was completely left to his own devices. Some time was spent on obedience: I had to gather firewood, I had to go to prayer, and practice rules. But the rest of the time is studying. I had a small four-channel tape recorder, and since there was no electricity on the island at that time, I took a car battery, and it lasted for almost a month of work. There he slowly wrote down.
– So this was the famous Valaam music studio?
- A small part. More serious devices later appeared on this base, and everything looked more or less professional.
– Valaam had its own photo studio, then – your recording studio, and much more. It turned out to be such a state within a state, where everything is there.
– This has always been the case in Valaam: they produced everything themselves in their workshops. Now we have not even achieved half of what we had before, but everything is moving towards this. The monastery is developing. There is always electricity, it's just fantastic! I remember turning on the electric heater in winter. And then there was a rolling blackout - that was it, it was cold, and work stopped. Then he started heating the stove, it warmed for a while, and then heated it again...
NOT FOR DISPLAY
– Were you sad about your guitar at first in the monastery?
– My mind turns upside down: I don’t want to touch those instruments, I don’t even want to remember. Not because it is bad, but because for spiritual purposes, for the state of the soul, returning to the past is not useful. The big spiritual battle at the very beginning is a battle with memories. They immediately take you away from where you are, where you should be. If you don’t have spiritual nourishment, then you can generally lose your mind: you try, but nothing works. People sometimes despair of winning and leave...
– There is always obedience, but has there ever been a time when you wanted to retire, hide somewhere in the depths of the island, be alone and just pray?
- Of course, this is such a well-known temptation, it visits everyone. When one of the brethren came and asked: “Here, father, bless me, I want to retire into the forest, into solitude, into prayer...”, Father Andronik (Trubachev), the then abbot of the monastery, said: “Do you think that will you become a man of prayer there? You will become a forester there.” This is the highest degree of spiritual strength - to pray in solitude! I wanted to, of course, but, thank God, there were always people nearby who could explain: “Wait. It's not time yet."
– Now znamenny singing is returning to parish churches, sometimes even without an icon. Perhaps returning to such a quiet form is an attempt to penetrate the essence of the monastic spirit?
- Previously, in churches, both parish and monastery, they sang only to those of the banner. When the church is dark and quiet, it is easier to pray – it’s very good when there are no distractions. If you look at our ancient churches: the windows are small, narrow, like loopholes, so that there is less light during services. Only candles, lamps, their reflections, shadows: the fire is alive, it moves. It's the same with singing. For people who are deep in prayer and not coming to a free concert, this is a blessing.
– After all, there is no reliable information about how they sang before? The reading is always different, and the result is a different work.
- Absolutely right. At lectures, Professor Kruchinina always says that anything can be deciphered, but it cannot be said with certainty that in ancient times they sang exactly this way and not otherwise. At the St. Petersburg Conservatory, this is what Albina Nikandrovna Kruchinina and Zivar Makhmudovna Guseinova, students of the great Maxim Viktorovich Brazhnikov, a researcher of ancient Russian music, are doing. They have a scientific approach: you need to justify why this is so. Until recently, when I was studying, they were one hundred percent confident in the transcripts of the 17th century, and partly in the 16th century. Then they started talking about scientific deciphering of the works of the 15th century and that everything else is a fantasy that has nothing to do with the historical moment.
– What would you wish and advise those people who are going to master Znamenny singing in the choir?
– There are hardly any special recommendations. Purposefulness and understanding of the importance of the moment for the person praying... I remember when Znamenny singing was just being returned to people who were accustomed to partes , they didn’t like it, and the singers were inexperienced. And since the chant is difficult to perform, this repelled people from Znamenny singing. My concept: no emotions, only internal prayer, not for show. Any emotions are completely alien to Znamenny singing. The main task is to help a person pray.
Through the works of the brethren of the Valaam Monastery +site volunteer site Ekaterina Rachkova
Recording in signs that determine the pitch value of the notes, which in a line are combined into close groups in strict accordance with the syllables of the chant text. In Russian church singing manuscripts and old printed music books it has a predominant meaning.
Ison is a drawn-out lower, bass voice in Byzantine and modern Greek church singing. Performed by a separate group of singers, with the rest of the singers singing the melody of the chant in unison. Sononic two-voice can be considered the first step to polyphonic singing.
Partes (partes singing) is a style of polyphonic church singing. In Russia, partes singing began to spread in the middle of the 17th century. It is distinguished by its concert nature, its closeness to secular music, and is now the main form of singing in churches.