Russian Church Singing Orthodox Worship And Hymnography

This comprehensive study is intended to serve not only as a standard reference work but also as the cornerstone and inspiration for future research into the music of the Russian Orthodox Church. As its author emphasizes, the music of the Orthodox Church cannot be understood in purely aesthetic categories, apart from the liturgical context which determines both its content and its function. Accordingly, this first volume examines not only the early history of Russian chant, but also the structure of Orthodox worship and the poetical forms of its hymnography. Dr. Johann von Gardner, the eminent Russian-born musicologist, holds the Chair of Russian Liturgical Music at the University of Munich. Over the past fifty years he has written over 300 articles on liturgical music as well as several major scholarly books. RThis book represents the culmination of his scholarly labors. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press publishes a wide selection of books on Orthodox theology, worship, history, spirituality and art. These include such works as Theology of the Icon by Leonid Ouspensky, an illustrated exploration of the Orthodox understanding of the icon; Introduction to Liturgical Theology by Alexander Schmemann, which studies the ordo or "shape" of Orthodox worship and its historical evolution from its beginnings down to the Byzantine synthesis of the ninthtwelfth centuries; Nicholas Cabasilas' Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, a classic expression of Byzantium's last great flowering of theology; and The Russians and Their Church by Nicholas Zernov, a popular survey of the entire scope of Russian Church history. All four books provide further insights into the life and thought of the Orthodox Church.

The history of church singing in Russia constitutes an essential aspect of that nation's culture and musical history. For the first 650 years, from the Christianization of Rus' in the year 988, liturgical chant was the only documentable art music in that vast territory that eventually became the modern nations of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Indeed, in Russia before the revolution of 1917, "liturgical musicology" was a bona fide scholarly discipline, taught in conservatories, universities, and theological seminaries. All activity in the field came to a halt, however, during the 75-year "Soviet era," when the study and practice of sacred music was severely repressed for ideological reasons, with a resulting lack of published research and secondary material. Consequently, Russian and Western music historians, church musicians, and liturgical scholars (as well as ordinary church-goers), whose interest in Orthodox Christianity and its art has been increasing of late, have been deprived of reference works that would impart even a general knowledge of the history and development of liturgical singing in the Russian Orthodox Church. The present Volume, Russian Church Singing: Volume 2 is the second installment of Professor Johann von Gardner's monumental work to appear in English translation. The 396-page volume, translated and edited by Dr. Vladimir Morosan, considers the development and practice of liturgical chant in the Russian lands from a variety of aspects: its origins and the various cultural influences upon its formation; extant manuscripts; the evolution of the notation and the problematics of deciphering it into modern-day notes; the forces involved in its performance; its stylistic evolution from exclusively monodic forms to improvised and, eventually, notated polyphony; its earliest known composers and performing ensembles; its aesthetics in relation to liturgy, the language, and the various problems that arose over the centuries, resulting in the adoption of Westernized stylistic models around the year 1650, which marks the approximate end of the time period covered in this volume. Much of this information is made accessible for the first time to the English reader, and will be of interest both to the specialist and to the general reader, generating a healthy demand for further research and exploration into this fascinating and hitherto unknown field. Book jacket.

This comprehensive study is intended to serve not only as a standard reference work but also as the cornerstone and inspiration for future research into the music of the Russian Orthodox Church. As its author emphasizes, the music of the Orthodox Church cannot be understood in purely aesthetic categories, apart from the liturgical context which determines both its content and its function. Accordingly, this first volume examines not only the early history of Russian chant, but also the structure of Orthodox worship and the poetical forms of its hymnography. Dr. Johann von Gardner, the eminent Russian-born musicologist, holds the Chair of Russian Liturgical Music at the University of Munich. Over the past fifty years he has written over 300 articles on liturgical music as well as several major scholarly books. RThis book represents the culmination of his scholarly labors. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press publishes a wide selection of books on Orthodox theology, worship, history, spirituality and art. These include such works as Theology of the Icon by Leonid Ouspensky, an illustrated exploration of the Orthodox understanding of the icon; Introduction to Liturgical Theology by Alexander Schmemann, which studies the ordo or "shape" of Orthodox worship and its historical evolution from its beginnings down to the Byzantine synthesis of the ninthtwelfth centuries; Nicholas Cabasilas' Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, a classic expression of Byzantium's last great flowering of theology; and The Russians and Their Church by Nicholas Zernov, a popular survey of the entire scope of Russian Church history. All four books provide further insights into the life and thought of the Orthodox Church.

Orthodox Liturgical music, as well as other church arts such as architecture or iconography, is part of the dogmatic tradition of the Orthodox Church and thus of its Holy Tradition, and a consequence of man's creativity as a son of God made unto His image. Orthodoxy is a singing and praying culture. When Orthodox believers gather to pray, they sing, and much of the theology of the Orthodox Church is passed on through sacred song in the liturgical services. Singing and praying are two elements intrinsically joined in Orthodox worship, and when the Orthodox faithful sing the goal is not only to acknowledge the meaning and content of the hymns they sing, but to know, to experience what they are singing. Music makes their praying come alive, whatever be the style of music they sing. It is from this historical dimension that I will attempt to address three main topics of Orthodox Church Music related to Church music in Byzantium, Church Music in Russia, and Theology of Church Music: development of byzantine hymnody, the arrival of church singing and its early development in Russia, and the role of music in the holy services. (Ángel F. Sánchez-Escobar, MA, PhD, ThD)

This book focuses on the compilation of the different practices of Eastern Orthodox Chant, looking at the subject through various languages, practices, and liturgical books and letters. The subject of this book is also analysed through newly found, unique material, to provide the entire history of Eastern Orthodox Chant, from the ninth to the nineteenth centuries and approached through a number of different disciplines. The book consists of sixteen topics, grouped in four parts: Studies on Genre, Studies on Liturgical Books, Studies on Distinguished Men of Letters, and Studies on Bulgarian Orthodox Church Chant. The aim of the book is to present the Eastern chant as a phase in the evolution of Mediterranean art, which is the cradle of Graeco-Roman heritage. This complex study brings in a variety of sources to show the purpose of Eastern Orthodox Chant as strengthening the Christian faith during the Middle Ages and the revival of Balkan nationalism in the nineteenth century. This book will appeal to students and scholars alike, interested in liturgical musical books, liturgy, and chant repertory. Likewise, it will be of interest to those engaged in medieval and early modern history, music, and culture.

Engelhardt enters the world of Orthodox Christianity in Estonia to explore the significance of musical style in worship, cultural identity, and social imagination. Through a series of ethnographic and historical chapters, the book focuses on how Orthodox Estonians give voice to the religious absolute in secular society to live Christ-like lives. Approaching Orthodoxy through local understandings of correct practice and correct belief, this work describes how religious knowledge, national identity, and social transformation were articulated in the work of singing not just any way, but the right way.

Russian music today has a firm hold around the world in the repertoire of opera houses, ballet companies, and orchestras. The music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergey Rachmaninov, Sergey Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich is very much today’s lingua franca both in the concert hall and on the soundtracks of international blockbusters from Hollywood. Meanwhile, the innovations of Modest Musorgsky, Alexander Borodin, and Igor Stravinsky have played their crucial role in the development of Western music, influencing the work of virtually every notable composer of the past century. Historical Dictionary of Russian Music, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 600 cross-referenced entries for each of Russia’s major performing organizations and performance venues, and on specific genres such as ballet, film music, symphony and church music. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Music.

"Cold War Radio is a concise look at the history of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and their impact on the Soviet Union during the Cold War"--