“The philosophy, revealing itself in melody, is a deeper mystery than the crowd thinks. Church chants are created under different laws than the ones followed by those who are alien to our wisdom… unartificial song intertwines with divine words to make the music and the voice movement elucidate the hidden meaning contained in these words”. This idea voiced by an unknown Byzantine philosopher of the 4th century perfectly explained the essence and the purpose of sacred music, as well as the role and the aim of the singers, who, ideally, should not only possess the highest-level professional skills and realize the importance of their mission, but also live a pure life similar to that of clergymen and iconographers.
In the Middle Ages, music was an integral part of the church service, making up a cohesive system with church architecture, art and poetry of the Holy Scriptures. Later, many professional musicians were engaged in work for church (Johann Sebastian Bach), or were ordained to priesthood (Antonio Vivaldi). As the popularity of secular genres increased, the Western European composers continued to write music to spiritual texts along with symphonies and operas. Techniques and means used in sacred and secular genres often interpenetrated and enriched each other, for example, in Requiem by G. Verdi with its operatic arias and ensembles. In Russia, the attitude to sacred music was more serious, requiring to maintain “the purity of style”, that is why not every eminent secular composer dared create music for church.
The golden years of the Russian classical choral concerto is associated with Dmitry Bortnyansky, first, a student, and then the director of the Court Chapel. Having been granted the scholarship allowance for studying abroad as a sign of recognition of his outstanding talent, for over 10 years he lived and worked in major musical centers of Italy. Bortnyansky’s sacred concertos demonstrated exceptional mastery of choral writing and the ability to create unique in their expressiveness, and at times, orchestral effects, using the timbres of different chorus sections, even within one part. That is the reason why they have continued to occupy a prominent place in festal church services to the present day.
After the death of Bortnyansky, who had been granted an imperial privilege not only to compose, but also to censor sacred music, there came difficult times. Subsequent composers could not have their church compositions performed due to censorship and legal issues.This situation was reversed by Tchaikovsky’ Liturgy (1878), or rather by the canny move made by its music publisher Pyotr Jurgenson, who submitted for censorship the Liturgy’s poetic text instead of its musical score. It can be said that the decision to publish Tchaikovsky’ Liturgy was a groundbreaking event in the history of Russian sacred music: from that moment composers started to create many musical compositions for church without being subjected to bureaucratic review. Some of them turned back to old Russian chants, trying to find the secret of the most correct way of their adaptation, and arguing about what the sacred music should be like. Sometimes these arguments turned into real battles, denouncing the “Italianism” in sacred musical works (a potshot at Bortnyansky), or making offensive slurs at “lovers of Byzantine dead chants” and “nasal unison singing inherited from Byzantine” (Vitoshinsky). Of course, not everyone could fathom the mystery of “philosophy and wisdom of melody”, but no-one remained indifferent to the issue.
Music, accompanying Pascha services – the major event for Orthodox Christians - is distinguished by special elation and solemnity. It is in contrast with penitential songs of Great Lent, associated with the last days of the terrestrial life of Christ and his sufferings on the Cross. Among the brightest and most joyful works devoted to the Resurrection of Christ are Paschal troparia – short stanzas or prayers, highlighting the essence of this great and bright holiday, which has been attracting attention of various composers, so different in terms of their individuality.
Nadezhda Kulygina
