HOOKS (banners) are signs of Russian church non-linear musical notation. They originate from early Byzantine notation. Each hook represents 1-3 or more tones. There are three types of fixation of melodies: proper hook, singing (see singing), and fit (see fita). In the 17th century To indicate the pitch of sound, cinnabar marks began to be placed above the hooks. At the same time, in order to be able to distinguish tonality in single-color recording (printing), ink marks were invented. Hooks are still traditionally used by the Old Believers, but in the Russian Orthodox Church they fell out of use in the 17th and 18th centuries. simultaneously with the transition from znamenny singing to partes and to five-line notation.

The basic principles of liturgical singing emerged already in the first centuries of Christianity. Initially based on Greek musical modes, it subsequently moved further and further away from secular music, acquiring features unique to it. The Christian Church, following the path of high spirituality and asceticism, abandoned the use of instrumental music, leaving for the glorification of the Creator an instrument created by the Creator: the human voice. Even at the dawn of Christianity, St. Clement of Alexandria called for the banishment from church singing of chromatic melodies used in secular music, which are necessary in expressing human emotions. The scale of Znamenny chants is formed by a sequence of main steps of the mode, hence the severity, grandeur and dispassionateness of the chant.

The Orthodox tradition distinguishes between the concepts of “singing” and “music”. This attitude was adopted by the Sixth Ecumenical Council at the end of the 7th century, and subsequently took root in the Russian Orthodox consciousness. This distinction is based on a clear concept of the fundamentally different tasks of music and singing: music is designed to provide aesthetic pleasure, the purpose of liturgical singing is to raise the mind to God.

Famous Christian saints were aware of the need for singing in the church and took every possible care of its development and organization. Ignatius the God-Bearer, Methodius of Patara, Ephraim the Syrian, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and many other famous theologians and saints of their time left a great legacy as composers and hymnographers, organizers of church choirs, and founders of antiphonal singing. Many of their works are aimed at clarifying the church’s view of liturgical singing and clarifying its tasks.

Through the works of many great ascetics, the appearance of church singing gradually emerged that most corresponded to the spirit of the truth of Orthodoxy. In the middle of the 8th century. The Venerable John of Damascus finally formed the system of homoglasia - the distribution of the entire circle of church hymns into eight groups, eight singing voices. The number eight is very symbolic for Christians - it symbolizes the future, endless age. Each voice has its own special mood, sound, and melodic turns. They sound different shades of a person’s spiritual states: deep repentance, tenderness or victorious triumph. Sunday troparia, stichera, canons written in different time various singers, and to a large extent John himself, were collected by him and brought into a harmonious, orderly system. This meeting was called “Oktay” - based on the number of voices (“okta” - eight).

To carry out such a huge work, it was necessary to have a truly unique talent for singing and poetry, and a brilliant ability to systematize. It was these qualities that John of Damascus, the first nobleman of the Damascus Caliph, a deeply and comprehensively educated and religious man, possessed. Having retired from the court, John took monastic vows at the monastery of St. Sava, where he completely devoted his life to serving God in songwriting. He wrote an amazing service for Holy Pascha, 64 canons, many stichera and composed the Oktai. Having included in it, as has already been said, the best works of his predecessors in osconsonal creativity and supplementing what was missing with his own creations, Saint John set out the first stichera and troparia of each tone and the first troparia of each canon with musical signs (hooks) on top of the text, so that these stichera and troparia (irmos) ) were a model for the singing of the following stichera and troparia. Oktay quickly became widespread in the liturgical practice of the Eastern Church, and to this day serves as the basis for Orthodox worship, as well as a guide for the study of osmoglas.

In Rus', liturgical singing began to develop along with the adoption of Christianity and the construction of the first churches, as well as the translation of liturgical books. Greek melodies took root in their own way on Slavic soil - they acquired greater smoothness and melodiousness. Russian singers often seemed to translate Damascene tunes into Russian musical language, preserving the main contours. In Rus', church chants have long been extremely soft and smooth.

Znamenny singing in Rus' sounded not only in church, but also at home; the singing culture was widespread and loved. The handwritten hook book was used in all segments of the population - from the grand ducal and boyar environment to the last slave. The great princes, middle and small service people in the cities sang along the hooks, simple peasants, bonded laborers and slaves sang, as evidenced by the chronicles.

Znamenny singing not only took root on Russian soil: it was enriched with many new chants written by Russian singers. It was in Russia that red (cinnabar) marks were introduced, precisely indicating the pitch of each banner. From the middle of the 15th century, the first znamenny alphabet began to appear. Many schools of Znamenny singing appeared, the singing tradition was passed on from teacher to student, from one generation to another.

Recording a melody znamenny chant carried out using special signs - banners or hooks. Hence the name of the singing: znamenny or hook. Each banner carries information about the number of sounds, their duration and features of execution. For a competent singer, the very outline of the hook in combination with the name is an expression of the essence and an indication of how it should be performed: upward-rising “arrows” and “darlings”, static “stations” - light, dark, simple; the soft outlines of the “comma” do not allow it to be performed with increased sound, and the energetic swing of the “hook,” on the contrary, dictates the emphasis. Black hook lines with red marks are transformed by the singer’s voice into an amazing melody, which emphasizes the words of the chant and enhances its impact on the soul of the worshiper (in liturgical singing the word is primary, and the melody is secondary). That is why in ancient times the words “prayer” and “singing” often had the same meaning.

In addition to the eight voices of singing, there are also various “chants”: demestvenny, travel, Irgiz, Kiev, Bulgarian. “Path” and “demestvo” are stylistic varieties of Znamenny singing, which give the chants their names: large and small demestvo, putovy, big putevy. There is a special notation for recording chants of the demestven chant; its banners differ significantly from ordinary hooks. The names of the remaining chants - “chants”, as they wrote in the old days - most often come from the geographical name of the area or monastery where this chant was written and performed. In addition to the various “chants,” there is also an infinite number of “chants,” or “tunes,”—variants of the same chant, which are performed slightly differently in each parish or locality. The chant is very rarely recorded in banners; in most cases it exists in the form of an oral tradition and is passed on from one generation of singers to another.

In the ancient Russian liturgical tradition, the voices of singers are not divided into different parts in polyphony, but merge together, creating a prayer “with one mouth and one heart.” That is why Znamenny singing is characterized by a special prayerful mood, fundamentality and impartiality. Unison singing is the most important principle of ancient liturgical singing, which eloquently expresses unity, Christian humility and love.

Historical events in Russia in the second half of the 17th century. threatened the existence of ancient liturgical singing: during this period, reforms of Patriarch Nikon were carried out, which entailed the tragedy of church schism. The post-reform church became much closer in spirit and content to the Italian partes. The modest, noble voice of Znamenny chant continued to sound only among the persecuted adherents of ancient Orthodoxy, who did not accept Nikon’s innovations at all.

The persecution of the old faith continued for almost three centuries, now weakening a little, then resuming with new cruelty. Old Believer hermitages and prayer houses, which were also centers of spiritual education, were from time to time subjected to destruction, and the Old Believers themselves were subjected to various kinds of persecution and infringement. Old books—including singing books—were set on fire. Old Believers were forbidden to create schools and colleges. In order to preserve their faith, spiritual and cultural values, much had to be done secretly from the authorities, in deep underground. Thus, there was more than one singing school: destroyed in one locality, it often arose in another, and continued to operate, passing on invaluable knowledge.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. pressure from the authorities and the dominant church has eased a little. The potential that had been accumulating for centuries, not years, splashed out with colossal force. “A phenomenon to the world” was the public performances in the halls of the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories of the famous Morozov Choir, created by A.I. Morozov at the Bogorodsko-Glukhovskaya manufactory. Under the Brotherhood of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross there was a choir under the direction of Yakov Bogatenko. Since 1909, a singing school arose in the village. Strelnikovo, Kostroma province, which marked the beginning of the organization of the famous Old Believer Strelnikovsky choir. The surviving recordings of these choirs, although of very poor quality, testify to the high skill and culture of the singing art of the performers. The study of church singing was put on a professional basis while the singers preserved the most important thing - the Christian faith.

This surge was not destined to continue for long. During the years of Soviet power and anti-religious propaganda, persecution was instituted against all believers of various faiths. Many churches were blown up, a huge number of liturgical books and icons were destroyed, Christians faced prisons and camps. The surviving temples were empty. This powerful blow could not but affect the state of singing in many Old Believer parishes, its consequences are still felt today.

That's all today more people understand the importance of preserving this unique singing culture, preserved and carried through centuries by people for whom serving God was the meaning of their lives. For this purpose, choirs have been organized, Evenings of spiritual chants and spiritual concerts are held, and chanting books and alphabet books have been republished. The Znamenny chant continues to live not only in Old Believer worship, today it attracts the attention of musicologists, and some parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church are returning to ancient singing. The sounds of ancient chants more eloquently than anything else testify to the truth of Orthodoxy in its ancient form, undamaged by reforms. After all, the znamenny chant crystallized in centuries of Christian asceticism, martyrdom, theology, all the milestones of Christian history were imprinted in it. This singing is initially intended to awaken in the soul the desire for repentance, the desire for God, and it should not and cannot be consigned to oblivion.

based on materials from Valentina Sinelnikova

Signs - banners (Old Russian “banner”, that is, a sign), used to record it.

Known Various types znamenny chant and the corresponding types of banners - kondakar, pillar, demestvenny, way, branch [ ] .

Types of chants [ | ]

Kontakary chant[ | ]

One of the oldest types of Znamenny singing. The name comes from the word “kontakion” - one of the liturgical chants. The notation comes from Paleo-Byzantine and was borrowed from Rus' in the 9th century. Characterized by the presence of melodically developed elements, special melismatics. Kondakar singing flourished in Rus' in the 11th-12th centuries; by the 14th century it disappeared from the Russian liturgical tradition due to the change of the liturgical Charter from Studite to Jerusalem and the corresponding change in the corpus of liturgical books. It is found in kontakari, the basis of which is kontakia and ikos in honor of the holidays of the entire period church year and in memory of the saints. The most famous written sources containing chants recorded in kondakar chant are, Blagoveshchensk kondakar,.

Pillar chant[ | ]

The main type of Znamenny singing, which is used to chant almost the entire corpus of books of the Russian liturgical liturgical tradition. The name comes from the word “pillar” - the eight-week cycle of the Octoechos, a book sung with this chant and which became widespread in Rus' in the last third of the 15th century, in connection with the adoption of the Jerusalem Rule (cf. the Gospel pillars of the Octoechos). Stolpovoy chant has become widespread and is the most commonly used in the Russian monophonic liturgical tradition at the present time. The chant consists of chants (kokiz), fits and faces, which, in turn, consist of smaller units - hooks (banners). It has an osconsonant system, i.e. Each voice corresponds to a certain set of kokiz, as well as a set of fits and faces that characterize the voice. Fita and faces represent extended melodic phrases that the singer had to know by heart. In the modern tradition, they are often written down in a fractional banner and do not have a secretly closed recording, that is, one that would not allow the singer to read the tune from the sheet, but only to sing it by heart. The pillar chant includes anenaiki - special decorations of chants, a type of Byzantine kratim. Singing of the pillar chant is present not only in the chants of the liturgical circle, but also in everyday chants. The most common chants that have come into use are considered to be the kokizy of the 6th voice. In addition to liturgical books, special singing alphabets, kokizniks and fitniks, were created for studying notation.

Travel chant [ | ]

A singing style common in ancient Russian musical culture along with Znamenny chant and demestvenny chant. The origin of the name is a controversial issue in medieval studies. It arose in the last quarter of the 15th century. Until the middle of the 16th century. used in Stikhirare, then also in. At first it was written in znamenny notation (“the path of the pillar”) and played a secondary role in comparison with the repertoire of znamenny chant. IN late XVI V. travel chant became an independent, developed branch of ancient Russian singing art, distinguished by greater solemnity, melodiousness and smoothness. The melody of the travel chant is formed by a set of canonical melodic formulas, subject to the system of osmoglasis. The peak of the development of travel chant is the end of the 16th - 1st half. XVII centuries IN early XVI I century The first musical alphabet for travel was created, and a specific terminology arose that determined the belonging of chants to the travel chant (“put”, “putnoy”, “way”). In the 2nd half of the 17th century. the travel chant began to fall out of use. A small number of travel chants recorded “by the pillars” were preserved in Old Believer manuscripts of the 18th-20th centuries.

Demonic chant[ | ]

In the 19th century, znamenny singing was gradually replaced by “partes” (polyphonic) singing. This meant a virtual abandonment of the basic principles of Znamenny monody. At the same time, some composers made efforts to integrate “znamenny” melodies into partes everyday life, harmonizing them in accordance with the rules of Western European harmony. At present, Znamenny chant chants, as a rule, are notated both in the traditional “hook” and in the round, “Italian” notation, although a number of musicologists recognize the latter as incorrect (for the transmission of ancient monody). A compromise solution is to record the znamenny chant in the form of the so-called “dvoznamenny”. This recording method combines the use of Znamenny and “classical” five-line notations. There are several varieties of hook writing, depending on the type of chant, the time and place of origin of the tradition, and it can also be characterized by special marks (see).

The greatest masters of Znamenny singing: Savva Rogov, Fyodor Krestyanin (Christian), Ivan Nos, Markell Bezborody and Stefan Golysh, who worked in the era of Vasily III and Ivan IV the Terrible, Metropolitan Varlaam and Isaiah Lukoshko, whose work falls on the era of the Time of Troubles and the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich . A major master was a representative of the Usolsk school, Thaddeus Subbotin, who worked in the Commission for the Reform of Church Singing of Patriarch Nikon. One of the best specialists in the field of Znamenny singing and the creator of the fundamental work “The ABC of Znamenny Singing” (1688), which is a complete statement of the theory of Znamenny singing, was Alexander Mezenets.

The fate of Znamenny singing in the Synodal period[ | ]

From the end of the 17th century - the beginning of the 18th century, hook notation began to be replaced with Western notation, and Russian Znamenny singing began to be replaced with Western European, Latin singing (see True Speech). Unanimous Znamenny singing was considered to belong to the “schismatics” (Old Believers).

Many melodies of Znamenny singing in the 18th - early 20th centuries were subjected to polyphonic processing in the traditions of Western European harmonic tonality; Among the authors of the arrangements are Pyotr Turchaninov, Alexey Lvov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Kastalsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Pavel Chesnokov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and others.

To this day, the traditions of Znamenny singing are observed by the Old Believers. There are specialists who are reviving Znamenny singing in the new rite of the Russian Orthodox Church, for example, the Valaam Monastery (co-religionists of the Russian Orthodox Church use Znamenny singing in worship).

Revival of Znamenny singing in the Russian Orthodox Church[ | ]

Specialists reviving Znamenny singing include, for example, employees of the Department of Old Russian Singing Art of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. In particular, a group of musicologists led by Albina Kruchinina is studying and developing issues of ancient Russian church singing: Florentina Panchenko, Natalya Mosyagina, Ekaterina Pletneva, Ekaterina Smirnova, Tatyana Shvets, and others. In Moscow, issues of ancient notations are studied at the Gnessin School, including Galina Pozhidaeva, Melitina Makarovskaya, Tatyana Vladyshevskaya, Polina Terentyeva, Lada Kondrashkova and a number of other musicologists. In St. Petersburg, the Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy also plays an important role, in which there is a direction “Russian singing art”, where experts in the field of research and performance of ancient notations teach, such as Ekaterina Matveeva, professor Nina Zakharyina, Nadezhda Shchepkina, Alena Nikolaeva, Elena Topunova, Irina Gerasimova.

The International Festival “Academy of Orthodox Music” is dedicated to the revival of Znamenny singing, organized with the participation of the Department of Old Russian Singing Art of the St. Petersburg Conservatory with the support of the Ministry of Culture Russian Federation, Administration of the President of the Russian Federation and with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill. The festival program includes a summer school, the purpose of which is to revive the historical tradition of Orthodox music, as well as to introduce it to a wide range of public. The summer school of the International Festival “Academy of Orthodox Music” was held in St. Petersburg annually from 2009 to 2015.

With the goal of “creating a publicly accessible fund of znamenny chants and software tools for working with them for the sake of revival in Russian Orthodox Church znamenny chant - canonical liturgical singing" the "Fund of Znamenny Chants" (Znamenny Fund) was created. It is an electronic corpus of ancient Russian singing manuscripts.

Notes [ | ]

Circle of ancient church singing in six parts (Morozov). Part 2: The daily routine of the all-night vigil. St. Petersburg, 1884
In the specialized literature of some researchers of ancient Russian church music For the word “chanting”, archaic spelling and orthoepy are also used - “chanting” (with emphasis on the first syllable).
Solovyov N. F.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
This name is preferred by I. A. Gardner (Liturgical singing of the Russian Orthodox Church. Vol. 2, p. 169. Other names for this form of musical notation: “church notation”, “synodal notation”.
See, for example, Liber usualis. Tournai, 1950.
For more details about the Kiev banner, see: Prot. V. Golovatenko. Notice about the Kiev banner.
See Electronic facsimiles of the first edition of Octoechos, Daily Life (first and second parts), Holidays, Irmology.
Electronic facsimile of Abbreviated Daily Life.
Electronic facsimile of the Lenten and Colored Triodion. The planned publication of the books “Trezvony” and “Trebs” in connection with the notorious political upheavals of the 20th century. so they didn’t see the light.
An incorrect (but common) spelling is “double-banner.”
Solovyov N. F.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts

Abstract on cultural studies

Znamenny chant - a prayer embodied in sound

Performed:

3rd year student

group No. 23377

Ferapontova I.B.

Saint Petersburg

Introduction

Znamenny chant

Znamenny chant recording system

Types of chants: traveling, demestial and large znamenny chants

Line singing, types

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Much has been written about church singing in Russia, especially over the past hundred years, since Professor-Archpriest Dimitry Vasilyevich Razumovsky created and published his major work “Church Singing in Russia” (1867-1869). During this time, many important treatises on this issue were created: scientific works of I.I. Voznesensky, S.V. Smolensky, V.M. Metallov, A.M. Pokrovsky, D.V. Allemanova, A.A. Ignatiev and many other researchers. At the beginning of the current century, a special Orthodox church magazine “Choral and Regency Affairs” (1909-1916) was devoted to the issues of church singing, as well as the Old Believer magazine “Church singing”, in which prominent scientists collaborated, such as S.V. . Smolensky.

Church singing is a canonical art. Canonnowadays it is understood as a set of rules and regulations. Canonical, or statutory, chants are considered to be those created on canonical texts in the liturgical singing system. The existence of the Old Russian canon differs from the Byzantine one. The canon in Rus' was accepted along with Epiphany as something sacred and inviolable, while in Byzantium the artistic canon, along with poetry and hymnography, developed over many centuries. The church singing system was also adopted by Russia in a “ready-made” form.

1. Znamenny chant

Znamenny chant - the oldest and most complete chant of the Russian church. Its oldest written monuments date back to the end of the 11th century. or to the first years of the XII century. The name “znamenny” comes from the Slavic word “znamya”, which means “sign”, as well as “sign” (sign - belonging to a written tradition, sign - “sign, proof, seal”). Znamenny chant is also called "pillar chant". "Pillar" is a liturgical term. Znamenny chant is subordinated to the system osmoglasiya, his chants are included in the circle of alternating voices. Each voice determines the chants during the Week (Sunday) and the following week. The complete passage of eight voices, therefore eight weeks, is called a “pillar”.

The genesis of the melody of Znamenny chant goes back to the traditions of liturgical reading. Chanted recitation is the key source of ancient Russian singing art. Musical patterns and structure of chanted reading are close to psalmody, to the simplest types of eight-voice znamenny singing, and at the same time are associated with folk song recitatives such as epics and lamentations.

Znamenny chant has a singing, or formulaic, structure. The rhythmic and intonation formulas of Znamenny chant are a kind of “bricks” that make up its melodic line. Znamenny chant in continuity with the Byzantine singing art - male monophonic singing a cappella, which corresponds to the theological concept of glorifying the Lord “with one heart and one mouth.” According to the head of the ensemble "Old Russian Chant" A. Grindenko, monodysinging has not lost its relevance even today: “unison focuses, it, like a magnifying glass, collects rays at one point, this is also psychologically true, it focuses attention. With Znamenny singing, liturgical accents appear more prominently than usual.”

Znamenny chant lives fully without harmonization, it lives according to special modal laws that do not fit into the simple acoustic logic of Western European harmony, it is diatonic, strict and clear in intonation, there is no brokenness, whimsicality, intramodal inclinations, consonances and dissonances, since it reflects not emotions, not impulses and aspirations of the soul, but contemplation of the spirit. Ancient unison singing conveys the touch of Eternity. A distinctive feature of the chant is a strict step-by-step movement, diatonic and majestically restrained rhythm. In the modal originality of the tunes, there is a noticeable commonality with the modal structure of epic and ritual songs. The rhythm of the chant is asymmetrical, non-periodic, and thanks to its emancipation, it is completely subordinated to the meaningful pronunciation of a prosaic text. It was Znamenny singing that was incorporated into Russian church singing inner freedom pronouncing a word and expressing its content and meaning. Znamenny melodies, which differed from each other in musical details, were called middle, large, Novgorod, Pskov, Baskakov, Lukoshkov chants. In most cases, these names speak about the creators of the melodies or the area where the tune was formed or mainly used. All Russian chants are usually divided into full, containing all eight voices of liturgical singing, and incomplete, not containing all osmoconciliation. The deviation of a composed or reworked melody from the musical style of znamenny singing was called arbitrariness, or arbitrary melody; such tunes were never mixed with znamenny ones.

znamenny chant osmoglasiya singing

2. Znamenny chant recording system

Znamennaya semiographyis a non-linear melody recording system. Signs insanenotations, unlike notolinear ones, did not record height and duration (these parameters were largely arbitrary), but were endowed with special spiritual symbolism and, in addition, reflected the nature and technique of performance. Signs, neumas, were written above a line of text, and their arrangement strictly corresponded to the syllables of the text. The verbal text itself was written with the necessary discharges for placing banners. The banners, like the chant itself, were considered an integral part of liturgical culture; they were closely connected with liturgical texts and were part of the singing canon. The original form of non-neutral notation is kondakarnoe letter - was a reflection of the Byzantine singing tradition, which is perhaps why it lost its relevance after some time. Until now, the kondakar notation cannot be deciphered.

Kondakar notation<#"justify">The main type of fixation of a melody in the ancient Russian singing art was znamenny notation, reflecting the traditions of chanted reading and, as it were, growing out of the practice of recording variable chants, first of all stichera. Its signs react flexibly to the movement of melody, reflect not solo (as in Byzantium) performance, but the tradition of choral unison, sensitively follow the text with its percussion and unstressed syllables, accents, beginning and ending of phrases.

The signs of non-neutral notation were endowed with special spiritual symbolism. For example, “kryzh” depicted a cross and was one of the most ancient signs of Christian symbolism (a long sustained sound, most often at the end of a chant). Some signs reflected the symbolism of sacred objects. The design of the “chalice” sign goes back to the image of a church chalice. The “underbowl” sign is a cup covered with a shroud (two-stage downward movement), the Third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit - was depicted with the “paraclete” sign. The majority of znamenny chants begin with the inscription of this sign as an invocation of the Holy Spirit (similarly to “darling” and a faster version of the chant - “dear greyhound”). Spiritual symbolism receives further development and is enshrined in the singing alphabet, the first of which appears in the 15th century. Many banners are named after their image, for example: “comma”, “stick”, “arrow”, “bench”, “two in a canoe”, “addition” etc. Over time, icons began to appear that changed the melodic pattern of the neuromuscular: “tuck”, “cloud”, “breaking”, “compartment”.

Along with the written tradition great importance had oral, i.e. tradition. The banners did not contain all the information about singing; much was transmitted orally: intervals, mode, partly rhythm, the nature of the performance. Therefore, live communication with the master, the experience of “apprenticeship” formed the concept of “school” in the art of church singing. The theory and practice of Znamenny singing, scripture and tradition, being in syncretic unity, led to high spiritual and artistic results.

2. Types of chants:travel, demestnal and large znamenny chants

The principles of the formation of the Old Russian singing system are fundamentally different not only from the principles of the formation of the Western European musical system, but also from the principles of the formation of the Russian liturgical singing system of the 18th-20th centuries. If the Western European history of music was a struggle of directions, trends and styles, in which “ars nova” replaced “ars antiqua”, the Burgundian school replaced “ars nova”, etc., that is, the newly emerging directions crossed out and nullified everything previous development, completely destroying tradition, then in Rus' XI-XVII centuries. the new seemed to be layered on top of the old, without destroying or denying it, but forming a kind of equal and simultaneous coexistence. Thus, Znamenny chant continued to be a determining factor in the future, as a result of which kalokagatiness, which is the main property of Znamenny melodism, turned into the main property of the melodism of Russian liturgical singing in general, although in the second period it no longer exhausted the entire spectrum of its properties, being supplemented by others properties generated by new phenomena in the life of the Church.

New trends in ascetic life, influence hesychasmand increased attention to inner world ascetic, which find expression in spiritual activity Reverend Neil Sorsky and his “Rule of skete life” led to the appearance in the 15th century. new melodic thinking, new melodic feeling, new melodic forms. If the melodicism of Znamenny chant gravitated towards a certain generalization of expression, towards a super-personal or transpersonal principle, then in the melodicism of the new type, tendencies towards a characteristic individual intonation, towards a personal principle, towards a sharpening of originality in general began to appear more and more strongly. All this led to the emergence of sharply characteristic unique intonation spheres travel, de-local And Great Banner chants. In addition, hesychasm, which gave rise to a new literary style - "weaving words", had a noticeable influence on liturgical singing, giving rise to the appearance of the "calophonic style", or " calophonia". It was, first of all, expressed in the lengthening of the melodies, in the increase in the number of sounds chanting each syllable of the liturgical text. Thus, all three chants differed from the Znamenny chant both in the greater length and development of the melodies, and in the greater individualization and specificity of their melodic appearance.

Travel chant

Of all the new chants, the travel chant is most closely related to the znamenny chant, for it represents, as it were, a new round of development of znamenny melodicism. When comparing znamenny and traveling melodies chanting the same liturgical text, a significant number of coincidences are always striking. This is manifested in the coincidence of both large structural sections of the chant and structural elements each compared znamenny and travel chant. The putevaya chant is a complicated intonation-rhythmic version of the znamenny chant. Complication was achieved by increasing the number of notes forming the chant and increasing the complexity of the rhythmic pattern. The track rhythm was characterized by a combination of syncopation of small durations with long, sustained notes, which created the impression of special fervor and sublime solemnity. It was these qualities that ensured travel chant a place in the services of almost all Great and especially revered holidays. Initially, at the time of its origin, the travel chant did not have its own written system and was written down using znamenny notation, as a result of which in the manuscripts of the 15th century. it is very difficult to single out travel chants from total mass Znamenny chants. By the middle of the 16th century. The actual travel notation begins to take shape, consisting of both completely independent signs and modified signs of the znamenny notation. As a result of these searches, the perfect graphic equivalent of travel intonation was gradually found. By the beginning of the 17th century. The first travel alphabets appear, which are part of the Znamenny alphabet, and a little later - travel kokizniks and fitniki. Thus, in the 17th century. travel notation receives final understanding and is cast into completed forms. Like the znamenny chant, the travel chant had a rigid singing, or centon, structure, which included not only singing, or Kokiz, but also fits. Traveling songs and fits formed their own traveling system of osmoglasity. The melodic difference between the traveling voices was expressed to a much lesser extent than the melodic difference between the voices of the znamenny osmoglas system. This was explained by a much higher degree of individualization of the track melodics as a whole, which prevented further melodic individualization of the eight track voices. There was also no melodic hierarchy in the travel chant, dividing the entire melody of the chant into syllabic, non-melodic and melismatic types. The lack of bright vocal characteristics, as well as the lack of melodic hierarchy, stemmed from the strict purpose of travel chant exclusively for singing holiday services. The most typical chants for travel were the following hymns: the great water-blessing stichera, “God is with us,” magnifications for the holidays, honors, “Elites in Christ,” etc. Since the 18th century. the travel chant is gradually disappearing from the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the last traces of it can be found in synodal publications, namely in the “Usage of Church Musical Singing of Various Chants,” which contains travel chants and magnifications.

Demonic chant

The earliest chronicle mention of demesne chant can be found in 1441, however, since in the 15th century. a special demestine notation had not yet been developed and demestine chants were recorded using znamenny notation, it is still difficult to talk about initial forms Demestvennogo singing. The main feature of demestine notation, which had developed by the middle of the 16th century, is “the formation of a vast number of styles from a limited range of basic graphic elements,” as B. A. Shindin, a major expert on demestine singing, believes. The creators of demesne notation did not invent something completely new, but were based on the familiar outlines of the usual pillar banner, combining them in various, sometimes quite ingenious, ways.

In demesne singing, the song structure is preserved, but the boundaries of the songs become much more unsteady and mobile. Singing also takes on a different role in the formation of a holistic chant. “The initial chant of the work,” notes Shindin, “becomes here, as it were, the theme of either the chant as a whole or its section. In these cases, the entire composition or its large sections are built on the variant-variational development of this chant.” A special, distinctive feature of demestvo singing is its non-subordination to the osmoglas system, and in this regard, demestvo can be considered as a further development of the tradition of znamenny extra-vocal singing ("Cherubimskaya", "Mercy of the World", etc.). Even in comparison with travel chant, demestine singing was distinguished by a greater intensity of specificity of the melodic pattern, distinguished by the breadth of the chant, the abundance of melismatic decorations, and the originality of the rhythm, gravitating toward dotted figures resulting from the use of so-called “draws.” All this gave the melody of demesne chant a particularly festive and lush character, which is why in the written monuments of that time demesne singing was often called “red,” that is, beautiful, luxurious, magnificent. The most characteristic hymns of demestvenny chant are: “On the rivers of Babylon”, magnification of holidays, hymns, hymns Easter service. The children also sang chants of the festive liturgy. Having become one of the most commonly used and beloved holiday chants in the 16th-17th centuries, the demestial chant was actively translated into linear notation at the end of the 17th century, as a result of which a significant number of manuscripts with both demestial and linear notation have survived to our time, recording Demonic chants. However, in the 18th century, like the travel chant, the demesnic chant began to fall out of use in the services of the Russian Orthodox Church. And if some of the travel chants were nevertheless included in the synodal publications, then the demestvenny chant was less fortunate in this regard, as a result of which our judgments about demestvenny singing can only be based on the handwritten tradition of the 16th-18th centuries. and on the modern practice of the Old Believers.

Great Znamenny chant

At the end of the 16th century. in singing manuscripts the term “big chant” or “big banner” appears, referring to the most extensive, melodically developed chants, replete with detailed melismatic structures. At earlier stages of the formation of the ancient Russian singing system, it is very difficult to identify and detect such chants, although it is possible to assume their existence already at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. quite possible. M. V. Brazhnikov points to the role of fit singing in the emergence of the big chant in the following words: “The melodic, technical, textual features and performing techniques of fit singing were one of the foundations on which the big chant was formed - a new system and a variety of the usual Znamenny chant.” . Fits from an inserted, decorative element become an organically integral part of the melody.

Unlike the travel and demestvenny chants, the large znamenny chant did not have its own specialized notation system, however, the znamenny notation used to record the large chant acquired some specific features. One of these features was the almost complete absence of secret, stenographically encrypted formulas, so characteristic of Znamenny notation in general. In the large chant, all such formulas are separated in great detail and are not distinguished from the general presentation. Another graphic sign of a large chant is the repeated re-writing of vowels or the placement of dashes under the banners during long intra-syllabic chants, which require a number of singing signs for their written fixation.

The basis of a large chant was the song structure, however, as a result of the general tendency to increase the chanting and spaciousness of the melodic presentation, the boundaries of individual chants often became unclear, vague, and isolating them from the general context is sometimes difficult. Some blurriness of the chant structure also extended to the blurriness of the osvonal system of the large chant, manifested, for example, in the fact that chants of different voices could end with the same final chant, nullifying the individual melodic face of the voice. And yet, the most characteristic of great chant were precisely those chants that required clear vocal significance, such as the Gospel stichera, the Blessed Ones at the Liturgy, invocations, verse and lithium stichera of Great and especially revered holidays. All these chants began to be sung especially actively with a large chant in the 17th century, which is the culmination point of its development, and then the large chant begins to quickly “fade to nothing”, so that in synodal publications we will no longer find a single chant placed on a large banner.

4. Line singing, types

The flourishing of performing practice in the 16th century. led to the formation of a unique phenomenon - line singing, a kind of ancient Russian polyphony, in which the nature of voice acting was linear and the vertical was formed as a result of the pairing of horizontal melodic lines of each voice. Line singing had a unique flavor and reflected the atmosphere of a great holiday. A similar attitude has been preserved to this day: the more significant the holiday, the more complex, brighter, and more solemn its chants. Polyphony almost immediately covers all significant genres of chants. The first written indications of lowercase polyphony are found in the "Official of the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral", which was compiled in the 20s - 30s. XVII century, but it is obvious that this style arose much earlier and by the indicated period all unchangeable chants were chanted by it, and there were even many local variants.

In line polyphony, the main melodic voice was called “path” (middle voice), then “top”, “bottom”; in a four-voice texture, the topmost voice was called “demestvo”. The understanding of polyphony as a split monody, an organic sense of ensemble unity, is common to professional and folk song art. In contrast to the partes style, line polyphony was called “Russian agreement.”

· a combination of male voices that are related in timbre and sound character, and they are in the same pitch zone;

· the basis of the sound vertical is made up of dissonant harmonies, and their use is not subject to the norms of European harmony;

· The modal-scale structure of the ternary line does not follow the rules of the European tonal system; here, as in monophony, there are several modal supports

Linear Znamenny singing

Special view polyphony, which arose as an antipode to the spreading in the 17th century. partes singing, it was lowercase znamennysinging. It represented the early harmonization of ancient tunes with the aim of preserving them. This type of polyphony was no longer strictly lowercase, but also not partes. The chants were recorded in hooks; in the selection of harmonic combinations there was still a share of Russian originality, which was later “erased.”

The choral texture of the line znamenny chants was three-voice, distinguished by a melodically developed, mobile bass line (later - an excellent bass in the mature partes style). Perhaps the path of znamenny polyphony would be the most acceptable and promising for the development of domestic liturgical singing. But he, however, was swept away by the storm of alien Western European influences.

Conclusion

European musical education has taken Russian people far away from their domestic cultural roots. Perhaps, only towards the end of the 20th century did we come closer to understanding this unique style of polyphonic singing. Perhaps this is due to a change in the auditory guidelines of our contemporaries from the unconditionality of consonance and functional harmonic logic towards the emancipation of dissonance and atonality.

Nowadays, when the national spiritual and musical culture has gone through a long path of development, assimilated huge layers of compositions, the Orthodox musician, who has heard a lot, performed a lot and has managed to be disappointed in many ways, is increasingly attracted by the image of Holy Rus', so powerfully imprinted in the sublimely strict, majestic ancient Russian chants.

Bibliography

1. Brazhnikov M.V. Russian singing paleography. St. Petersburg, 2002.

Vladyshevskaya T.F. Musical culture of Ancient Rus'. M., 2006.

Keldysh Yu.V. History of Russian music. M., 1983. T. 1.

Metallov V.M., archpriest. Essay on the history of Orthodox church singing in Russia. M., 1915. - Reprint: Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, 1995.

Parfentyev N.P. Old Russian singing art in the spiritual culture of the Russian state in the 16th - 17th centuries: Schools. Centers. Masters. Sverdlovsk, 1991.

Skrebkov S.S. Russian choral music of the 17th - early 18th centuries. M., 1969.

Uspensky N.D. Old Russian singing art. Ed. 2nd. M., 1975.

1. http://www.synaxis.info

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Russian church music began with znamenny chant, which arose during the baptism of Rus'. Its name is associated with the use of special notation symbols – “banners” – for its recording. Their intricate names are associated with graphic representation: bench, darling, cup, two in a boat, etc. Visually, banners (otherwise known as hooks) are a combination of dashes, dots and commas.

Each banner contains information about the duration of the sounds, their number in a given motive, the direction of the sound of the melody and the features of the performance.

The intonations of the znamenny chant were learned by singers and church parishioners by hearing from the masters of znamenny chant, since the exact pitch of the znamenny chant was not recorded. Only in the 17th century. The appearance of special cinnabar (red) marks in the texts made it possible to designate the pitch of hooks.

The spiritual component of Znamenny chant

It is not possible to understand what Znamenny chant is and appreciate its beauty without referring to the spiritual significance of chant in Russian Orthodox culture. Samples of znamenny melodies are the fruits of the highest spiritual contemplation of their creators. The meaning of znamenny singing is the same as that of the icon - liberation of the soul from passions, detachment from the visible material world, therefore the ancient Russian church unison is devoid of chromatic intonations that are needed when expressing human passions.

An example of a chant created on the basis of the Znamenny chant:
S. Trubachev “The Grace of the World”

Thanks to , the Znamenny chant sounds majestic, dispassionate, and stern. The melody of a single-voice prayer chant is characterized by smooth movement, noble simplicity of intonation, clearly defined rhythm, and completeness of construction. The chanting is in perfect harmony with the spiritual text being sung, and singing in unison focuses the attention of the singers and listeners on the words of the prayer.

From the history of Znamenny chant

Znamenny notation example

To reveal more fully what Znamenny chant is, turning to its origins will help. Znamenny originates from ancient Byzantine liturgical practice, from which Russian Orthodoxy borrowed the annual circle of osmoglasiya (the distribution of church chants into eight singing voices). Each voice has its own bright melodic turns, each voice is designed to reflect different moments of a person’s spiritual states: repentance, humility, tenderness, delight. Each melody is associated with a specific liturgical text and is tied to a specific time of the day, week, or year.

In Rus', the chants of Greek singers gradually changed, incorporating the features of the Church Slavonic language, Russian musical intonations and metrhythms, acquiring greater melodiousness and smoothness.

Types of znamenny chant

When asking the question of what znamenny chant is and what varieties of it are known, one should look at it as a single musical system that embraces the Znamenny, or pillar (eight voices form a “pillar” set of melodies, repeated cyclically every 8 weeks), travel and demestine chants . All this musical matter is united by a structure based on chants - short melodic turns. The sound material is built on the basis of the liturgical rite and church calendar.

Travel chant is a solemn, festive singing, which is a complicated and transformed type of pillar chant. The travel chant is characterized by rigor, firmness, and rhythmic virtuosity.

Of the named style varieties of znamenny singing, the demesnic chant is not included in the book of Octoechos (“eight-harmony”). It is distinguished by the solemn nature of its sound, it is presented in a festive style, it is used to sing the most important liturgical texts, hymns of hierarchal services, weddings, and the consecration of churches.

At the end of the 16th century. the “big znamenny chant” was born, which became the highest point in the development of Russian znamenny singing. Extended and chanting, smooth, unhurried, equipped with an abundance of extensive melismatic constructions with rich intra-syllable chants, the “big banner” sounded at the most significant moments of the service.

The meaning of ZNAMNY CHANT in the Dictionary of Musical Terms

ZNAMNY CHANT

A system of ancient Orthodox cult chants. The name comes from the ancient Slavic "banner" - a singing sign. banners (or hooks) were used to record chants. Znamenny chant has various variants related to the forms church service. the text could be sung using different melodic techniques, which provided significant creative initiative to church choristers.

Dictionary of musical terms. 2012

Znamenny church singing. Line singing, types. The spiritual component of Znamenny chant