Abstract

The article is devoted to a newly found musical-theoretical term of Russian partes music of the first quarter of the 18th century, applied to a modified, “different”, “arbitrary” version of the chant of festive verses and indicating the presence of “cancellations” in it. The term was found in two manuscripts associated with the Choir of the Sovereign's Singing Deacons of the time of Peter’s era, in two formulations: "another chant with cancellations" and "arbitrariness with cancellation". Both manuscripts are four-part adaptations of the Znamenny Chant Holidays, preserved in the form of a score and as a set of parts. The description of the singing manuscripts of the Archive of the Armory Chamber of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, which is currently being carried out by the author together with N. Yu. Plotnikova, provided material for the article. Source research suggests that the term "with cancellations" belongs to the sovereign's singer Deacon Alexei Mikhailovich Protopopov, who worked in the court choir at the same time as his alleged relative, the usher Ivan Mikhailovich Protopopov. The article analyzes the unusual moments of partes chants that are not specific for znamenny chant, where many random sharps and flats appear. The author convinces that sharps and flats at that time could be used in two ways: in the modern sense and as modal signs indicating an unusual position of the “obikhodnyy” scale as a result of its mutation. In addition to the frequently encountered mutations one tone down, in the verse of the Annunciation “The Sacrament from the Ages” there are mutations one tone up and even two tones up. Fret shifts, so rare in Znamenny singing, are written in unusual sharps and flats, designated by the indicated term. The author proposes to translate it into modern language as "a variety of chant with changes", or "with shifts".

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