Church press of the Kyiv eparchy on teaching church singing in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of the article is to analyze publications on teaching church singing in the church press in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries ("Parochial School" (since 1906, "West Ukrainian Primary School"), "Kyiv Diocesan Journal", "Guidelines for Rural Priests" ). The research methodology includes different methods of classification, criticism of sources, identification, analysis, and synthesis. The scientific novelty of the article lies on the basis of the revealed church publications of the Kyiv eparchy on teaching church singing in elementary public schools. Various problems of schools and the attempts of the church-school administration to solve them are shown in the publications. Among all the publications about church singing in the Kyiv eparchy, a separate segment is dedicated to materials about teaching singing in the lowest, but the most widespread link of the school - church schools. The particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of methodological publications, most evidence of an attempt to solve a key problem - the training of church singing teachers. Conclusions. Church publications are the sufficiently informative source for the study of primary school education in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. These publications contribute to the deepening study of church singing in general, in the cultural and educational role of the Orthodox Church. It is noted that periodicals in the Kyiv eparchy contain a number of publications about the importance of teaching church singing, about the program of church singing for parochial schools, about the problems of training singing teachers, about teaching aids to sing in elementary schools. The identification and systematization of publications in the church periodicals of the Kyiv eparchy made it possible to show that the church and school administration paid close attention to teaching church singing. The press noted that the church singing has an irreparable religious and moral impact on the pupils' souls, since in general, in the form of church chants, children are more easily remember church truths and prayers. The church singing provides a sensual and emotional perception of worship.