Features of the Formation of Partes Singing Collections of the Late 17th — Mid 18th Centuries

Abstract

The Synodal Singing Collection (SSC) of the State Historical Museum is one of the most extensive collections of singing manuscripts collected in the last quarter of the 19th — early 20th centuries from all over Russia in the Synodal School of Church Singing. It contains hooked notation manuscripts of various chants, notolinear manuscripts with harmonization of ancient chants, partes concerts and “Services of God” by composers of the 17th — 18th centuries. At present, the research focuses on the specifics of the musical techniques of Russian partes concerts, correlation of the verbal text and music, their repertoire, authorship, the fate of concert cycles, the arrangements for various number of singing voices, etc. However, the important issue of the time of compilation of concert collections has not received sufficient coverage in the scientific literature. The goal of this study is, firstly, to determine the specifics of the formation of such collections using the example of the manuscript No. 360/1-8 from the Synodal Singing Collection the State Historical Museum with the involvement of other manuscripts of this Collection. The detailed palaeographic analysis of eight manuscripts that made up the collection, which previously belonged to the Novgorod Bishop’s House, allowed the author to determine the time of recording of each concert, as well as the time of compilation of the collection. Analysis of the paper watermarks and the notes placed on the sheets of manuscripts showed that the collection No. 360/1-8 of SSC from the State Historical Museum is a convolute, which is based on the works rewritten in the 1720s with the inclusion of Services recorded in the early and mid 18th century. In addition, the cycle of stichera and slavniki from the Feast Services was written after the compilation and, probably, after binding the voice parts of the collection, possibly by its compiler. The study of the notes of singers placed in the parts of this collection allowed the author of the article to find out their names, time and specifics of their singing activities. The conclusions drawn from the example of the collection No. 360/1-8 of SSC of the State Historical Museum are applicable to many collections of that time.