GREEK REPERTOIRE OF THE UKRAINIAN AND BELARUSIAN HEIRMOLOGIA OF THE LATE 16TH–18TH CENTURIES: PRESENT STATUS OF RESEARCH

Abstract

Since the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence, there has been a growing interest in the earliest periods of our musical history, which for objective reasons have been insufficiently studied. The interest of scientists is supported by performers. Mastering the early monophonic church repertoire is accompanied by an active search for historical information and relevant vocal manners, style. In turn, this search leads to the Greek-Byzantine chant tradition, which for centuries has greatly influenced the development of Ukrainian monophonic chant. The Greek repertoire of the Ukrainian and Belarusian Heirmologia of the late 16th–18th centuries materializes the direct connection between the East Slavic and Greek-Byzantine traditions in the outlined period of time. The attribution of a significant number of Greek chants marks a new stage of scientific research of the Greek repertoire from Ukrainian and Belarusian Heirmologia of the late 16th–18th centuries. The history of Ukrainian music has been enriched with new names, facts and contexts. Authorizing chants with the remark “Greek” solves many problems, including the basic one about their origins, but also produces new ones. The purpose of the work is to systematize and present new research trends of the Greek repertoire, in particular: the connection between the kalophonic chant and hesychasm in Ukrainian context; features of mode organization of the borrowed Greek chants; issues of musical exegesis and decoding the Middle Byzantine notation by the Kyiv one; a joint Greek repertoire of Moldavian and Ukrainian- Belarusian manuscripts, etc. These research trends require further development in Ukrainian musicology. A comparative method of studying Greek-Byzantine, Moldavian and Ukrainian-Belarusian manuscripts is used.