Orthodox Sacred Music in the Works of Modern Ukrainian Composers: Traditions and Transformations

Abstract

The relevance and scientific novelty of the research. The review of Ukrainian music of the independence period shows the considerable interest of the national composers in the spiritual music of the orthodox tradition. This field of art is historically very important for the national tradition, which determines the relevance of its research in the fields of musicology, culture and theology. Within the framework of the study, a distinction is made between “church” and “secular” composers who work in the genres of orthodox liturgical music. Methodology of research consists in the application of cultural, historical and comparative methods, which allowed us to analyze the peculiarities of the work of Ukrainian composers in the context of using traditional and avant-garde techniques in sacred music, to consider the significance of their work in the light of the revival of the sacred music of the orthodox tradition in the late 20th — early 21st centuries. Findings and conclusions. The development of Ukrainian orthodoxy music in the sociocultural space of the late 20th — early 21st centuries is taking place in the context of its revival and significant renewal. Composers are divided into those who are priests (Metropolitan Ionafan, I. Sakhno, V. Fainer, etc.) and those who are secular representatives of the music community (L. Dychko, V. Stepurko, M. Shukh and many others). The work of church composers relates mainly to the liturgy. They strive to create compositions taking into account the centuries-old traditions of liturgical practice adhering to canonical requirements both in poetic and musical-stylistic terms. The creative search for secular composers leads to individualization of creative incarnations, genre transformation and combination of the canonical foundations of orthodox music with national folklore and modern musical language and belongs to the paraliturgical and extra-liturgical directions.The significance of the research. The analysis of choral works on the canonical texts of Metropolitan Ionafan, I. Sakhno, V. Fainer, L. Dychko, V. Stepurko, M. Shukh reveals individual stylistic features that characterize their creativity in terms of their belonging to the liturgical, paraliturgical and extra-liturgical directions of orthodox spiritual music.