THE NATURE OF THE RUSSIAN FOLK-SONG

Abstract

IN PREVIOUS ARTICLES on the old Russian religious chant, the present author has referred to the close kinship between certain melodic turns of the chant and some types of the Russian folksong. Under the influence of the latter, the chant, by the I th century, actually became transformed melodically from its alien Byzantine outline to one profoundly in keeping with the songs of the Russian people. The destinies of these two great bodies of music -the folk-song and the chant-betray a curious parallelism: I. Up to the late I 7th century they dominate all Russian music with no interference or attempt to force them into alien channels. II. With the westernization under Czar Alexei (beginning ca. 1660), Czar Peter the Great, and his successors, the cities (the capitals in particular) begin to cultivate their own music entirely in the western, so-called fashionable manner, but the old Russian heritage is not forgotten. III. Folk-song and the old chant (along with later chants) are brought into the sphere of music-making without any regard for their properties. They are utilized for whatever purpose is at hand, mangled and mutilated, but also thoroughly enjoyed. The reign of the Empress Elizabeth (1741 -6o) has been called the age of song. There is an influx of the folk-song into Moscow, together with old peasant dances and rites. Soon afterwards the old chant is transcribed into modern notation (I772, without any strictly scientific method). Instrumental accompaniments are used not only with the folk-songs but-and this is almost sacrilegious-in the singing of sacred music (witness the Empress Catherine's regret concerning the rule that instruments should not be used in churches). The first attempts to affix the folk-song on paper are made in Trutovsky's collection (four parts: 1776, 1778, 1779, 1795). IV. Now come the various folk-song collections with an attempt at classifying the material: 498