Church Singing Research Articles

Претворение особенностей церковного чтения и пения русской православной традиции в духовных сочинениях Сергея Рахманинова

The sacred works of Sergei Rachmaninoff have long been acknowledged as presenting one of the pinnacles of the “new direction” of Russian sacred music of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Rachmaninoff was among the composers who have most profoundly and brilliantly realized in their musical oeuvres the very spirit of church service singing. At the same time, in the “Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom” and the “All-Night Vigil” by Rachmaninoff reflection is also found of separate elements of the traditions of church reading, as well as certain regularities common both for church singing and reading, which up to the present day has not formed a subject of scholarly research. At the same time, the melodicism of the poglastisas [the intoning] of chant-like singing possesses not only a certain pitch set and laws of rhythmic intonations common to singing, but also a lucid modal nature, similar to the church mode of the Znamenny chant. The article demonstrates elements and techniques in Rachmaninoff’s “Liturgy” and “All-Night Vigil” common to both church singing and reading. The diatonicity, the preservation of the most delicate differentiation between the words, the conformity between the liturgical and the melodic elements, the predominance of the text over the music and, correspondingly, the subservience of the musical rhythm to the rhythm of words, the absence of significant extension of the syllables, the unhurried quality of the motion of musical time, the usage of natural vocal registers (without tension of tessitura), all of which are characteristic to these examples, are revealed. Unified means of emphasis of the key semantic units through the rising of the tessitura and the enhancement of the dynamics are highlighted through the intermittence and prolongation of the emphasized word, as well as through syllabic chant. Keywords: Sergei Rachmaninoff, sacred music, church reading, Liturgy.

Церковна преса другої половини ХІХ – початку ХХ століття як джерело вивчення історії церковного співу у Київській єпархії

У статті проаналізовано публікації журналів «Киевские епархиальные ведомости», «Труды Киевской Духовной Академии», «Руководство для сельских пастырей», «Церковно-приходская школа», «Западно-Русская начальная школа», в яких іде мова про церковний спів у Київській єпархії. Виділено теми, які найчастіше піднімалися: літні курси церковного співу для учителів, про заходи для покращення церковного співу у сільських храмах, навчання музиці та нотному співу у школах, про церковні хори.

The role of N. Ilminsky and S. Rachinsky in the formation of the personality of S. Smolensky

The role of N. Ilminsky and S. Rachinsky in the formation of the personality of S. Smolensky

The Cherubic Hymn in The Romanian Choral Creation

Abstract The Cherubic Hymn (gr.) o heroubikos ymnos) was introduced in the Byzantine Liturgy in the 5th century, by a decree of Emperor Justin the 2nd, issued in 574. The document stated the replacement of an old psalm, once sang during the offering of bread and wine gifts at the altar by the church-goers (ofertorium), with the new hymn. The replacement of the ofertoriumului ritual with the one of Presentation of the Euharistic Gifts (the Great Exodus) and the introduction of associated memorials, determined the fragmentation of the hymn in two different parts. Initially sang monodically, the introduction of the art of chorale in the Orthodox Church determined the development of this liturgical singing in two parts with a different musical nature, based on the principle of contrast: Cherubic, in large tempo (Adagio) and That we may receive the King in moderate tempo (Moderato). The first induces an atmosphere of mystical chastity, leads to introversion, and the second is a glory hymn, imposing and majestic. Literary, The Cherubic consists of the following three sentences, which determined the subsequent form of homonym choral creations, We, who mystically represent the Cherubim,/ And chant the thrice-holy hymn to the Life-giving Trinity. Let us set aside the cares of life, Followed by another two sentences and the threefold repetition of the ovation “Hallelujah!”, which form the second hymn: That we may receive the King of all! Who comes invisibly escorted by the Divine Hosts! Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! In the Romanian liturgical chorale creation the Cherubic hymn bears the following stylistic directions: 1. of Slavic influence; 2. of Classical-Romantic inspiration; 3. which capitalizes the Byzantine church singing.

Исторический опыт: преподавание в Тамбовской духовной семинарии в 1870–1880-х годах

The streamlining history of the educational process in the Tambov Governorate should be attributed to the end of the 18th century, according to the decree of 1798. However, this did not lead to the religious schools improvement. In this connection, at the beginning of the 19th century, reforms of the spiritual and educational system of seminaries were carried out. As a result of the reform, the Tambov Seminary, which preserved the best traditions of the pre-reform school, re-ceived a qualitative update. However, there were still unresolved issues in the educational process. The methods of teaching suffered, there was a shortage of trained personnel, material provision and home appliance of the seminary. All these issues were to be resolved in the second half of the 19th century. Therefore, we reveal the life period of the seminary of 1870–1880. Foundations of a new educational system in the Tambov Seminary were laid during this period. Education was still specifically theological; the range of theological subjects increased. At the same time, the study of general subjects, classical languages, and church singing was deepened. All this developed the mental capacity of students, expanded their spiritual needs, guaranteed the training of highly educated and responsible clergy and other workers on the field of spiritual enlightenment and public education. However, by bringing its educational system in line with the general standard, the Tambov Seminary lost its missionary focus, ceasing studying the languages of other peoples living in the Tambov Governorate.

Становлення візантійської співочої системи восьмиголосся у VIII-X століттях: історико-культурний аналіз

The current stage of the spiritual development of the organization is determined by the strength of the initiative to the Orthodox culture in the scientific medium. An animal to the church spіvu, to the wide representation of the musicians in the Orthodox cultures and the national mystics in the publications in the Christian and Orthodox themes. Orthodox singing throughout its centuries-old history was an extraordinary phenomenon in church culture.The main corpus of texts of the Ocantine Octoise has fallen in the IX-X tables in the results of constantinopolitan schools and the Armenian grammar school. The main texts of the Byzantine Octoecology were formed in the 9th-10th centuries. It was the result of the work of the Constantinople school, which studied Byzantine hymnography. The Byzantine church singing system was adopted and rethought by the Church of the East. Accordingly, the system of singing for eight melodies was deeply learned. In the Eastern Church during this period, znamenny singing attains perfection and forms a single musical system. The author of the article «Formation of the Byzantine church voice system in the VIII-X Centuries: Historical and Cultural Analysis» Irina Shvets views the Byzantine Osmoglasnik in the context of a unified liturgical singing system. Based on indepth studies on the history, semiography and paleography of church singing, the author considers the phenomenon of Byzantine osmoglasiya not only in the musical aspect, as a set of spiritual chants, having a certain compositional, melodic-rhythmic and harmonic specificity, but also in historical, in terms of becoming and transformations, which the system underwent through its centuries-old history.

Musical education and performance as a component of the practical work of the Galician priesthood of the end and the beginning of the XIX-XX centuries

The article reveals the role of the Galician priesthood in the music-performing and educational processes of the 19th-20th centuries. Three general directions of multifaceted musical and artistic activity of pastors are distinguished. Provision of the Liturgical needs of the parish includes the organization of church choirs and their education, the provision of appropriate to their stuff and potential of the performing repertoire, music-pedagogical activity in the fraternal school of the Stavropigian Institute, spiritual and teacher's seminary, cantors` courses, making collections, creating textbooks for mastering church singing. The second direction is work with young people as a future generation of active parishioners (teaching music in public schools and high schools, preparing children and young people to participation in Divine Services, forming school singerbooks, textbooks on music-theoretical disciplines). The most socially significant vector of priestly work was the formation of a conscious national identity of the community through the organization of secular choirs, symphonic and brass orchestras, concert and touring activities, providing repertoire for performing groups and Ukrainian theaters, musical publishing, historiographic studies, editing of music magazines. Being the leaders of the Ukrainian community in terms of professional musical training, the representatives of the Galician priesthood, through music-performing and music-educational activities, realized the task of unification around the national idea (often identical to denominational affiliation) that were relevant for the society.

Kosta P. Manojlović and the teaching of liturgical singing

In this paper we deal with Kosta Manojlović's engagement in the field of church music education, especially within curricula of the Pravoslavno-bogoslovski fakultet [Faculty of Orthodox Theology] in Belgrade, aiming to answer two research question: one, regarding different aspects of Manojlović's work at the between 1923 and 1937, and the other, dealing with ways in which his writings on the Serbian Orthodox church music were affected by the historical, social, and cultural milieu of the interwar period. An analysis of Manojlović's teaching catalogues for the Faculty of Orthodox Theology between 1923/24 and 1936/37, showed three basic models in syllabus organisation: in his early teaching career, he was teaching two subjects "Octoechos" and "History of Serbian Orthodox Church Singing Church Choral Music" (in 1923/24); as mid-career teacher (between 1924/25 and 1934/35) he was teaching "Octoechos" and "Strano pjenije", while in the last years spent at the school Manojlović's teaching subjects were "History of Church Music" and "Octoechos and General Chant". However, the most important aspects of Manojlović's teaching philosophy are not available in syllabus of his courses. For that reasons, we turned to his published writings, having in mind his plans for introducing more research tools into curricula of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology. He advocated the introduction of scientific methods: in his opinion, this was the only acceptable and credible method for an academic approach to Serbian sacred music. Among many subjects in the field of Serbian Orthodox music, Kosta P. Manojlović wrote about the relevance of Serbian medieval literature, and he was one of the first authors who recognized the importance of this subject for expanding the horizon of otherwise modest knowledge of medieval music. We explain the ways in which some of his readings of the genre of žitije (vita), the life of a saint, were influenced by the discourse of svetosavlje and the idea of emphasizing the ethnic as part of the Christian, without taking into account the process of idealization, which is a canonical element of the genre of žitije. The picture of Kosta Manojlović's teaching practice presented in this article is generally more detailed and enriched with new data and analysis of certain aspects of his work. Unfortunately, it was not possible to follow the long-term effects of his interventions and actions at the Univerzitet u Beogradu [University of Belgrade] as the Faculty of Orthodox Theology was split from the University in 1952. Manojlović had the difficult task of building his career as a university teacher in an environment that was not always supportive of his efforts, especially when it came to his integration of research into teaching, but he did accomplish his task by integrating his knowledge, acting and being. His integration of research and practical work in the field of Serbian chant, even if we may not agree with all his conclusions, was visionary and is still a valid, and the most preferred, approach to the subject.

РОЗВИТОК ХОРОВОГО МУЗИКУВАННЯ У ДУХОВНИХ УЧИЛИЩАХ ПОДІЛЬСЬКОЇ ЄПАРХІЇ КІНЦЯ ХІХ СТОЛІТТЯ

Мета роботи полягає в розкритті особливостей навчання церковного співу в духовних училищах на території Подільської єпархії. Визначена важливість значення викладання церковного співу в духовних училищах та його вплив на релігійне виховання. Проаналізовані основні положення викладання церковного співу на основі положення С. Миропольського (Учбовий кабінет при священному Синоді). Методологія дослідження базується на джерелознавчому методі, який був задіяний при дослідженні системи викладання церковного співу на основі архівних матеріалів. При вивченні особливостей навчання співу в духовних училищах Подільської єпархії був використаний дидактичний метод, який дозволяє провести більш детальний аналіз програм викладання предмету. Наукова новизна полягає в оприлюдненні матеріалів з архівних фондів, систематизації та узагальненні основних положень хорового виховання на основі вивчення програм церковного співу в духовних училищах для юнаків (Шаргородське, Тульчинське, Тиврівське та Приворотське), а також Кам’янець-Подільському та Тульчинському училищах для дівиць духовного звання. Висновки. Результати дослідження програм з церковного співу, їх прикладне значення дозволяють зробити висновок про те, що рівень хорового виконавства у чоловічих і жіночих духовних навчальних закладах був досить високим, адже училищні хори повинні супроводжувати богослужіння, а випускники цих закладів мали самостійно вчителювати і бути керівниками шкільних хорових колективів. Основу їх репертуару також складали літургійні твори, зокрема й партесні. Прикладом професійного навчання хоровому співу і плідного функціонування хорового колективу може слугувати Тульчинське єпархіальне училище для дівчат.

The originality of the modern Ukrainian church oeuvre: on an example of the chants «All-night Vigil» Olena Yunek. Formulation of the problem

The originality of the modern Ukrainian church oeuvre: on an example of the chants «All-night Vigil» Olena Yunek. Formulation of the problem

The originality of the modern Ukrainian church oeuvre: on an example of the chants «All-night Vigil» Olena Yunek. Formulation of the problem

The originality of the modern Ukrainian church oeuvre: on an example of the chants «All-night Vigil» Olena Yunek. Formulation of the problem

Sacred Positions: A Personal History of Blindness and Singing

This narrative essay explores a blind singer's experience with church singing, a cappella competitions, and Sacred Harp singing. In it, Emily K. Michael maps the conflicts between pervasive disability narratives and audience expectations, as well as the evolving challenges of each genre. Michael discovers that audiences carry the alluring myth of a cure across genres and venues. She comes to privilege the cooperative power of Sacred Harp singing, where personal talent and conventional rehearsal give way to immediacy and welcome. Sacred Harp singing helps Michael transform her own destructive beliefs and the problematic stories of blindness she has encountered.

«Tannhauser» R. Wagner in the mainstream of the evolutionary ways of the German musical theater: mythopoetic and genre-style aspects

Purpose of the article is to reveal the poetic-intonational uniqueness of R. Wagner's opera «Tannhаuser» in the mainstream of the evolutionary, mythopoetic and genre-style specificity of the German musical theater of the 19th century. The methodology of the work is based on the intonational concept of music in the perspective of intonational-stylistic, etymological analysis, succession from B. Asafiev and his followers, and also on interdisciplinary and historical-culturological approaches. The latter allow us to identify the spiritual and semantic and style peculiarities of the musical theater of R. Wagner and distinguish it from the pan-European cultural area of the mid-19th century. The scientific novelty of the work is to broaden the understanding of the poetics of the musical theater of R. Wagner, in particular, the opera «Tannhаuser», which serves as one of the exemplary samples of the German opera of the period, and at the same time demonstrates a deep connection with the genre-style and mythological poetry of the culture of «the great German century» (Hugo von Hofmannsthal). Conclusions. The intonational-dramatic, spiritual and semantic characteristics of Wagner's «Tannhаuser» demonstrate the stylistic duality that is indicative of the German musical theater of the mid-19th century, based on the intersection of the romantic and Biedermeier traditions. The romantic quality of the «Tannhаuser» is also evident in the obvious parallels between the image of the protagonist (Minnesinger) and the contemporary (for the era of R. Wagner) artist, concerned with the search for the ideal; and in the accentuation of the idea of duality, revealed at the level of opposition between the real and the surreal. With the musical characteristic of the latter (the grotto of Venus), an innovative musical language is associated, based on a wide range of musical expressive means (chromatic, tonal instability, timbre richness, etc.). At the same time, the poetics of Wagner's «Tannhаuser» demonstrate the connection with the spiritual-style qualities of the German Biedermeier, revealed in the associations of the plot of the opera with the parable of the «prodigal son»; in a certain idealization of the characteristics of the real world, based on the typology of pastoral and traditions of church singing; in the spiritual concept of the image of Elizabeth, ascending to the sacred-mystery sources and their genre-typological characteristics.

Samolivkovyy singing: regional phenomenon or common church practice?

The relevance of the study is determined by the powerful development of liturgical musicology. In this area, along with the study of monodic sources and the activities of vivid representatives of the liturgical culture, the value of the previously marginalized areas have increased recently. Understanding of the hidden or previously underestimated processes allows you to rethink the views about such a complex and heterogeneous period, as the nineteenth century, with next sixteen years – before the onset of severe stress of established systems in the confessional different areas of Ukraine. Therefore, attention is drawn to the so-called samolivke, the study of which was the purpose of the research. To achieve it, considering the specifics of this phenomenon in comparison with the academic standards of church choir singing, historical-genetic and compractational methods were used, as well as methods of intonational and vocal-choral analysis, synthesis in generalizing of the data obtained and the allocation on this basis of its characteristic features.This concept, traditionally applied exclusively to the phenomenon of Western Ukrainian liturgical practice and absent in the apparatus of liturgical musicology of other countries, was applied to the general practice of church singing regardless of denominations and displayed outside the regional use. The detected signs made it possible to detect the stable elements of a certain system, specify its origin and specificity of functioning. Its spread is conditioned by general principles of unprofessional church singing, and its melodic-intonational filling and timbral correspond to regional features of the church-singing tradition. So, the samolivka – this is the kind of a nationwide choralsinging with the active factor improvised polyphony, specific to a particular location distribution of functions of voices and relation klirosnogo and obschehorovogo performance. Established the complexity of its system, based on an oral tradition and longterm cultural memory, which combines an array of heterogeneous elements.The results obtained give grounds for revision of ideas about processes of the development of the liturgical musical culture, in particular – reflection or even influence this phenomenon to composer creativity.

Reflection of the Problems of Ukrainian Church Singing in the Source Materials of Galicia at the End of the XIX – early XX Century

As a result of the awareness of the important role of spiritual and cultural phenomena in the development of Ukrainian culture, modern society has a particular interest in the historical context of the formation of sacred art. Therefore, the process of research of church singing based on reliable information, fixed in Galician periodicals since the appearance of the first publications on this topic and before the Second World War, became the basis of the writing of the article. The choice of methodological principles is conditioned by the specifics of the research carried out, in particular, the accumulation of materials with further understanding and selection. Historical and cultural studies, art studies, theological and teaching materials, which are found at the time periodical, preserved in the department of ukrainian, in the scientific department of periodicals by Maryana and Ivanni Kotsiv, National Library of Ukraine the name of V. Stefanyk, and in the State Archives of the Ternopil region. The use of comparative and cultural methods helped to highlight the historically determined features of ritual and church-musical life of Galicia at the end of the 19th and the first half of the twentieth century under the conditions of expansion of the pro-government structures. Due to the functional approach, the problems of coexistence of denominations, social conditions of the Greek Catholic Church, the status of daco-regent education and publishing, and the role of personalities in the practice of church singing are outlined. On this basis, a holistic evaluation of spiritual and choral performance and the social context of church singing as a form of realization of the liturgical art of the Eastern rite in Galicia at the end of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century was achieved. The source materials revealed the activation of public opinion in the press at that time, showed the significant role of the Ukrainian Church in shaping national self-awareness and dominance of the spiritual factor in the outlook and everyday life of the Galician.

Byzantine church singing in the studies of fr. Peter Franz Krypiakevych

This article examines the historical path of the development of the Byzantine hymnography and sacred monody in the researcher’s works of fr. Petro Krypjakevych. An important role of the research of the Byzantine sacred hymnography is his study of its specific characteristics and the phenomen of the relations with ancient writing heritage. Church poetry played a major role in the development of the literature poetry, its images were used by many ukrainian writers of the XVI-XVII centuries, most of which in their profession were related with the Church, and, therefore, knew perfectly sacred hymnohraphy. Liturgical books also helped to a perfect knowledge of singin monody material. In the Byzantine hymnography the main place taked the Marian theme. The article analyzed the cultural complex of the existing forms of the liturgical singing tradition, defined existence of the expression among the sacred hymnohraphy. In the development of the Christian rite, the dramaturgy of the Theotokion texts is improved, the system of genres, which is combined by the common theme, is formed, the image of the Virgin gains the axiological completeness and becomes as the source of valuable norms in opposition to evil and hope for salvation. This explains the involvement of the Marian chants into all the spheres of the liturgical worship that allows recognizing the Theotokion as a cultural phenomenon, evidenced by the high emotional and intellectual concentration and communication within the syncretic filling all the rite levels. The investigated material by fr. Petro Krypjakevych reveals the continued interpretation of God Mother‘s image as the carrier of the core foundations of the human spirit that remains to be ideal in interpreting the various artistic and philosophical systems, based on manifesting the eternal valuable categories such as: love and compassion. That’s why the research of fr. Petro Krypjakevych is an important contribution to the world treasury of the recognition of the spiritual culture of humankind.

«Октай церковного пения единоверческого напева»: к вопросу о церковно-певческой традиции Единоверческой Церкви

«Октай церковного пения единоверческого напева»: к вопросу о церковно-певческой традиции Единоверческой Церкви

Aesthetic Principles of Training Future Teachers in Podillia Women's Religious School (the Second Half of XIX – Beginning of XX Century)

An important issue of the school remained a training of the teacher staff in Podillia in the second half of XIX – beg. of XX century. A significant part in the formation of an elementary school teacher played women religious school: The article deals with Podolsk religious women's college and spiritual Tulchynsk women's college where much attention was paid to the study of the subjects of aesthetic direction. In the research the author defined the features of content of educational programs of the aesthetic subjects such as church singing, music, crafts, drawing. The meaning and the importance of literary readings, literary vocal and musical events, which have been putting into the educational process of female religious schools were determined in the context of future teachers' personality. Educational activities of N. Leontovich in Tulchyn eparchial women's college were considered. It was also proved that N. Leontovich in his work with pupils followed the progressive teaching methods and principles using the achievements in traditional musical pedagogy both Western European and Ukrainian authors who are still relevant today. It was proved that the first teaching of the subjects in the female religious schools of Podillia in the second half of XIX – beg. of XX century had a positive influence on the formation of personality, taste, elegance – qualities that are necessary for future teaching pupils of schools. It was proved that the aesthetic elements in the educational system in the female religious schools of Podillia in the second half of XIX – beg. of XX century were focused on making future teachers have their own arsenal of means of the self-realization with the help of which they will convey to the students their beliefs.

Introduction: "Catholic Church Music in Dublin" by Edward Martyn and "O"

Introduction:"Catholic Church Music in Dublin" by Edward Martyn and "O" Keri Walsh (bio) and Callie Gallo (bio) The exchange of essays transcribed below (see Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4) was originally published in the Irish Nationalist periodical The Leader in 1900. It dramatizes a heated debate in Dublin about Catholic Church music, one that had significant implications for James Joyce's "The Dead" and also for the aesthetics of the Irish theatrical revival. In reprinting these two key articles from the controversy and unearthing Joyce's connection to them, we hope to show the resonance of this issue in Irish nationalism and in Joyce's attention to female musicians in Dubliners and beyond.1 The first piece is by Edward Martyn (1859-1925), the co-founder of the Irish Literary Theatre in 1899 (with Lady Augusta Gregory and W. B. Yeats). Martyn, a Jesuit-educated Catholic from a wealthy Galway family, funded the first three seasons of the theater company's productions before serving as the first president of Sinn Féin from 1905 to 1908. In the following editorial, Martyn argues for the exclusion of women from Catholic Church music. He claims that women are better suited to the dramatic singing of the theater and that only young boys can express the spiritual heights of liturgical song. The second, an anonymous response to Martyn signed "O," challenges the idea that church singing should be passionless, argues that female voices are as sacred as male voices, and defends the right of women to remain in church choirs. O's concerns emerge from a larger debate within Irish nationalism in the post-Parnell era. Martyn favored the consolidation of Catholicism and Irish nationalism and resisted what he saw as a Protestant-influenced drift toward secular singing styles in the Catholic Church. By arguing for a return to Gregorian chant, Martyn sought to establish clear lines between Catholic and Protestant musical performance. In 1902, he formed the all-male Palestrina Choir and spent £10,000 to fund the group, which became the Archdiocese of Dublin's Schola Cantorum. The project anticipated reforms to ecclesiastical music by Pope Pius X, who formally institutionalized the exclusion of women from Church choirs in his November 1903 Motu Proprio.2 This move to curtail women's participation in church music jeopardized them financially and culturally because the Church was [End Page 397] an important employer of musicians. The Pope's recent exclusion of women from church singing is a "sore subject" with Aunt Kate in Joyce's "The Dead," a story that is set two months after the pronouncement in January of 1904 (D 194). Kate is distraught over the injustice of the policy that led to Aunt Julia's dismissal from her role as leading soprano at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Her niece Mary Jane is also a professional musician and graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music who "had the organ in Haddington Road"—in other words, a paid position as the organist at a non-Nationalist Catholic Church, St. Mary's (D 176). Here, Joyce critiques the gender exclusion of nationalist music, showing that only in the context of a pro-English Catholic Church can women find employment. The women discuss the issue early in the story, after Aunt Julia's performance of "Arrayed for the Bridal": —I often told Julia, said Aunt Kate emphatically, that she was simply thrown away in that choir. But she never would be said by me. She turned as if to appeal to the good sense of the others against a refractory child while Aunt Julia gazed in front of her, a vague smile of reminiscence playing on her face. —No, continued Aunt Kate, she wouldn't be said or led by anyone, slaving there in that choir night and day, night and day. Six o'clock on Christmas morning! And all for what? —Well, isn't it for the honour of God, Aunt Kate? asked Mary Jane, twisting round on the piano-stool and smiling. Aunt Kate turned fiercely on her niece and said: —I know all about the honour of God, Mary Jane, but I think it's not at...

Serbian еcclesiastical chanting for the glory of god and in the service of the nation

Shaped in complex social circumstances and in accordance with the postulates of baroque historicism, Serbian ecclesial art has expressed clear tendency toward nationalization of Serbian religious identity during the 18th century. Due to general musical illiteracy of the clerics, the real conditions for the development of chanting art in Serbian Church were nonexistent. However, by the end of 18th and at the beginning of the 19th century the myth of authentic Serbian national Church singing, being the result of special ?Serbian folk piety?, was established. The construction of Serbian Church chanting tradition was primarily initialized by the growing distance from Greek psalmody in Serbian worship. In other words, because there was no historically relevant form of singing, the ancient singing of Fruska Gora and Krusedol, i.e. the singing of Karlovci, had to be constructed as an antithesis to Byzantine- Greek musical tradition. By comparing historical facts and critically reading the narrative of the origins of national Church music in the time of Metropolitan Stefan Stratimirovic of Karlovci, a new interpretation of common stereotype about Serbian musical reform and its main protagonists was produced. This paper offers an original analysis of the origin of: 1) the singing of Fruska Gora, in the context of the belief that Fruska Gora, with its monasteries which preserved the memory of the golden age of Serbian history, are sacred spaces - Serbian Mount Athos; as well as 2) the singing of Karlovci, where was the centre of Metropolitanate of Karlovci and first Ecclesiastical Seminary which was connected the ungrounded belief that it was nursery of a magnificent form of church chanting by the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. This paper, also for the first time, pointed the relationship between the monasteries of Fruska Gora, as Serbian sacred spaces of great importance for national identity, and their abbots Dimitrije Krestic, Dionisije Cupic and Jerotej Mutibaric, who were, according to oral tradition, the creators of singing of Karlovci. The adequate music and historical sources that would offer us an insight into the process of musical reform that was conducted by them do not exist, but their contributions in constituting national self-awareness and ?Serbian piety? are well known and documented. In conclusion, by the end of the 18th and the beginning of 19th century, but also during the entire century of ?nationalism(s)?, the prayers in Serbian Church were chanted for the glory of God, although with a clear tendency to emancipate a new religious identity of Serbian people. However, the catholic ecclesial spirit of Tradition was repressed in order to fulfill the goals of ideology of religious nationalism.