Detail from a Russian deesis icon depicting Christ Enthroned with Saints, 1460-1470
Explore the chant of the Slavic Orthodox world
VOICES
Tutor: Ivan Moody
Chorley Village Hall, Alderley Edge
Chant of the Slavic Orthodox world
Reviewer: Clive Tolley
Some 23 people, coming from as far afield as London and Edinburgh, gathered at Chorley (Alderley Edge) on 18 November for a workshop on Russian (and some other Slavonic) chant and church singing, led by Ivan Moody. We worked through eight pieces – this may sound quite a lot, but in fact none of the pieces were long, and some were very short.
We sang all of them in Church Slavonic, the sacred language of the Slavonic areas of the Orthodox Church. As most people present were not familiar with the language, it seemed to me that everyone coped very well with it, particularly given the propensity for tongue-twisting consonant combinations in not a few places. The meaning of each piece was presented before starting, but we did not generally spend a great deal of time over this. On the other hand, Ivan Moody gave a good introduction to the history of the Russian and other Slavonic churches (particularly Serbian and Romanian) as it affected the development of music. Some interesting aspects were touched upon: such as how the early chant, which had long been abandoned, was to a large extent only transcribed in the 1960s by Nikolai Uspensky, and was greeted with disbelief and accusations that he must have got it all wrong, with all the parallel seconds and so forth. Some chants, however, had been preserved by the Old Believers, a break-away sect that started in the seventeenth century when the church authorities undertook to revise and correct the liturgy, much to the chagrin of ordinary worshippers. In Serbia, the Ottomans forbade the printing of church books, and the chant, along with its ornamentation, survived only orally, to be written down much later; we sang one example of this. Romania was at a cross-roads between Slavonic and Byzantine traditions, and many churches had two choirs, one for each style (the question was raised of whether they vied with each other within one service).
The pieces we sang covered a good range of Slavonic church music from medieval chant up to the seventeenth century (much more could have been investigated, given time, of course).
We had a Bulgarian cherubic hymn involving an oison (drone) mainly on two notes, with the melody floating above this. The Serbian orally transmitted Apolytikion for Ss Peter and Paul was a short, light piece, with ornaments incorporated into the transcribed music; we tried this with the drone as the director indicated it should be done, then a third lower (which did not prove very convincing). The znamenny paschal kontakion, representing the earliest form of Russian chant, was quite distinctive, including such things as quavers having to be fitted in and throwing the beat; there was quite a lot of discussion about how they might originally have performed such pieces. The Bogoroditse Devo (the Ave Maria, more or less) was later, probably from the seventeenth century, and more musically familiar; it was a lovely piece, in two-part chant, with a four-part chord on just one note in the middle (on ‘you have given birth’ to the saviour of our souls). Dostoino est’ (Znamenny polyphony, but in so-called ‘Greek chant’) was also in two mainly parallel parts (with some ornamentation mainly in the bass). Vozbrannoi voevode (To you, triumphant leader) is a late seventeenth-century piece in three-part close harmony. Svetilen uspeniya (exaposteilarion for the Dormition) is also late seventeenth-century, and in three parts, a very haunting piece, achieving its effect in often simple ways such as alternating drops/rises of fourths and fifths (in the tenor), which is spoken in the first person by the Mother of God. The pieces from this transitional period are interesting: still chant-based, they are taking on a distinctly polyphonic form, but with ‘primitive’ features like parallel fifths. The latest piece, chronologically and stylistically, Khvalite imya Godpodne, by Nikolai Deletsky (before 1680), was quite different from the other pieces: here, chant had to all intents and purposes been left behind, and we have a thoroughly western, baroque piece (which would scarcely stand comparison with the great works being produced in western Europe at the time); somehow, all the glory and exotic wealth of the early period had been swept away in favour of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’.
It was a very enjoyable day, both musically and for the background to the music that Ivan Moody, with his great experience in this field, was able to share with us. Some felt that had the emphasis been more firmly on early chant, rather than later developments, the day might have been more rewarding, but as it was we did have a good overview of several centuries of church music from different lands. We finished rather early, and I think we could reasonably have covered at least a couple more pieces.
Reviewer: Clive Tolley
Reviewer: Ian Dayes
On a beautiful winter’s morning I crossed Cheshire to reach Chorley Village Hall. Chorley is a lovely place that expanded during Victorian times to meet the railway network, when it became known as Alderley Edge. The hall is a typical NWEMF venue, clean, neat, well decorated and providing ample parking.
I didn’t know much about the subject and was a bit apprehensive, to be honest. I sing western European music mostly – Anglican Liturgy and the music typically performed by Choral Societies. The nearest I get to Russian music is Bogoroditse Devo‘ from the Rachmaninov Vespers. I was encouraged by receiving some good notes, with a guide to pronunciation and a scholarly introduction to the day’s subject, well in advance. I ‘googled’ the speaker Ivan Moody, and found him to be a highly respected academic, who also happens to be an Orthodox priest who runs his church choir. I was put at my ease by the NWEMF welcome; good tea, excellent biscuits, then a swift introduction to this scholarly and quietly spoken Englishman, and our journey began.
Ivan presented a thoughtfully curated list of music which led us gently but purposefully into this new world. The Russian Orthodox Tradition began at the command of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, a convert to Christianity who sent emissaries to find the best music for the Russian Church. They found it in the Greek Orthodox Music of Constantinople, and transplanted it wholesale into their own tradition, initially in Greek, then into Russian and evolved the repertoire to adapt to local conditions.
Our first piece was for the Liturgy of the Faithful. We had a brief introduction, a run through the melody, and after a note on the pitch pipe we started to sing. It was magical; twenty or so unaccompanied voices, in a simple space, the sounds echoing as it would in any church. It had a simple melody accompanied by a drone at an interval that sounds odd, almost ‘wrong’ to western ears, and to put it politely it seems to go on a bit. We raised these issues and Ivan’s explanations put this neatly into context. The drone pitch is ‘just the way they do it’. Russia did not have the same musical development as we in the west – the Renaissance completely passed them by – it might echo an earlier musical tradition, but we just don’t know as there is virtually no record of the music it replaced. The structure reflects the needs of the liturgy – it accompanies an important preliminary of Divine Service where the unconsecrated host is led around the church and shown to the faithful. This takes a while and so the repetition makes sense; each part of the congregation receives a full experience of accompaniment as the host arrives. Then we sang it again. I loved this approach, it made the whole subject come alive. I was able to picture the whole thing in my mind.
We followed this by The Apoliytikon for Ss Peter & Paul, this time using a version from Serbia, giving an experience of the rather different melodic style. Serbians differ from their Russian neighbours. While they use (almost) the same Cyrillic Alphabet, the language and pronunciation differ in some significant ways. Serbia developed a strong oral tradition during the Turkish occupation when written music was forbidden. Next came the Kontakion for Pascha, and a first exposure to the distinctive Znamenny Chant style, which expanded greatly under the patronage of Ivan the Terrible, and gave our speaker the chance to outline the neumatic system. This enables parts of the music to be described by means of symbols, presumably making things easier for singers and scribes.
We concluded the morning with a version of Bogoroditse Devo that showed influence from Western Europe, with four part harmony and a certain amount of word painting.
The afternoon was an exploration of more complex music with detailed structures familiar to western ears. We sang music from the Polish-Ukranian Period, when Russia was exposed to western musical influences; and the Italian Period when architects, artists and musicians flocked to the court at St Petersburg.
Rachmaninov was mentioned in passing. He composed his own liturgical music having admired and studied the traditional music. I understand he was a great collector of music, in a similar vein to Ralph Vaughan Williams and Percy Granger.
I left the meeting a very happy man, having enjoyed an excellent introduction to this music, greatly aided by the opportunity to sing and experience it for myself. It has certainly encouraged me to explore the topic further, and I would recommend this approach as well suited to music students. RNCM and Chets please note…
Ian Dayes
