One of the primary purposes of the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship is to start conversations about how Orthodoxy can best be enculturated into our contemporary society. It is our belief that there are elements within our traditional culture which are capable of being “baptized” and therefore of becoming vehicles of Orthodox faith and piety for us today. Indeed, many of these elements themselves have pre-schism roots and thus testify both to the timelessness of Orthodoxy and to our own, deep Orthodox roots. To put it another way, what we are about is neither liturgical archaeology nor a romantic flight into a romantic past, but nothing else than—to use Jaroslav Pelikan’s phrase—the “existential recovery of tradition” for ourselves and our posterity.
Central to this endeavor is music, for it is difficult to imagine any element of culture that is more foundational to our faith than music. (In Russia, church services were often referred to colloquially as “the singing.”) As a “conversation starter,” we present the following article, originally published at OrthoChristian.com, concerning the adaptation of traditional Russian music—in this case, znamenny chant—to contemporary usage. Beginning in the early modern period the Russian Church went through its own “Western Captivity” when architectural, iconographic, musical, and catechetical styles were profoundly influenced by prevailing cultural winds coming from western Europe. In some cases the confluence of cultural streams sparked a creative synthesis. In others, however, traditional modes were shunted aside in favor of decidedly alien idioms: baroque architectural ornamentation, “realistic” and “romantic” iconography, and sentimental, polyphonic chorale music. In the thirty or so years since the fall of the Soviet Union, however, Russia has witnessed a revival in traditional liturgical art forms. New churches are being built and decorated in traditional styles (the rebuilt Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow being a lamentable exception) and there is a renewed emphasis on traditional chant styles. This article deals with some of the questions inherent in such a renewal.
We, of course, are in a very different position. Contemporary Orthodox church music in the west is a mishmash of different styles and traditions—many decidedly “westernized”—and yet almost all of them “foreign” or at least foreign-sounding to our ears. What would a contemporary Orthodox chant that strives to be truly indigenous to our culture sound like? To what extent can we recover the pre-schism musical roots of our own traditions? According to Marcel Peres, Roman chant in the 7th and 8th centuries was performed in a decidedly “Byzantine” style, complete with ison. So, there is certainly evidence for an “eastern” basis to “western” chant, but what is the relevance of this for us today? Can one draw a line from Old Roman, through Gregorian chant, and on to Gaelic Psalmody? What is the relationship, if any, between these musical forms and music that can still be heard in the Appalachians? Can these older styles be adapted for liturgical use today?
Perhaps we can learn something from the revival znamenny chant in Russia. Church musicians are encouraged to “join the conversation.” We would love to publish thoughtful essays on these questions. (Please see our submission guidelines.)
“ZNAMENNY CHANT MUST BE SUNG IN SUCH A WAY THAT PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO LISTEN TO IT”
Interview with Andrey Kotov, the leader of Sirin Ensemble
—Andrey Nikolayevich, could you please tell us about your artistic journey. When did you embrace the traditional Russian culture? What was the attraction?
—I embraced traditional music a long time ago, as I used to work in D. Pokrovsky’s ensemble, which explored traditional Russian culture, Cossack traditions, Russian folk theater, spiritual poetry, and Old Believers’ rituals.
I’ve been singing all my life. My mother was a singer too. I knew opera and Soviet pop songs of the 1960s. I sang in a choir and a folk orchestra. When I was a teenager, I formed a band. I also sang Russian bards’ songs and went hiking. I was interested in all types of good music.
I studied at the folk music department of the Gnesins Institute. However, I didn’t understand the concept of folklore yet. About two weeks after my studies started, my teacher gave me an assignment: I had to transcribe the recording of a three-part song. And when I heard the song … I was stunned! The song had an incredibly beautiful harmony of voices. And I realized that this authentic music was so much different from anything I had heard before. It was an eye-opener for me.
Read the rest here.
