Russian Inok


	№21 (184) May, 2004 RUSSIAN LITURGICAL CHORAL AESTHETICS: ITS PAST IN TRADITION AND PRESENT IN RUINS Olga Dolskaya (Continued from "Russian Inok", April 2004) Chapter 5 (Conclusion) The Moscow Synodal School The man most responsible for setting Russian church music on the right track and for bringing the Synodal School (Sinodalka) and its Choir 234 to the eminent position it held before the revolution was Stepan Vasilievich Smolensky (1848-1909).235 It was necessary, as astutely recognized by Pobedonostsev, to continue to cultivate the Moscow Synodal Choir as a choir that is part of the liturgical process (Liturgical Choir), one that interacts with the clergy, instead of simply being a choir that sings in a church. It was to transmit and preserve tradition and not be dependent on someone's taste or secularized opinion.236 The Synodal Choir, formerly Patriarchal Choir, continued to function during the nineteenth century and included a school that did not possess some of the benefits of such prestigious institutions as the St. Petersburg Court Choir. However, since the choir sang at the Moscow Kremlin's Dormition Cathedral, it continued to observe the canon laws prescribed by the Ustav (Rubrics), in such matters as singing the prescribed number of Stichera and Special Melodies. It also maintained its own repertoire of napevy (melodies), closely related to the original Znamenny Chant. Noteworthy, is the fact that the Dormition Cathedral had an all-bass clergy that integrated with the choir. Smolensky's early years in his beloved Kazan' were surrounded by singing. He wrote: Songs were sung quietly on many porches practically every night; weddings were accompanied by the full cycle of songs, the beauty of which was absolutely stunning.237 Smolensky was very fond of bell ringing and left the following words, so precious to us today who have lost sight of this uniquely Russian religious art: I had built in my attic my own bell tower made of flower pots and clay pots, and I practiced at home the art of bell ringing very diligently. I could already through my own invention create the peals for "meeting" and "escorting" the bishop, which are no longer in use. My little brother hopped around on a stick along fixed paths in our garden. He impersonated the Kazan Bishop either arriving or traveling from a distance… We old Kazanians, knew how to recognize the bell ringing of nearby churches, where and what kind of person had just died, where and what type of festivity [Prestol'nyi prazdnik] was celebrated, from where and to where they were carrying the icon of the Virgin and from where and into what direction was "His Eminence" traveling. Tossing various coins to those meeting him, he would sternly watch that during his trips the correct bell peals were sounded.238 Smolensky stored in his memory the church singing which he heard regularly as sung by the Pontifical Singers in Kazan, the St. Petersburg Kapella he visited, the artistic bell ringing of Semen Semenych, bellringer of Kazan's Protection Church, and folk music, which at the time was only beginning to be ruined by the influence of factories and revolution. Smolensky's recollection of awaiting the magnificent Paschal bell ringing in the Moscow Kremlin is priceless to us today when such beauty no longer exists: One must be in Moscow, right by the Cathedrals, in order to experience the greatness of this anticipation. The crowd of thousands is not heard - it is completely silent. Silent too is all of Moscow. But suddenly there resounds the first stroke of the bell, exceptionally soft, the quiet 'contra A' on the bell tower of Ivan the Terrible. It gives the signal to all of Moscow. In five to six seconds all the 'forty of forty' churches resound and the illuminations of all the bell towers are lit. Also all the candles of the crowd of thousands near the Kremlin Cathedrals are being lit. The soft sound of the bass bell hums, then suddenly it gives way to uplifting bright festive ringing of the bells… Everything disappears in the midst of this power: the sound of canons already going off, the singing of the choirs of processions that have just emerged, and the sighs of the excited masses of thousands. Only the sound of bells is heard, and one sees a sea of candles, and fiery serpents moving through the candles of crowd of thousands. Above all this wondrous scene - bellringing, and what bellringing! Deafening, powerful, utter celebration.240 The celebration Smolensky is speaking of is capable of uniting an entire nation; thus its being silenced to this day. Aside from being surrounded by this rich, vibrant milieu, Smolensky was proficient on the violin, organ, and piano. He organized, conducted, and appeared in concerts with various choirs, taught at the Kazan Seminary, composed for the Obikhod, and wrote his Course on Choral Singing published in 1885, in which he was the first to insist on singing from a score rather than separate parts, in order for singers to gain a better understanding of the full scope of what is being sung. His interest in manuscripts and kriuki [neumatic notation] was sparked by his association with D. Razumovsky, S. Rachinskii, his wife (an Old-Believer), and K. Pobedonostsev who supported his endeavor to collect manuscripts from all over Russia241 and to establish the Synodal archival library for the preservation of church music manuscripts.242 In March of 1898, Smolensky writes: Imagine, I have just found in Yaroslav a twelve-chorus (forty-eight voices) Liturgy and with it two concertos from the end of the seventeenth-beginning of the eighteenth centuries. Ah! Those old Russians! 243 His findings consisted of many more manuscripts of the period, and about the first one thousand he spoke of in the following manner: …I had the goal of baptizing my foundling and not to give it up to be ruined by some Foundling House, to find and interest intelligent and good people… Not long ago, I organized an anniversary for myself: in the library I wrote in the catalogue of early manuscript No. 1000, and then, pleased with myself, I went for a walk on the Tverskoi Boulevard. Oh! How difficult was that first thousand! But how much pleasure there is in just looking over the manuscripts. What a bottomless amount of materials for future workers, musicians, and philologists! 244 How characteristic of great men - celebrating alone (see section on Chesnokov). We are all infinitely indebted to Smolensky for having collected these manuscripts alone, and indeed, they are a gold mine for scholars. Today, no words can express our sorrow mingled with profound gratitude for Smolensky's work and his immense contribution not only in the unveiling of manuscripts, but in establishing excellence of singing in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1889, Smolensky inherited Razumovsky's post as Head of the Church Music Department at the Moscow Conservatory and accepted the appointment of Director of the Synodal School. A devoted teacher and inspiring lecturer, he raised the school's level of musical training. His reforms consisted of instituting a solid music and academic curriculum at the Synodal School, with the inclusion of such subjects as music theory, harmony, counterpoint, form and analysis, voice technique, solfege, history of Western music, history of Russian church music, Russian paleography and notation, conducting, score reading, piano, violin, instrumental and vocal ensemble, as well as foreign languages, math, history, art history, physics, etc. Prior to the 1880s no attention was paid to the study of either the neumatic notation nor Tones and musical training was basically western. With Smolensky, it became Russian. Students were now required to study Liturgics as applied to singing, Tones, and neumatic notation. The overall musical curriculum began to equal that of a Conservatory, which became a subject of great controversy and the cause for some non-musical bureaucrats to discredit Smolensky's work, under the pretext that the school put too much emphasis on music. Thus, the man who did most for raising the level of singing in church and for bringing it to worldwide acclaim was forced to resign. When visiting Moscow, Nicholas II was deeply moved by the singing of the Synodal Choir and in 1901, he invited Smolensky to "do for St. Petersburg that which he did for Moscow," and thus began Smolensky's arduous task of russifying western St. Petersburg. He accepted the post of Director of the Court Choir and became very active in the preservation of manuscripts and archival documents through his collaboration with the Society for Enthusiasts of Ancient Letters. Finally in 1907, while working simultaneously on many other projects, he opened his own School for Choir Directors,245 all in an effort to educate, preserve and advance our knowledge of Russian church music. The composer and conductor Pavel Chesnokov wrote in one of his letters: The Synodal School of Ecclesiastical Chant in Moscow, where I studied from age seven to eighteen, was headed by a prodigious musician, a profoundly educated man and the first expert in the field of ecclesiastical chant - Stepan Vasilievich Smolensky (1848-1919). S.V. reformed the Synodal School to such an extent, placed scholarship at such a high level, provided for the Synodal School so well with its celebrated conductor Vasily Orlov (1856-1907), that the School began graduating the best choral conductors, and the superb performances of the choir compelled all composers to write works for the Church, thereby giving birth to a "new direction" in church music.246 Smolensky was the first to recognize the need for a school separate from the secular Conservatory, ideally a center for the development of purely sacred music. We know that he was successful in his endeavors since reviewers began noting that secular singers should learn from church singers. Smolensky saw the school as a center where a wide array of courses would be taught, including Rubrics, Tones, neumatic notation in conjunction with the vocal technique appropriate for singing sacred music. Despite the fact that he met with some bureaucratic resistance,247 his was an ingenious step in the right direction. After his death Smolensky's contribution was hailed worldwide as the epitome of spiritual singing, but was tragically terminated by the new regime which suppressed any undertakings in church music. All of Smolensky's endeavors had exceptional historical significance. One that stands out was his ability to awaken and support the talents of such young composers as Kastalsky and Chesnokov in the development of a national musical language for the church. Aleksandr Dimitrievich Kastalsky (1856-1926)248 began his studies under the direction of Tchaikovsky and Taneyev at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1887 he took a post as piano teacher at the Synodal School, and in 1910 became its director. While still a student, with V. Orlov's (the Synodal Choir Director at the time) and Smolensky's249 support, he began to examine chant melodies, unshortened and in their fullness, and he experimented with popevki (melodic formulae) in all voices instead of only in the soprano. He also made use of ison in which a melody is sung against a voice that holds a pitch, creating a multi-colored palette of new voice-leading techniques that might have been new to the standard western tradition, but certainly not new to Russian polyphonic expression. He used these colors and choice of timbres carefully to underline the national element of the chant - not to undermine it and, above all, not in any way to make it sound secular or folk-like. He searched for a musical language that was modal, not tonal, and he consciously tried to get away from the falsely-labeled compunctionate style in the minor, which was part of nineteenth-century sentimentality, not an integral part of znamenny chant. Kastalsky was a choral orchestrator, sensitive to color and timbre in different combinations of voices, and able to depict an idea through a variety of textures, from unison to multi-voice polyphony. Kastalsky's views concerning the national element in Russian church music were shared by Smolensky and included the following: o A linear, chant-based approach to texture o Let the melody shine without oppressing it with dense chords o Avoid stating a tonality right away, obsure tonality o Pass melody from one voice to another (melodic migration) so it is not confined to the soprano section o Frequent crossing of voices o Use of quartal as well as triadic harmonies o Frequent use of unison and octaves o Frequent use of parallel motion o Gradual growth of choral sound, with fullness of sonority and avoidance of immediate impact o Use of untraditional resolution of the seventh o Modal inflections and tonal twists to better express the text o Modulations without the use of the dominant o Major/minor fluctuations in the same key One of Kastalsky's major contributions was the Obihod (Rule) for the Synodal Choir as used at the Dormition Cathedral. It contained the Vigil in wide harmony for mixed four-part choir, with "Lord, I have Cried" and Prokimena as performed by the Moscow Diocese at the Dormition Cathedral (different from the Court Chant), and Theotokion/Dogmatics for two voices with directions that sopranos be doubled by tenors and altos by basses, all in Broad Znamenny Chant. Due to the fact that it appeared during the war, and singers were lost to the front, there was no opportunity for it to be reprinted nor deposited in libraries, thus contributing to its loss and lack of copies in the emigration (in the West). Today, we should make every effort to reprint, diligently study, and restore this monumental heritage as preserved by Kastalsky in his Obihod (Rule). He also contributed to the singing of verses in special melodies and the inclusion of feast-day znamenny eirmosi in unison, and wrote out harmonizations of stichera as required by the services at the Dormition Cathedral. He strongly believed that the singing of verses in well thought-out harmonizations, fully written out for the choir with the proper accentuation and sensitivity to text, should require the same diligence in preparation and rehearsing as do the "Cherubic Hymn," "A Mercy of Peace," etc.250 Traits to examine meticulously in Kastalskys musical style include: o a four-voice texture, seemingly, in some cases, to be written in the St. Petersburg style, yet with doubling of voices (avoided in the St. Petersburg style) resulting in a full, potentially very different sound. Often the texture changes to two to three voices, merging on the unison or octave in cadences o free asymmetrical meter, based on textual rhythm, and avoidance of repeated words o use of parallel fifths, especially in the basses o use of a variety of chords, with quartal harmonies and non-traditional in their preparation and resolution o melody of chant is intact (although with some transposition), migrating from voice to voice, does not remain exclusively in the soprano - free, untraditional voice leading - use of ison or under-voice polyphony, whereby one voice holds a pitch while others sing the melody. The voice holding a pitch is often a soprano and must never, by any means, cover the main melody. o use of natural minor o not much chromaticism, never in the melody (chant) as it remains intact o choir is a multi-voice orchestra with different vocal timbres and vocal groups set against each other and against the main chant melody o contrasting soft boys' voices (or sopranos), with men's full sound o use of pedal points in the bass, with a multi-layered texture above o a chant harmonization should be considered as an individual composition, or arrangement, rather than a "harmonization." Kastalsky had an interest in folk polyphony.251 But he warned: The national element is actually implanted in our church melodies, but the vocal turns of the folk-songs should be applied to them with extreme caution, as a church is a church and not a concert-hall or the street.252 He believed in turning authentic church melodies into something musically elevated, mighty in its expressiveness and near to the Russian heart in their typically innate quality. He meant it to be music that could be heard nowhere else but in a church: It would be good to have music that could not be heard except in a church, that which differed from secular music as much as the clergymen's vestments differ from secular attire.253 He had this to say on composing for the Russian church: If we succumb to the present-day tendency to create music that is too complex, for the sake of sound effects that are fashionable, then it will lead only to the fact that church music will become the same as secular only with sacred text… we have not yet tapped into a wealth of church melodies and we cannot apply the same secular formulae and contemporary harmonic experiments to them.254 The austere style of the music will help matters little - what is really needed is for a composer to be able to take a stern look at himself and his work.255 Due to the novel sound of Kastalsky's music at the time, especially to Russians who were accustomed to western cliches, reactions encompassed a wide range of emotions, from a hearty encouragement from the Procurator of the Holy Synod, and positive reactions on the part of musicians and critics, to someone in the public who "was getting ready to give me a smack,"256 giving us a glimpse at Kastalsky's humorous nature. Of interest is the fact that the clergy of the Dormition Cathedral responded well to his works, praising them for their "profoundly prayerful disposition, provoked in them during their attending to the Services."257 This seemed to mean a great deal to Kastalsky who was well aware of the silent link that should exist between clergy, choristers, and parishioners. He commented: Such sentiments were especially appreciated, and it would be greatly desirable if the creators of church music would more often consider the affections that they must evoke through their music in the soul of those who perform the services. Is not the root of churchly singing the religious uplifting of the soul of the clergy which is inadvertently transmitted to the worshippers.258 What Kastalsky did pay a great deal of attention to was the proper pronunciation, projection, and accentuation of text. He was quite perturbed by the singers' and listeners' lack of understanding of the chant and had to mark the chant in red in order for it to be recognized as it traveled from voice to voice. He was always careful to transmit, not obscure, the meaning of the text, as outlined in his "Method for Expressive Singing of Stichera with the Help of Various Harmonizations." "Here I wanted to show how, with the help of the simplest musical means, one can make the spirit of the text accord with its musical accompaniment. In performing chant-based compositions,"260 it is important not to fall into any type of mannerism or overstatement and to use common sense in addressing the full scope of the composition. Traditionally the znamenny chant, and chant-based compositions in general, are to be transmitted in a smooth, legato manner. Nowhere does the declamation [of the text] break the musical line. A beautiful legato remains the highest law. On such vocal basis, on the principle of such masterful breath discipline, the wonders of the superb piano, and the most masterful diminuendo and crescendo are attainable naturally.261 It is important to keep the following points in mind when singing in the "Moscow" style: o The chant must be emphasized, so that the text is clear, yet not at the expense of other voices that also carry important melodic material intended to enhance the chant and its text o Nuances are not to be manneristic to the point where they take over the text, as they are there only to reinforce the text. Nothing should detract from the words or be exaggerated to the point of deformity o Accent marks are not to be taken literally, in the instrumental sense. They are usually there to bring out a word or syllable, and emphasize the melody so that a particular word of text is featured. It should never be a matter of volume, distortion of sound, shouting, or voice display, as that obscures the text. What it really is is a slight emphasis of the text, not an accent on a pitch o We must use common sense in interpreting the suggestions that appear in the score. For instance, ff or any kind of loudness should be carefully studied as one pertaining to the sacred rather than the secular realm. An immediate impact is to be avoided at all cost and an "inner" ff (with elan) cultivated, rich in growth of sound. Each singer should learn to limit his sound to singing so that it never reaches the point of screaming. A choir must practice individual as well as collective control of sound and volume, and determine its limits according to its vocal capability.262 It is very easy to cross the line to a secular forte, as that is what we are conditioned to in the twentieth century. A sacred forte (also referred to in this study as inner forte) is yet to be developed and cultivated. o The conductor's task is to study each part, both separately and in conjunction with the full texture, and determine where are the points of gravity and tension and how they can be best balanced to create a meaningful whole. It is up to each of us to use the gift that God gave us to the best of our potential, whether it is singing in the church or embroidering a cloth for an icon, etc. If we asked the question, "In what way can I be of service," there would be no need to use money to lure people to contribute in whatever capacity. An honest look at one's conscience, realizing the natural gifts we have been endowed with, will point us in the direction of improvement in serving the Church. Prior to singing, for instance, one should examine one's voice and the sound it emits. In what way can it be improved? Kastalsky mentioned the problem with something as simple as, "Lord have mer-" sudden break as one runs out of breath - and finally, after a deep breath "cy." This is very common today in our churches, both in Russia and abroad. He added: "One must first work on breathing, silently, before attempting to sing."263 He said that the first step in singing in the church is to develop one's voice, making it suitable to sing the long-winded melodies of our heritage. It should be a prerequisite to learning Tones, which he considered to be the foundation of Russian Church music.264 Today, something as fundamental as taking voice lessons with a reputable voice teacher, who emphasizes breath control, is the first step to the churchly sacred type of singing we are all aspiring for. Fascinating are the glimpses we have of Kastalsky's personality and his performing (conducting) style: …pensive, meek appearance… Kastalsky gave the impression of a weak conductor, his gestures were sluggish. When dealing with unexpected rhythms, it seems that he leaves the singers to chance, but in the light gestures of his hand and in the fixed concentrated look on his face, singers read his thoughts clearly. The singing on the left kliros is much calmer and clearer. As a conductor Kastalsky is full of inner energy… His emotional world is deeper than most… Smolensky has moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg and the courtyard is completely empty… with this move whithers Kastalsky's creative power for new compositions.274 Let us end with Kastalskys own words, a propos today and for all to keep in mind: Often singers sing thus, "Lord have mer-" here all their air has come out, they breathe in the middle of the word, then - "cy." That is very poor and incorrect… You must learn how to breathe properly before you start singing.275 Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (1877-1944), a highly gifted and prolific276 composer and son of a choir director, was also guided by Smolensky, along with Taneyev and Ippolitov-Ivanov at the Moscow Conservatory, where from 1920 Chesnokov taught choral conducting. Chesnokov's compositions,277 with approximately one-third based on chant and others free, are rich, well-designed, aesthetic artistic creations as well as true representatives of sacred music in the Russian Orthodox tradition. Despite the highly effective combinations of voices, his use of chant remained the foundation for his compositional thinking. His most productive period was from 1906-1916 when he composed most of his music for the Church in which he developed a national musical language, bearing in mind the unique features of the Russian voice. He was faithful to the chants which in turn dictated the form and texture of the composition. He often presented a variety of treatments of the c.f. migrating from voice to voice, often doubling the chant in two or more voices at various intervals in parallel motion, and altering the interval of transposition of chant thus creating contrasting tonal areas. The free asymmetrical rhythm was preserved and the more syllabic the chant, the more homophonic the texture, the more melismatic the chant, the more polyphonic the setting. He did not hesitate to give the chant to the basses and to use the bass voice melodically. His voice leading can be seen as unconventional, with cross relations, parallel augmented fourths or even occasional clashes of pitches such as a sharp against a natural as well as chords with added or super-imposed thirds. Motivic development or transformation of thematic material is seldom used; the chant remains mostly intact. The works scored for smaller choir usually keep the same texture throughout, whereas in the large-scale works he seldom ever keeps the same sonority, constantly varying the timbres. The chant melody was often doubled at various intervals in octaves, thirds, sixths, or tenths, and divisi was used for a rich sense of completeness in sound, especially when added to their parallel fifths. After 1910, Taneyev's influence manifested itself in occasional uses of imitation and fugato sections, with phrases becoming more symmetrical than in earlier works.278 Chesnokov's main stylistic characteristic is a lucid texture, where a clear projection of text remains the principal objective. Chesnokov is also known for truly understanding the essence of an unaccompanied choir and for writing what is to this day considered to be a most valuable textbook on conducting and a capella singing, The Choir and Choir Conducting, which he completed in 1930.279 It was first published in 1940, then in 1952 and 1961.280 Writing did not come easy to Chesnokov (it rarely does to anyone) and many of us can understand his sincere statement: The moment I begin to write, the pen in my hand transforms itself into a heavy crow-bar and I sink deeply to the bottom with all my thoughts and deductions.281 The result of his sincerity is that any choir director genuinely seeking to understand Orthodox singing can now be eternally grateful for every word Chesnokov wrote, especially in the unabridged original Russian version. It is in Chesnokov's distinctive language that we find the subtleties needed to enlighten us today. On the very first page of his book, he defines the ideal sound of an a capella choir and that "inner" forte our generation is so fervently seeking to recreate, in a statement each choir director should cherish and post in his choir loft: Let us attempt to imagine the sound of such a choir: calm but expansive and full of sound are the chords, like waves, smoothly cascading on us; we are fascinated by the direct, resonant sound and the captivating blend of all voices in one chord: we do not hear in this unified sonority not only individual singers, but even individual parts of the choir, all have merged together and evened out, in order to create the wonderful sound of a chord. Stunning is the wholeness, the monolithic character of such a sonority: the choir, with its many singers becomes a unified living organism. The chords-waves begin to grow, get bigger and finally they reach enormous might. In this most difficult process of growth of sound, in this powerful choral forte is preserved all that togetherness, completeness, and at the same time is felt such airy weightlessness, as if the choir did not make the slightest effort to achieve this expansion of sound, this mighty, sonorous forte.282 Indeed, Chesnokov's main objective was to demonstrate balance, not only between parts, but within each part, ultimately leading to the choir sounding as one, and, in essence, resulting in a perfect vehicle for transmitting the sacred text. He proceeds with technical means to achieve that balance, from the proper singing of intervals283 to developing pitch intonation, breath control, form and phrasing, nuances, etc. Live nuances give expression. Expression is the soul of the performance.284 It is that soul and thus, its textual message, that we miss in our churches today: The lack of ensemble [balanced togetherness] destroys a choral sonority.285 If there is no ensemble, there is no choir, only soloists. No wonder singers do not feel the need to come to rehearsals, they have not been led to understand how important they are to the resulting sound! Once a conductor understands the techniques outlined by Chesnokov, transmission becomes a relentless lifelong aspiration which will translate into the true function of singing in our churches, that is, delivery of the holy text. In Part II of The Choir and Choir Conducting,286 Chesnokov outlines some of the most important aspects of learning and preparation for singing, including the choir director's perception of the individual idiosyncrasies of each singer.287 Using his ideas and incorporating them into our own choirs, large or small, we can begin our quest for improvement. The following applies to the various steps that need to be taken on an individual basis by choir directors and singers, prior to their appearance at a rehearsal: o An overall study of the composition, dividing it into sections that correspond to both textual and musical forms. o Texture analysis, identifying homophonic vs. contrapuntal writing, in order to understand the position of the principal melody (or chant) within that texture. o Phrase analysis, dividing the work into motivic and thematic entities, understanding their relationship to text. o Harmonic analysis, focusing on pivotal chords, modulations, and any unusual shifts of tonality. o Study of intonation and practice of important/difficult intervals in order to maintain pitch. o Singing through all parts in order to understand the work better. o Identification of the role of nuances and their relationship to characterization of text. In cases where dynamic markings are not present, an exploration of their possible existence and relevance to text. The choir director's duty is to fully understand the composition, have it entirely memorized. Plan out all nuances prior to coming to rehearsal, always keeping in mind the role of the composition within the service, balance of timbres, etc., so that the singing enhances, rather than distracts from, the meaning of the text. Rehearsal procedures for choir directors: o Be sure to always warm-up the choir with exercises. o Have a few compositions ready to work on during rehearsal. o Select the first composition. Review a particular aspect of the above briefly. The amount of time spent speaking will depend on the musical competence of the singers and their analytical ability. It is best to introduce the choir to the above analytical way of thinking gradually, on a weekly basis, and work with a number of different types of compositions rather than try to address all of the above at once in one composition. o Conductor should prepare the exact points he wants to address and limit his speaking to a couple of minutes, making sure that he has the singers' undivided attention at all times. Critical message to conductors today: Do not be verbose/talkative with the choir: say only that which is essential and will bring practical benefit. Remember that wordiness tires a choir: restrict yourself in gestures and in words.288 o Once the preparatory remarks have been made, the actual singing begins. The moment when the conductor moves to the podium should be treated with reverence. When you direct the choir, always be elevated, if only slightly: the lack of elevation weakens a performance 289 o Work briefly on problem spots, moving from part to part290 (what the present author labels as the mosaic approach), then connect two or three parts, never allowing anyone to vegetate in their seat for too long, learn to involve the entire choir even when working with one part, as it is the cooperation of all that will lead to the final sound. o The use of a musical instrument, such as the piano, should be minimal and only to demonstrate a certain intervallic problem or to verify pitch during the initial stages of learning a composition. It is futile to play the work on the piano, as the sound and musical subtleties produced are not at all that which an a capella choir is striving for in the first place.291 It is best to train the choir to sing in tune in the natural, rather than tempered manner. o Let the choir build the composition mosaically, piece by piece. The gradual discovery of the whole after working on different sections keeps the choir's growing interest in rehearsals and contributes to an eagerness to create the final product. A few rehearsals will be necessary before the choir can sing a composition in its entirety. o Mistakes have to be corrected immediately, so as not to become a built-in part of the sound. o Focus on intervals. Their relationship to intonation should be constant, at all rehearsals, as it trains a choir to stay on pitch. Work on specific chords and their intonation, especially pivotal, chromatic or modulatory chords. To recognize the existence of such chords, it is imperative for a conductor to be well-versed in music theory. o Diction should be a constant focus, along with proper rendering of vowels and consonants while singing. Avoid stressing the "s" and "sh" words. o Each part must sound as one in unison, a unison in tune! Then the same with two parts, etc. until the entire choir sounds as one! o Establish breathing procedures and patterns. Those have to be identified by the conductor after considerable amount of thought and preferably not changed during rehearsals as it confuses singers. Note: Today, we often deliberate about breath marks at rehearsals. The conductor is solely responsible for such decisions after thoughtful study of the work prior to rehearsal. Moreover, it is preferable to train the choir to recognize and observe the breath marks in a conductor's hand rather than to write/add them impulsively on the written page. By discussing breath marks during rehearsals, we defeat the purpose of developing sensitivity to a conductor's hand/gestures. This was not so much an issue then as it is in our choir lofts today. We must rid ourselves of the habit of deliberating upon breath marks at length during rehearsals, fighting over "when and where." Singers should develop sensitivity to breathing with conductor's gestures rather than adding them on the written page. Note: No energy at all should be wasted in deliberating whether or not a conductor should correct a singer; and vice versa, singers should not waste their energy on resisting the instructions of the conductor. Let us put an end to the devastating era of singers leaving the choir loft in an infantile fit of anger after having been told to tone down their sound. It has only brought us to the downfall of Russian Orthodox singing we are experiencing today. We must keep in mind that the responsibility of the "final product" rests with the conductor and, most important, all are responsible to ensure the best possible resulting sound in the church. If the choir sings poorly, do not blame the choir but blame only yourself.292 o Address nuances very carefully as they are there to enhance the words. Again, the responsibility for the resulting sound rests entirely with the conductor who must come to rehearsals totally prepared to explain them to the choir. Never should any decision concerning interpretation be voiced by a singer. Unity of sound reinforces the service, and that can only be achieved if the choir director takes full responsibility for his actions, and cultivates a sense of duty aspiring for a better sound. The liberal "democratic" voicing of opinion leads to chaos, undermines respect for the conductor, and weakens the entire process. Remember that you are the master of the finished product: conscientious admittance of your responsibility will help you overcome many difficulties.293 o Take the mosaic approach to rehearsing nuances, reaching out for the right sound, one section at a time. o First work on sections that are either pp or ff, separately. Must be especially cautious with ff which are most critical to control as singers are focusing on volume and are not as aware of resulting sounds. o Then work on gradual nuances, cresc and dim. A cresc is often accompanied with a slight acceleration of tempo, and a dim with a slight broadening of tempo. Teamwork is critical and all must collaborate closely to properly balance the growth (or decline) of sound in each part. o When the choir has mastered separate sections, then start putting them together and work on larger and larger portions, always with the purpose of improvement in mind, never just for the sake of "running through it" [as many conductors do today]. o Each time the work is sung, it must be done with fervor and choristers must never lose sight of the fact that a process of evolution and gradual striving for excellence is at stake. o After the initial fundamental process of learning, comes the artistic, on a higher plane. It is recommended that the music be put aside temporarily and a meticulous study of text take place, with all its images, motion, and purpose. This, in a sense, serves as a process of evaluation of the entire work and it brings the singing to a much higher level of performance, as well as unifies the choristers in their mission. o During the process of textual analysis, determine its weightier portions, its climactic points, and relate them to the musical design. Here it is imperative for the choir director to clearly formulate and transmit his thinking musically, a stage which ideally, elevates the performance beyond its technical profile. To be continued. Note: The article above, edited by Holy Trinity Monastery, is one installment in a series of extracts from the original book, Russian Liturgical Choral Aesthetics: Its Past in Tradition and Present in Ruins, by Olga Dolskaya, Associate Professor at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri, Kansas City. The extracts published here contain the main historical section of the original book and only some important excerpts from the analysis and interpretation of specific Liturgical compositions. The full version of the book, including cassette tapes, may be ordered from: Olga Dolskaya The Conservatory of Music University of Missouri Kansas City, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO 64110-2499 or by e-mail at AckerlyO@umkc.edu FOOTNOTES: [Gaps in the footnote numbers are due to the omitted interpretations and analysis of recordings supplied with the full version of the book. Ed.] 234) For a history of the School and its Choir, see V. Metallov, The Synodal School of Church Singing in the Past and Present (in Russian), (Moscow, 1911), and V. Metallov, "Synodal, Former Patriarchal Singers," The Russian Musical Gazette (in Russian), (1901). 235) See V. Morosan, "Stepan Vasilyevich Smolensky (1848-1909): The Guiding Light of the Russian Orthodox Musical Renaissance," Orthodox Church Music 2 (1985). 236) I. von Gardner, Bogosluzhebnoe penie, vol. 2, p. 412. 237) N. Findeisen, "Stepan Vasilievich Smolensky," Musical Antiquity (in Russian), no. 5 (St.Petersburg: 1911), p. 6. 238) S. Smolensky, "On Bell Ringing in Russia," The Russian Musical Gazette (in Russian), nos. 9-10 (1907), p. 275. 240) S. Smolensky, "On Bell Ringing," p. 266. 241) Olga Dolskaya, "Reflections on Russian Orthodox Church Music," Orthodox Life, no. 1 (1996). 242) Thanks to Smolensky's spending a good portion of his life searching for these manuscripts, we can now have at least a glimpse at Russia's rich heritage in the collection partially housed at the Historical Museum in Moscow. Pavel Chesnokov wrote: "Smolensky, besides his great work in the School and with the Choir, also collected old manuscripts of church music. For this purpose, he was often sent by the Holy Synod on journeys to monasteries and abbeys, from which he gathered his main materials. He collected about two thousand manuscripts, and each manuscript is a thick book in wooden bindings covered with leather. His profound knowledge in this area permitted him to describe each manuscript in complete detail. He succeeded in penetrating quite deeply into the past, reaching, apparently, back to the eleventh century. In the first months of the revolution, the School and the Choir were liquidated and the library of ancient church music manuscripts, according to hearsay, was thrown into the basement of the Moscow Historical Museum." Letter to Alfred Swan, November 8, 1935. M. Velimirovic, trans. and ed. Slavonic and Western Music (UMI Research Press: Ann Arbor), p. 264. 243) N. Findeisen, "S.V. Smolensky," Musical Antiquity (in Russian), p. 23. 244) N. Findeisen, "S.V. Smolensky," p. 24. 245) N. Findeisen, "S.V. Smolensky," pp. 31-40. 246) P. Chesnokov, in a letter to Alfred Swan, November 8, 1935. M. Velimirovic, "Some Letters of Pavel Chesnokov in the United States," Slavonic and Western Music, ed. Malcolm H. Brown (UMI Research Press), p. 264. 247) See Kompaneisky's article in Novoe vremia, April 27 (1909) which is perhaps more of a misunderstanding than criticism of Smolensky's intentions, and Smolensky's rebuttal in Novoe vremia, May 20 (1909). In reading such debates full of needless accusations published in some newspaper, one cannot help but think how destructive they can be to our church, and how precious our time on earth is. If they only knew then that only a few years later, the revolution would put an end to any such debates! 248) For information on Kastalsky in English, see: S. Beckwith. Aleksandr Dmitrievich Kastal'skii (1856-1926) and the Search for a Native Russian Choral Style. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1969. For Kastalsky's own writing taken from his "O moiei muzykal'noi kariere I moi mysli o tserkovnoi muzyke," Muzykal'nyi sovremennik (1915), which is used extensively in the present study, see S.W. Pring's translation: Kastalsky, A. "My Musical Career and my Thoughts on Church Music," The Musical Quarterly, XI, no. 2 (1925). 249) In his writings, Kastalsky mentions that Stepan Vasilievich knew, as a director, how to poddavat' zharu (give some heat [get excited about a new composition]) but was cautious about incorporating Kastalsky's innovative and peculiar compositions at the Assumption Cathedral. Kastalsky, "My Musical Career and my Thoughts on Church Music" in Musical Contemporary (in Russian), (1915), p. 34. 250) See A. Kastalsky, Practical Guide to Expressive Singing of Stichera With the Help of Various Harmonizations (in Russian), (Moscow, 1909), p. 32. 251) He wrote a study on Russian folk polyphony, The Particulars of the National-Russian Musical System (in Russian), 1st edition, 1923. Reprint edition, ed. by T. Popova (Moscow: 1961). 252) Kastalsky, "My Musical Career and my Thoughts on Church Music," Musical Contemporary (in Russian), pp. 43-44. Trans. by S.W. Pring in "My Musical Career and Thoughts on Church Music," The Musical Quarterly, XI, no. 2 (1925), p. 245. 253) D. Kastalsky, "My Musical Career and my Thoughts on Church Music," Musical Contemporary (in Russian) (1915), 43. 254) Kastalsky, "My Musical Career," pp. 43-44. 255) Kastalsky, "My Musical Career," p. 44. 256) Ibid, p. 35. 257) Ibid, p. 35. 258) Ibid, pp. 35-36. 260) For discussion and quotations on various aspects of performance practice first see, V. Morosan, Choral Performance, pp. 280-295. 261) Dresden Review of Concert by the Synodal Choir, quoted in The Russian Musical Gazette (in Russian), nos. 30-31, (1910), p. 614. 262) Most important is to develop one's voice to its full potential. Consider it a gift to our Creator to take voice lessons which will enable a singer to have a number of pitches he can count on as being fully developed, with a rich, whole sound they can then donate to the choir. That will eliminate straining and improper use of the voice that lead to shrill or unpleasant sounds so common today. 263) A. Kastalsky, Generally Attainable Self-taught Course of Church Singing (in Russian), (Moscow: 1980), p.5. 264) A. Kastalsky, Generally Attainable, p. 26. 274) N. Kompaneisky, "A.D. Kastalsky," The Russian Musical Gazette (in Russian), nos. 13-14 (1902), p. 360, 363. 275) D. Kastalsky, Generally Attainable Self-taught Course of Church Singing (in Russian), (Moscow: 1909), p. 5. 276) Chesnokov estimated that he composed approximately 500 religious works and 100 secular. In M. Velimirovic, "Some Letters of Pavel Chesnokov in the United States," Slavonic and Western Music (Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 255. 277) For a list of composition and further study (in English) of Chesnokov, see Harry Elzinga, The Sacred Choral Compositions of Pavel Grigorevich Chesnokov (1877-1944), Ph.D Diss: Indiana University, 1970. 278) H. Elzinga, The Sacred Choral Compositions, p. 200. 279) Although submitted, Chesnokov's book was rejected twice by Muzgiz. The reason given to him was: "…the book is apolitical. I was told both orally and in writing that it is a very valuable book but in the USSR, to write apolitical books is not allowed." Milos Velimirovic, "Some Letters of Pavel Chesnokov in the United States," Slavonic and Western Music, ed. by Malcolm H. Brown (Oxford University Press: 1985), p. 255. 280) For English translation of Part I, see John Stuhr-Rommereim, Pavel Chesnokov's 'The Choir and How to Direct It': A Translation and Analysis of Part I. Ph.D Diss: University of Kansas, 1990. 281) Chesnokov, P. The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), (Moscow: 1961), p. 13. 282) P. Chesnokov, The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), (Moscow: 1961), p. 21. 283) Chesnokov notes that it is most important for singers to have a solid command of theory and intervals, The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), p. 85. 284) The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), p. 108. 285) The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), p. 24. 286) English translation of Part II by Rommereim is forthcoming. Also see, John Christian Rommereim, "The Choir and How to Direct It: Pavel Chesnokov's Magnum Opus" Choral Journal 38:7 (February 1998), pp. 29-42. 288) The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), p. 238. 289) Ibid p. 237. 290) Ibid, p. 163 291) It is important to note here that instruments should be avoided and used only to demonstrate a particular point, as a last resort. Choirs should not practice with instruments as that has no benefit in a cappella singing and will only detract from the real goal which is to develop the right intonation and sound, without relying on musical instruments. 292) The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), p. 237 293) The Choir and How to Direct It (in Russian), p. 237