What kind of temple chant was called a big chant. Znamenny chant is a sound-embodied prayer. From the book: "Temple, rituals, worship"

Meaning of Znamenny chant in the Dictionary of Musical Terms

Znamenny chant

The system of ancient Orthodox cult melodies. the name comes from the ancient Slavic "banner" - a singing sign. banners (or hooks) were used to record tunes. znamenny chant has various variants associated with the forms of church service. the text could be sung with various melodic devices, which provided a significant creative initiative for church choirs.

Dictionary of musical terms. 2012

Spiritual component of Znamenny chant

It is not possible to understand what Znamenny chant is and appreciate its beauty without referring to the spiritual significance of chant in Russian Orthodox culture. Samples of Znamenny melodies are the fruits of the highest spiritual contemplation of their creators. The meaning of znamenny singing is the same as that of the icon - the liberation of the soul from passions, detachment from the visible material world, therefore the old Russian church unison is devoid of the chromatic intonations that are needed when expressing human passions.

An example of a chant based on the Znamenny chant:
S. Trubachev “Grace of the world”

Thanks, the Znamenny chant sounds majestic, dispassionate, strict. The melody of monophonic prayer chant is characterized by smooth movement, noble simplicity of intonations, a clearly defined rhythm, and completeness of construction. The chant is in perfect harmony with the spiritual text being performed, and singing in unison focuses the attention of the singers and listeners on the words of the prayer.

From the history of the znamenny chant

Znamenny notation example

To reveal more fully what Znamenny chant is, an appeal to its origins will help. Znamenny originates from the ancient Byzantine liturgical practice, from which Russian Orthodoxy borrowed the annual circle of osmosis (the distribution of church hymns into eight singing tones). Each voice has its own bright melodic turns, each voice is designed to reflect different moments of a person’s spiritual states: repentance, humility, tenderness, delight. Each melody is associated with a specific liturgical text and is tied to a specific time of the day, week, year.

In Rus', the chants of Greek singers gradually changed, absorbing the features of the Church Slavonic language, Russian musical intonations and metrorhythms, acquiring greater melodiousness and smoothness.

Types of Znamenny chant

When wondering what Znamenny chant is and what varieties of it are known, one should look at it as a single musical system that actually embraces famous, or pillar (eight voices form a set of melodies "pillar", cyclically repeated every 8 weeks), travel and demestvenny chants . All this musical matter is united by a structure based on chants - short melodic turns. The sound material is built on the basis of the liturgical rank and the church calendar.

Travel chant is a solemn, festive singing, which is a complicated and transformed form of pillar chant. The travel chant is characterized by strictness, firmness, and rhythmic virtuosity.

Of the named stylistic varieties of znamenny chant, the demest chant is not included in the book of Oktoih (“octophonic”). It is distinguished by the solemn nature of the sound, a festive style is presented, they sing the most important liturgical texts, hymns of hierarchal worship, weddings, and consecration of churches.

At the end of the XVI century. the “great znamenny chant” was born, which became the highest point in the development of Russian znamenny singing. Extended and chanted, smooth, unhurried, equipped with an abundance of extensive melismatic constructions with rich intra-syllable chants, the “great znamenny” sounded at the most significant moments of the service.

Znamenny chant, the main type of liturgical singing of Ancient Rus'. It got its name from the non-recognizable signs - “banners” (see Hooks) used to record it. The source for the Znamenny notation was the Paleo-Byzantine (so-called Kualen) notation; From Byzantine liturgical practice, the principle of organizing texts, chants, and intonational formulas was also borrowed - the system of osmosis (see also Voice). Znamenny chant of the 11th-17th centuries is a strict vocal monody; it is characterized by a modal modal organization, which has not yet received a satisfactory scientific explanation (most of the chants of the 11th-16th centuries cannot be deciphered, the basis of the melodics of the 17th century is the everyday scale, the steps of which are reflected in the notation by means of marks or signs). The musical form corresponds to the structure of liturgical texts (text-musical form); the irregular rhythm of the chants correlates differently with the prayer verse. There are syllabic (syllable-sound), neumatic (2-4 sounds per syllable) and melismatic (wide vocalization, characteristic of especially solemn moments of worship) types of text-to-melody correlation. The most extended chant turns - the so-called faces and fits - usually refer to the keywords of the text.

While preserving the Byzantine liturgical canon in Old Russian singing, intonational differences between the tunes and their Greek prototypes were early revealed, reflecting the specifics of translated texts into the Church Slavonic language and local features. Greek-Russian bilingualism was sometimes preserved with alternate antiphonal singing for two kliros. At the same time, the innovations of late Byzantine church singing (for example, the interval certainty of notation) were not reflected in Znamenny chant, which remained faithful to the most ancient samples. The stability of the melodic appearance of the Znamenny chant is ensured by the principle of singing “on similar”: most of the chants are sung according to well-known patterns, while maintaining the semantic and structural supports of the chant-model. The main liturgical books - Irmologion, Octoechos, Lenten Triodion and Color Triodion, Everyday Life, Holidays - were sung in a banner chant. In the 11th-14th centuries, both written and oral forms of znamenny chant transmission were equally common, many singing books of this period were not fully notated. In the 15th-17th centuries, as iotated singing books were typified, znamenny notation improved, reflecting the richest fund of melody-chants, the connection and sequence of which are subject to certain rules.

In the process of the development of Znamenny chant, several of its varieties arose. The small znamenny chant has preserved the syllabic pronunciation of the text, which has been common in liturgical singing since the 11th century. The large znamenny chant of the melismatic type arose in the 16th century; among its creators are chanters Fyodor Krestyanin, Savva Rogov and their students. Large znamenny chant is distinguished by wide intra-syllable chant, free variability of the melodic pattern (alternating stepwise movement and jumps). Znamenny chant served as a source of travel chant and local chant; The development of signs of Znamenny notation underlies the way and demestvenny notations. Znamenny chant melodies were used in polyphonic line singing, partes singing (three- and four-part harmonizations).

In 1772, the Synodal Printing House published notolinear monophonic singing books with chants of Znamenny and other chants, which served as the basis for adaptations and harmonizations of the 19th-20th centuries. M. I. Glinka, M. A. Balakirev, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. I. Tchaikovsky addressed the harmonization of the Znamenny chant; new principles for processing the znamenny chant, found by A. D. Kastalsky and based on Russian folk song polyphony, influenced the work of P. G. Chesnokov, A. V. Nikolsky, A. T. Grechaninov, S. V. Rachmaninov (Liturgy , All-Night Vigil, etc.). Znamenny chant is used in an abbreviated form in modern church singing - sometimes as a monody, but more often as the intonational basis of everyday polyphony, as a source of polyphonic arrangements and spiritual and musical compositions. In the worship of the Old Believers, the znamenny chant sounds like a traditional monody.

Lit .: Voznesensky I. About church singing of the Orthodox Greek-Russian Church. K., 1887. Issue. 1: Big Znamenny Chant; Smolensky S. The ABC of the Znamenny Singing of the Elder Alexander Mezenets. Kazan, 1888; Swan A. The znameny chant of the russian church // The Musical Quarterly. 1940 Vol. 26; Brazhnikov M. Ways of development and tasks of deciphering the Znamenny chant of the XII-XVIII centuries. L.; M., 1949; he is. New monuments of Znamenny chant. L., 1967; he is. Ancient Russian theory of music. L., 1972; he is. Articles about ancient Russian music. L., 1975; he is. Faces and feats of Znamenny chant. L., 1984; he is. Russian singing paleography. St. Petersburg, 2002; Belyaev V. Music // History of culture of ancient Rus'. M.; L., 1951. T. 2; he is. Old Russian musical writing. M., 1962; Skrebkov S. Russian choral music of the 17th - early 18th centuries. M., 1969; Uspensky N. Old Russian singing art. 2nd ed. M., 1971; he is. Samples of ancient Russian singing art. 2nd ed. L., 1971; Problems of history and theory of ancient Russian music. L., 1979; History of Russian music. M., 198Z. T. 1: Keldysh Yu. Ancient Rus' of the XI-XVII centuries; Lozovaya I. E., Shevchuk E. Yu. Church singing // Orthodox Encyclopedia. M., 2000. T.: Russian Orthodox Church (bibl.); Vladyshevskaya T. F. Musical culture of Ancient Rus'. M., 2006. See also the literature under the articles Osmoglasie, Chant.

T. F. Vladyshevskaya, N. V. Zabolotnaya.

Znamenny singing (banner chant) - the main type of ancient Russian liturgical singing. The name comes from non-meaningful signs - banners (other Russian "banner", that is, a sign) used to record it.

Various types of znamenny chant and the corresponding types of banners are known - kondakar, pillar, demestvenny, traveling.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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One of the oldest types of Znamenny singing. The name comes from the word "kontakion" - one of the liturgical hymns. The notation comes from the Paleo-Byzantine and was borrowed in Rus' in the 9th century. It is characterized by the presence of melodically developed elements, special melismatics. The heyday of kondakar singing in Rus' falls on the 11th-12th centuries, by the 14th century it disappears from the Russian liturgical tradition in connection with the change of the liturgical Charter from Studian to Jerusalem and the corresponding change in the corpus of liturgical books. It is found in kondakars, the basis of which is kontakia and ikos in honor of the holidays of the entire period of the church year and in memory of saints. The most famous written sources containing chants recorded in kondakar chant are the Typographical Charter, Blagoveshchensky kondakar, Trinity kondakar.

Pillar chant

The main type of znamenny chant, with which practically the entire corpus of books of the Russian liturgical tradition is sung. The name comes from the word "pillar" - the eight-week cycle Oktoeh, a book sung in this chant and became widespread in Rus' in the last third of the 15th century, in connection with the adoption of the Jerusalem Charter (cf. the gospel pillars of Oktoeh). Pillar chant has become widespread and is the most common in the Russian monophonic liturgical tradition at the present time. The chant consists of chants (kokiz), fit and faces, which in turn consist of smaller units - hooks (banners). It has an osmotic system, i.e. each voice corresponds to a certain set of coquises, as well as a set of fit and persons characterizing the voice. Fita and faces are long melodic phrases that the chanter had to know by heart. In the modern tradition, they are often written with a fractional banner and do not have a secretly closed record, that is, one that would not allow the singer to read the melody from the sheet, but only sing it by heart. The composition of the pillar chant includes aneneiki - special ornaments of chants, a kind of Byzantine kratim. Pillar chants are present not only in liturgical chants, but also in everyday chants. The most common chants that have come into use are kokizas of the 6th voice. In addition to liturgical books, special Singing ABCs, Kokizniki and Fitniki were created to study notation.

Travel chant

A singing style common in ancient Russian musical culture along with Znamenny chant and demest chant. The origin of the name is a contentious issue in medieval studies. Originated in the last quarter of the 15th century. Until the middle of the XVI century. was used in Stihirar, then also in Everyday life. At first, it was recorded in znamenny notation (“pillar path”) and played a secondary role in comparison with the repertoire of znamenny chant. At the end of the XVI century. travel chant became an independent, developed branch of the ancient Russian singing art, distinguished by greater solemnity, chant and smoothness. The melody of track chant is formed by a set of canonical melodic formulas subordinate to the system of osmosis. The pinnacle of the development of travel chant is the end of the 16th - 1st half. 17th century At the beginning of the XVII century. the first musical travel alphabets were created, a specific terminology arose that determined the belonging of chants to travel chant (“put”, “putnoy”, “way”). In the 2nd half of the XVII century. the travel chant began to fall into disuse. A small number of travel tunes recorded "by the pillars" have been preserved in the Old Believer manuscripts of the 18th-20th centuries.

Demestvenny chant

In the 19th century, znamenny singing was gradually supplanted by "partes" (polyphonic). This meant the actual rejection of the basic principles of the Znamenny monody. At the same time, some composers made efforts to incorporate "znamenny" melodies into partesnoe usage, harmonizing them in accordance with the rules of Western European harmony. At present, Znamenny chant chants are usually notated both in the traditional "hook" and in the round, "Italian" notation, although a number of musicologists recognize the latter as incorrect (to convey the ancient monody). A compromise solution is to record the Znamenny chant in the form of the so-called "double-signners". With this method of writing, the use of znamenny and "classical" five-line notation is combined. There are several varieties of hook writing, depending on the type of chant, the time and place of origin of the tradition, and may be characterized by special marks (see Cinnabar marks).
The greatest masters of Znamenny singing: Savva Rogov, Fyodor Krestyanin (Christian), Ivan Nos, Markell Beardless and Stefan Golysh, who worked in the era of Vasily III and Ivan IV The Terrible, Metropolitan Varlaam and Isaiah Lukoshko, whose work falls on the era of Troubled rule . A great master was a representative of the Usolsk school Thaddeus Subbotin, who worked in the Commission for the Reform of Church Singing of Patriarch Nikon. One of the best specialists in the field of Znamenny singing and the creator of the fundamental work "The ABC of Znamenny Chanting" (1688), which is a complete exposition of the theory of Znamenny singing, was Alexander Mezenets.

The fate of Znamenny singing in the Synodal period

Starting from the end of the 17th century - the beginning of the 18th century, hook notation began to be replaced by Western notation, and Russian Znamenny singing began to be replaced by Western European, Latin singing (see True Speech). Unanimous znamenny singing was considered the property of the "schismatics" (Old Believers).
Many melodies of Znamenny singing in the 18th - early 20th centuries underwent polyphonic processing in the traditions of Western European harmonic tonality; among the authors of the arrangements are P. I. Turchaninov, A. F. Lvov, P. I. Tchaikovsky, A. D. Kastalsky, S. V. Rachmaninov, P. G. Chesnokov, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and others.
Until now, the traditions of Znamenny singing are observed by the Old Believers. There are specialists who revive Znamenny singing in the new rite of the Russian Orthodox Church, for example, the Valaam Monastery (Russian Orthodox Church co-religionists use Znamenny singing in worship).

The revival of Znamenny singing in the Russian Orthodox Church

Specialists who are reviving Znamenny singing today include, for example, employees of the Department of Ancient Russian Singing Art of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. In particular, a group of musicologists led by Albina Nikandrovna Kruchinina, Florentina Viktorovna Panchenko, Natalya Viktorovna Mosyagina, Ekaterina Vasilievna Pletneva, Ekaterina Alexandrovna Smirnova, Tatyana Viktorovna Shvets, Natalya Vasilievna Ramazanova and others, is engaged in the study and development of issues of ancient Russian church singing. In Moscow, issues of ancient notation are studied at the Gnesin School, including Galina Andreevna Pozhidaeva, Melitina Makarovskaya, Tatyana Feodosievna Vladyshevskaya, Polina Vladimirovna Terentyeva, Lada Vadimovna Kondrashkova and a number of other well-known musicologists. In St. Petersburg, the Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy also plays an important role, in which there is a direction "Russian singing art", where experts in the field of research and performance of ancient notations such as Ekaterina Igorevna Matveeva, Professor Nina Borisovna Zakharyina, Nadezhda Alexandrovna Shchepkina, Alena Alexandrovna Nikolaeva teach , Elena Anatolyevna Topunova, Irina Valerievna Gerasimova.
The International Festival "Academy of Orthodox Music" is dedicated to the revival of Znamenny singing, organized with the participation of the Department of Ancient Russian Singing Art of the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation and with the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russ Kirill. The content of the Festival includes the Summer School, the purpose of which is the revival of the true historical tradition of Orthodox music, as well as acquaintance with it to the widest range of the public. The summer school of the International Festival "Academy of Orthodox Music" was held in St. Petersburg annually from 2009 to 2015.
In order to "create a public fund of Znamenny chants and software tools for working with them for the sake of reviving Znamenny chant - canonical liturgical singing" in the Russian Orthodox Church, a project called "Fund of Znamenny Chants" (Znamenny Fund) was created. It is an electronic corpus of ancient Russian singing manuscripts.

see also

Notes
1. In the special literature of some researchers of ancient Russian church music, archaic spelling and orthoepy - "chant" (with emphasis on the first syllable) are also used for the word "chant".
2. Solovyov N. F. //
3. This name is preferred by I.A. Gardner (Liturgical singing of the Russian Orthodox Church. Vol. 2, p. 169. Other names for this form of musical notation: “church notation”, “synodal notation”.
4. See, for example, Liber usualis. Tournai, 1950.
5. For more details about the Kiev banner, see: Prot. V. Golovatenko. Notice about the banner of Kiev.
6. See Electronic facsimiles of the first edition of the Octoechos, Everyday life (parts one and two), Holidays, Irmology.
7. Electronic facsimile Abbreviated Usance.
8. Electronic facsimile of the Lenten and color edition of Triodi. The planned publications of the books "Trezvony" and "Requirements" in connection with the infamous political upheavals of the 20th century. did not see the light.
9. An incorrect (but common) spelling is "double banner".
10. Solovyov N. F.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
11. Kataev P.G. Introduction linear notation in Russian state in XVII c., "Altai Old Believer".
12. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
13. B. Kutuzov, On the revival of Znamenny singing in church services, "Journal Moscow Patriarchy", № 11, 1999
14. Pechenkin G. B. Znamenny singing in the Russian Orthodox Church. Ways practical incarnation, Orthodox educational portal "Slovo".
15. Department Old Russian Singing Art SPbGK named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (indefinite)
16. Shvets Tatiana Viktorovna (indefinite) . SPbGK im. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
17. [http://new.choirfestival.ru/academy/ INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL "ACADEMY OF ORTHODOX MUSIC"] (indefinite) . SPbGK im. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
Znamenny singing (hook singing) is a type of church singing, which is based on a monophonic choral performance of the composition. Znamenny singing is also called Orthodox canonical singing due to its antiquity and prevalence in Orthodoxy during the Byzantine Empire, as well as its development within the framework of osmosis.
The very name of Znamenny singing comes from the word "banners" and its synonym "hooks" (hence the hook singing). The fact is that in liturgical books it was customary to designate sound intervals with the help of special signs called “banners” or “hooks”, which were placed above the canonical text. These signs carried information about the melodic turnover (chants, melody). For the singer, such melodic turns formed original patterns that he could use to compose melodies, depending on the time and rank of the service.
Znamenny singing was widespread in Rus' from the 11th to the 17th century. The source of Znamenny chant is Byzantine liturgical practice. In the 17th century, Znamenny singing was replaced by partes. Znamenny chant melodies were used by P.I. Tchaikovsky, S.V. Rachmaninov and others. Now in the Orthodox Church there is an interest in Znamenny singing and its revival.
At present, one can speak of the revival of canonical liturgical singing in the Russian Orthodox Church. Znamenny chant is again heard in many monasteries and parishes, schools of znamenny chant are being organized, congresses of headmen (regents), etc. At the same time, the experience of the practical restoration of znamenny chant shows that a number of misconceptions have accumulated in relation to Russian liturgical singing.
First of all, Znamenny chant is often associated with the Old Believer Church, calling it the singing of schismatics. This is not true. Znamenny singing is the singing of the united Russian Church, which sounded in it for 7 centuries. At its origins stood such ascetics as St. Theodosius of the Caves, such singing was heard by St. Sergius of Radonezh . Liturgical singing was seen as a continuation of monastic prayer work. Only the znamenny chant has completeness - the hook books that have come down to us include a full range of chants, which surprisingly correspond to the service in rhythm, character, duration, since the chant was formed in indissoluble unity with the service.
The second misconception: Znamenny chant is considered one of the styles of music included in the line of evolutionary development of musical styles. As if Znamenny chant had some kind of musical style as its predecessor, and with time it naturally passes into more developed forms, for example, into polyphony. This is also incorrect. Changes in styles in secular music are based primarily on changes in content. But for liturgical singing, the content is invariable, eternal, and in time there is not development, but revelation, approaching the Truth during periods of spiritual upsurge, or distortion, clouding during downturns. The peak points associated with the prayer feat of the Russian Orthodox people were imprinted and fixed in the Znamenny chant. This is Tradition - the collected experience of the great ascetics of the Church, which becomes the property of the entire Church, all its members.
The difference between liturgical singing and music can also be seen in the means used by Znamenny chant. Its main function - a clear and strong pronunciation of the word - dictates the use of monody, the absence of metric pulsation and periodicity in the form. Liturgical singing is characterized by evenness, continuity, corresponding to the constancy of the prayerful feat. There are no actual musical formal effects, climaxes, dynamic and tempo contrasts in it. There is no isolation, completeness, characteristic of a musical work. The hymns are open, included in the whole divine service. The gospel stichera of a large znamenny chant, sounding at the end of a long service, is listened to quite differently from that performed separately. Her perception is prepared by the whole previous sound of the service, and not only melodically. In Sunday Matins, she returns the attention of the worshiper to what has already been experienced - first when reading the Gospel, then when it is repeated-retelling in the exapostilary. Only a special concentrated attention to the Word of God during divine services can explain the very phenomenon of the great znamenny chant.
Another wrong bias in relation to the Znamenny chant is the museum one. Znamenny chant from this point of view is a historically localized phenomenon, which has nothing to do with modern practice. Researchers set the task to accurately reconstruct the performance of past centuries. But at the same time, it is overlooked that liturgical singing is only one plane in the complex integrity of worship, is determined by this integrity and bears its imprint.
With a “museum” look, it is difficult for theorists to distinguish fundamental features from random and unimportant ones, and practitioners begin to look for an archaic “manner”, fall into a stylization that kills Znamenny chant as a means of communion with God. The museum approach completely excludes the continuation of the living tradition of Russian liturgical singing, the possibility of the appearance of new znamenny hymns, such as, for example, canonically sung services to the newly glorified saints are today ...
In the process of development of the Znamenny chant, several types of it arose. pillar Znamenny chant belongs to the neumatic style - there are 2-3, less often 4 tones per syllable (the most typical number of tones in one neumatic banner); there are also melismatic inserts (Fita). It has the richest fund of melodies - chants, the connection and sequence of which obeys certain rules.
The rhythm of the pillared Znamenny chant is varied. He sang the main singing books - Irmologion, Oktoih, Triod, Everyday life, Holidays. Small znamenny chant - syllabic style, recitative - is intended for daily services. He is close to the likes of the old Znamenny chant, found in manuscripts from the 11th century. The large Znamenny chant of the melismatic style originated in the 16th century; among its creators are chanters Fedor Krestyanin, Savva Rogov and their students. The Great Znamenny chant is distinguished by a wide intra-syllable chant, free variability of the melodic pattern (alternation of gradual movement and jumps).
Elena Nechiporenko

What kind of temple chant was called a big chant. Znamenny chant is a sound-embodied prayer. From the book: "Temple, rituals, worship"

Meaning of Znamenny chant in the Dictionary of Musical Terms

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is SIGNED CHANT in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

Spiritual component of Znamenny chant

From the history of the znamenny chant

Types of Znamenny chant

Encyclopedic YouTube

Pillar chant

Travel chant

Demestvenny chant

The fate of Znamenny singing in the Synodal period

The revival of Znamenny singing in the Russian Orthodox Church

see also

Notes