Today, the Orthodox Church is a serious role with church singing. Our worship and church choral singing are directly connected. With it, the Word of God is preached, which forms a special liturgical language (together with temple heft). Church singing is usually divided into two types: unison (one-haired) and multi-voice. The latter implies the separation of votes by parties, and the first is the fulfillment by all chorists of one melody. In Russian temples, as a rule, they sing in parties.

Offord

In the VIII century, eight singing and melodic systems (rationalization) are combined, which comprehensively affect the intellectual and emotional perception of a believer, facing God with a prayer. By the XIV century, this system gained such a large-scale character, which can be comparable only with the icon-painting of the same period and from the depth of prayerful mobility. Theology, church singing, icon and prayer feat are the components of the whole.

Ostressing Osmaraisia

The time of the heyday of church singing in the XVII century coincided with the beginning of the displacement of him from secular art. The system of church oremagism was replaced by brief handles on religious topic. Orthodox religious devotees believe that church singing without rational is impossible.

Church singing

But the Orthodox Church has a sufficient number of musical publications and manuscripts. She has at its disposal the use of church singing, which includes the whole range of liturgical singing. It combines the main chants of Kiev, Greek and bannyal bindings. There are several ways to perform a stimit, in particular, simple and festive. All musical church manuscripts are a document of a church legend, which is considered in Orthodox circles the very first word in controversial issues.

Development of church singing

According to documents of the church tradition, it is easy to trace how church singing developed. Any art has its beginning and flourished. Many religious Orthodox figures today believe that the style of modern icon painting and church singing is just a profanation of liturgical art. In their opinion, this Western style does not correspond (nor in the formal, nor in spiritual terms) of church legend.

Singing collectives

Teams that are engaged in church singing can be three species. The first view is professional singers, but not church. The second is the composition of the people of church, but at best they have relative hearing and voice. The most rare team is a professional church choir. The team of the first type prefers to perform complex works, but the church of this music is such a singers, as a rule, is indifferent, unlike those people who come to the temple for prayer.

Some priests prefer the second type of choir, but often, along with musical non-professionalism, such singers depressing his primitive repertoire.

However, the hope that the teams of the third species are increasingly moving to the execution of works composed by synodal authors, and then even to monastic heads.

For the first time in a hundred years in Moscow in cathedral The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was held the first international congress of regents and the singers of the Russian Orthodox Church. The general flowering congress dedicated to the singing theme was held for the first time in 1917. As a hundred years ago, the issues of preserving the centuries-old traditions of church singing as an integral part of Orthodox worship and one of the oldest monuments of Russian culture were established and discussed.

We asked to comment on the results of this singing forum of the famous regent, Archpriest Mikhail Fortunato, who for many years carried the regent in the temple of all saints and the audit of the Blessed Virgin Mary in London, in the parish of Metropolitan Anthony Surozhsky.

Father Mikhail, what is church singing in the liturgical life of the Church and what tasks are facing resents and singers in the nearest historical perspective?

- Despite the fact that I follow the forum published, but, of course, I fully immersed in this topic of regentic, spending more than 45 years at the head of the Metropolitan Choir in London and participating in the creation and revival of church singing in Russia since 1990. So I take this problem to heart and in Russia, I am very pleased with this that you turned to me.

Sorry I will speak personally about myself, but I somehow thought about those problems that I put Subject Cathedral 1917. The decisions of the special commission on church singing have already been published, and they constitute a certain question for modernity, for those rents that are engaged in their work today.

First of all, it seems important that the church singing is not only music. The singing thought is also a liturgical thought, the legends of fathers. And in this sense, the perfect regent, if you want, there must be a pupil of theological school and, at the same time, the pupil of the music school.

But so far in Russia, in the Russian Church, there is no such school that would prepare these two specialties in one person. This is generally actually the title of the whole topic about what regent is: what is he theologians and what a musician he is. And it seems to me that this is important. I worked with this all my life and would very much walked for the Russian Church to appeal to this aspect of regent life.

By the way, at the past forum there was a performance of my student, Natalia Baluva. She reported on seminars, the content of which was just like "double". Two aspects were studied: theological thought - salvation as faith in God, which is represented in the texts that we sing every day in the church. So that these texts have become in a certain extent "grids" so that they become understandable. And on our seminars, we were very diligently all were engaged.

On the other hand, of course, we were engaged in touch. Solving, I think should be on the basis of church singing. And the harmonization of the sowing should be adjusted in the spirit in which these sneakers are thinking.

Father Mikhail, for his life you met real rents, rents from God. I would like to at least briefly you told readers about themselves, about their rocket manner, about their preferences in choosing a repertoire for execution.

If you want, I can call three. One of them, of course, you know: this is archimandrite Matthew (Mormall), with whom I met during a visit to the Russian Church in the Moscow Theological Academy and in the Lavra.

And I would like to start with Nikolai Mikhailovich Osorgin, who was a permanent, lifelong regent of the Choir of theological institute in Paris, where I studied. And then I remember one of the scenes of the past. This man possessed such hearing that in all her life he did not sing a single fake note. He had a crystal voice of such a purity that I never heard! And so, he led the choir through his voice. Of course, with your hands, but the voice played a big role. And his choir sang always in a natural strictly - wonderful, accurate, musical natural strict. And it attached such a timbre chorus, which cannot be forgotten.

This regent also existed the desire to follow the bargain. Announced sneaks knew badly, but still we sang something and a bannyal scope, in particular, some harmonization of Alexander Kastalsky, who filled us with delight.

Another regent is my father-in-law, Mikhail Ivanovich Foocrit. He was born in 1888, native of Penza, this is a special musical edge of Russia. It was also a person with absolute hearing. He spent his young years in Moscow at the beginning of the century, a hundred years ago. He himself was present at the heyday of the synodal choir. He personally knew Arkhangelsky, he is the witness of the repertoire of the new direction ...

After the emigration of 1920, he already led the choir in Germany and, finally, in London, where I was inherited. This man represented, in my opinion, the most mature thoughts that were introduced in Moscow in the first two decades of the XX century.

And so, with this heritage - the ancient singing of the bannyic - in the harmonization of modern and traditional I was brought up. And on this I built all my life.

I would like my father Mikhail to tell a few words about Metropolitan Antonia (Bloom), with whom you were so many years near? Was he musically formed, what was his preferences in the field of church singing?

Vladyka Anthony against singing was a rather secretive person. As for the music, I know that he did not like his uncle very much. And his uncle was a composer Scriabin. Mother Vladyka, nee Scriabin, was his native sister of Scriabin. Apparently, the Vladyka did notice the music that is impressed by listening to the music of Scriabin, his uncle.

But this, so to speak, "in brackets", because it is his personal story, he never spoke about it. But he had a real musical talent, the presence of which he denied, but who sounded in every worship.

In worship, he uttered words so clearly (and not only clearly) and deep, with such a force that the whole church was filled with this meaning.

For example, he had such an expression of thought when pronouncing the exclamation "Glory to you, who showed us the light! ..", what took for the soul. He pronounced with such a force and with such an arrangement of the word worship that they were understandable to all those present.

I remember the first words of the passionate gospel: he uttered them with such a power of transmission, with such an inner relation that, it seems to me how a musician and a sample of church reading and pronunciation it was undoubtedly gifted over!

And he did not know this himself, but he loved to read the texts. And he passed to us his reverent attitude to the Word: We, Horists, listened to his pronunciation. It, as it were, "went down" on us with his strength of revelation. This is perhaps the main thing that I can say in this regard.

Of course, the Lord had their favorite chants, but he almost did not speak about them. He wanted church singing to turn the soul. So that worship does not interfere with the person begin to God, on the contrary, it led a person to the Creator with filling feelings. In general, the feeling for Metropolitan Anthony was in the center of his relationship and to worship, and to church singing.

With such feelings, with an amazing depth, he said to sermons, with a very enlighted mind, he worried the word speculatively.

In this sense, he influenced the entire community and, of course, on singers!

You will need

• - literature in church-Slavic language (prayers, New Testament, Psalter);
• - notes of those chants that execute your church choir;
• - musical instrument;
• - Dictaphone;
• - a computer.

Instruction

Learn to be a quick reading in church-Slavic language. For this daily, read the houses of prayers and other books in church-Slavic language, practicing in progressing and understanding it.

You will have to not only perform musical works on notes, but also to sing on the texts of the trails, the poem, etc. For glaces in the liturgical. Books such as Mineya, Okechih, chairs were published in the language of communication with God-Church-Slavic.

For proper singing in the church choir - it is also called - to study the tight literacy and solfeggio. If there are little from school lessons of singing in memory, sign up for courses or a circle of church singing for.
There will help to develop a connection between your voice and hearing. About what temples there are such mugs, ask your parish priest or in the diocese.

If you have zero musical training, and the desire to learn the church singing is very large, do not be mistaken. In the absence of courses and circles, refer to the regent of amateur choir. Listening to you, it may be allowed to sing. First of time you will only sing the Ektenni "Lord Pom". Put quietly and listen to the sound of all choir.
(In St. Petersburg, amateur choirs are in the Cathedral of Prince Vladimir (see http://www.vladimirskysobor.ru/klir/ljubitelskij-hor.), in the Kazan Cathedral, in St. Anastasia, the sorry, in Chesmen, in the temple of Seraphim Sarovsky. Men can recommend amateur choir at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).
Do not attempt to independently explore rationaires, as in each temple of the moods differ slightly. It is better to immediately learn the entry of that temple in which you are going to carry the clearance.

To learn from church singing, in the choir stand next to more experienced. It is better that he sang you in the ear. Carefully follow the way he sings, repeat your batch for him to learn it.
This will help you to understand the main moves of your party, understand its logic. And in the future, it will allow to sing more confidently, consciously. When working with a choir, exhaust the accuracy of getting into your note, the direction of sound, pronunciation, breathing, volume.

Self spend music at home. Ask notes from the regent and intellect church chants using a musical instrument. Sake chants accompanied by a tool, instead of syllables calling notes. Watch the duration of notes. In the process of learning, you can play, for example, one batch (soprano), and sing another (for example, alta).

Having attached effort and work, you will be safely singing in a closer in a year, the famous of God with all the clerics.
God to help you!

Orthodox church singingit is a few species:

• ancient- Draps that emerged during the time of Byzantium (Byzantine sneakers at the Greeks and other liturgical bones in other Orthodox peoples, which included in its composition) in the Caucasus (for example - Georgian sowing), as well as Ancient Russia: bannya, pillars, and others.
• partEs (Multi-voiced) - originated in the XVII century in Ukraine and Belarus under the influence of Catholic Party music, then from the XVIII century began to spread in Russia.
• spiritual poems and psalms (these are songs on spiritual topics) - not a liturgical

Bannyal sneakers. The name has roots from the word "banner" - signs of special ancient Russian non-profit notation - hooks (singing banners, similar to hooks).

PartE singing (from Latin. partes. - Voices) - the type of church singing, which is based on multi-voice choral singing. The number of votes can be different, from 3 to 12, and can reach and 48.

In partition singing, the performance of chants with constant and variable polyphony is distinguished. The constant polyphony usually assumes four-voice processing of the melodies of bannyy and other branches. The variable polyphony represents the alternation of the sound of full choral composition and individual groups of votes.

The place of the first parties singing - South-Western Rus; Established in Russia during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and after its reign. In the fight against church unia and Catholicism, Orthodox Christians of South-Western Russia were striving to develop a kind of singing, which would be different from Catholic organ. Orthodox fractions were the initiators of the development of such singing. Opening many schools under monasteries, they introduced the study of parties singing in the temple choras. Leaving native places, South-Western Rus, Orthodox Christians carried parties in the Moscow State where one-haired choral banner singing dominated. So the parties of singing came to replace the bannant singing into our present church. In the liturgical use, parties singing was introduced in 1668 with the consent of the eastern patriarchs.

Some famous Russian composers who wrote church music: N. P. Diletsky (XVII century); A. Vevenel, M. Berezovsky, D. Bortnian (XVIII century); P. Tchaikovsky, s.Rurakhninov, A.Grechaninov, A.Arhangelsky, P. Hochovokov (XIX century); A. Kastalsky, Sviridov, V. Gavrilin (XX century) and many others.

Spiritual poems - songs of gavicov disturbed, the Skiti songs of the Old Believers and Monks, Psalms (Arrangement of Psalms Tsar David on the poetic LAD). An example of modern spiritual poems is the work of the Hieromonach Roman. Spiritual poems can be fulfilled and for different musical instruments, mostly regret, beeps, wheels or husli. Now the guitar is used more often. Spiritual verses were fulfilled by the caligics perversion - mutton people who do not have another opportunity to earn money on bread. Kaliki disturbed pilgrimage to holy places were very honest and pious people. Nowadays, there are many examples of talented authors who write and fulfill good poems. This example is a bright example: Hieromona Roman and Ierodiakon Herman (Ryabtsy).

History

According to the evangelical narration, the first Christian chant was brought to the land of angels in the Christmas night (Luke. 2, 13-14); The custom of using chants in worships was consecrated by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper (MF. 26, 30; MK. 14, 26). In the history of Christian songs, the first two centuries are sheaven with the spirit of improvisation. It was the fruit of her inspired by the liturgical poetry of hymns and psalms, songs of praise and thanksgiving. This poetry was born simultaneously with music as a chant in its accurate meaning.

IN early period Christian songs The dogmatic element dominates the lyrical, since Christian worship is primarily confessing, the evidence of faith, and not only the outpouring of feelings that the musical style has predetermined in songcomers - its melodic expression and shape.

From the third century, the musical-melodic style of Christian songcomers began to experience the influence of the Greek-pagan secular music introduced into the young church by the stream of proles. At this influence, the first of the teachers of the church drew the presbyter Clement Alexandria († 217). Comparing the moral essence of Christianity with the nature of the Greek-pagan secular music, the presbyter Clement concluded that she was incompatible with the Spirit of Christianity, and decidedly denied her in church service. Having rejected the music of secular, the Clement of Alexandrian created the basis of the theory of church music: "To the music to resort to the decoration and formation of morals. The music should be rejected by an excessive, lacking soul, coming in a variety, then crying, extending and passionate, then frantic and insane ... "" Melodies we must choose impassable impassivity and chastity; The melodies, swelling and relaxing soul, cannot be harmonized with our courageous and generously thoughts and locations ... "The thoughts of the presbyte of the Clement shared Saints Cyprian, Bishop Carthaginsky (III century), John Zlatoust, Archbishop Constantinople († 407), and Blessed Jerome Stridonsky († 420).

Saint John Zlatoust Says: - "At the top of God, an angelic man is glorified, downstairs, who serve in churches, which, imitating topics, reproduce the same sall. At the top of the seraphim publish a three-way anthem, and at the bottom there are many people as the same anthem. There is a common festival for heavenly and earthly residents: one communion, one joy, one pleasant service. This was carried out due to the incomprehensible descent of the Lord to Earth, and this captured the Holy Spirit: the harmony of sounds was forced to fiefstly. It has the coherence of smallness over and thanks to the Trinity. In other words, earthly music is only the imitation of heaven, and her harmony is the result of the favor of the Creator and Trinity, and the music came to the ground only as a result of the Descent of Christ. "

Over time, the concept of the Clement Alexandrian received canonical consolidation for eternal times in the wording of the 75th rule of the VI of the Universal Cathedral (680-681): "We wish that the church for singing did not use undeformed screams, they did not force themselves a unnatural cry and did not enter anything. The uncomfortable and unusual churches, but with great attention and asylum brought the psalming of God as the intimate. For the sacred word failed the sons of Israel to be awe's reverent. "

In the next century, a slim, musically reasonable artistic system of rational, was created in active labor. Great songcomers worked on the musical and technical improvement: in the West - Pope, the Roman St. Gregory, the Great, or Faeslov († 604), in the east - St. John Damaskin († 776). The works of St. John Damaskina contributed to the establishment of rationalism by the basic law of liturgical singing in the practice of the entire Eastern Church. In appearance with the concept of Clement Alexandrian, the musical structure of the oreclamp of St. John Damascina eliminates the tunes of chromatic system and is based on the Doric and Frigian lads a strict diatonic nature.

The Eastern Booming Church Eassessment does not hold all the exact musical forms and subtleties in the Byzantine prototype, but contains solid musical grounds, melodic and rhythmic properties of the Byzantine oreclaration. A characteristic musical feature of rationalism is a living, bright, joyful religious feeling, as the fruit of Christian harmony, without grief and despondency; It excellently expresses the feelings of meekness, humility, plenty and gog fellowship. Increased charming of the combination of sounds in the system of ocramonia testifies to the high artistic taste of his creators, about their sincere piety, poetic dating and deep knowledge of complex laws of music.

In the history of the development of church songs, the Offord is a living spring, from which the flows and rivers of all the ancient Orthodox bindings are flowing: Greek, Slavic and Russian actually. Only this can be explained that, despite the many and variety of ancient bindings, there is a seal of inner kinship and unity determined by the concept strict church style.

By the beginning of the X century, crucial singing was commonly used in the Eastern Church. In the temples of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, the rationale gained the most spiritually impressive forms. Not without reason, the historical tradition retained the evidence of Russian ambassadors of the Holy Equal-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir († 1015): "When we were in the church of the Greeks (Konstantinople's Church of St. Sophia), we do not know, in the sky or on Earth were."

The X century completed the development of cmigracy singing in Byzantium and became the beginning of his history of improving Russia. Russians with great interest and love began to study and master the musical system of Greek rationaism and the notation, or rather, mnemonic signs that the Greeks used to record their underscore melodies. Greek teaches began to be called in the Russians angel-like, fair, And music signs - banners, pillars, hooks.

A sharp demarcation of the worldly from church, fear of introducing innovation to church singing was a restraining start for the musical creativity of the Russians and forced them at first to concentrate all their abilities on the adaptation of new liturgical texts to the already existing bannant share chalios. Since the size of Russian texts did not coincide with the size of Greek Melosa (έέλος - the concept - the concept that determines the melodic beginning of the musical work), and one or another Melos, in the tastes and the concepts of Russian singers, could not comply with the content of Russian text, Russian masters of singing enjoyed the reception Music compromise, suggested by a sense of intuition and inspiration.

Thanks to this, bannable singing in the Russian Orthodox church immediately began to circumvent his flavor, the genesis of which were Greco-Slavic prototypes.

As the musical character and the technique of bannyal melodies, the Russian masters of singing have more and more rushed in their musical and creative activities to enrich the song repertoire. Banner melodies were infinitely varied, and the chants brought from neighboring Orthodox countries were processed and adapted to Russian original church-singing concepts and tastes, and finally, quite new ones were created independently, Russian sieve melodies.

Melodies, creatively recycled, and the new Russian tunes called usually too banny Since they were recorded by banners. These melodies differed one from another not a musical character, but a greater or less larger development of its melodic basis.

As the main, traveling, like a pillar, on which all church undertaken was approved, announced bias called also called path, podlopovy. Thug and broken with melodic decorations sneezed was called large banner and easier and reduced - small banner ...

All Russian row (decay) are usually divided into full enter into all the eight glazors of liturgical singing and incomplete Non-containing rally.

At the end of the XVI - the beginning of the XVII century, the Russian Orthodox Church has been enriched with new complete shareholders: kiev, Greek and bulgarian.

PartE singing

Before early XVII A century Church Choir in Russia, whatever votes in it participated in a single-haired and invariably led and ended his chants in unison, or octas, or with the addition of barely audible quints to the main final tone. The rhythm of church chants was asymmetrical and fully subordinate to the rhythm of the sided text ...

Although multi-voice church singing has never been prohibited in the Orthodox Church and in Russia, it was introduced into the liturgical use with the consent of the Oriental Patriarchs (1668), but did not have a high musical value and was the entire offspring and a vacuum of the Italian Catholic Choral Style ...

Since the XVII century, the era of hobbies "parties" with church singing began in Russia. And in just a few decades, from the beginning of the passion of "Parties" penetrated the fences and walls of our monasteries - the OPROME orthodox traditions And piety. Believers Russian people who brought up on their hearts of the church-musical traditions of melodies close to their hearts, with the advent of foreign parties, even such a simplest way to actively participate in worships, as "sizing" or "pull-up" by the pollios, and gradually got sick with a forced role Silent listener worship. This was almost buried by the live idea of \u200b\u200ba Pesnovalous Council, and the pollistic choir acquired with us the meaning of a kind of prayerful mood of believers, silently praying in the temple ...

In the Russian Orthodox Church, the sacred patient, at all times, attached essential importance to the strictly church nature of liturgical singing as an employee of the expression of Truths of Faith. In our spiritual schools, church singing is currently one of the important items of teaching. Pupils of spiritual schools are studying the history and practice of church rationaism, get acquainted with domestic patterns of Growing Rospevov, ancient and later, with their harmonization of church composers. In spiritual schools there is also a regent class who acquainted students with the management of church choir. Students are applied to their knowledge in practice, while singing for worships in the temples of their spiritual schools. The church singing melodies used in the Orthodox worship, church tunes, first of all, correspond to the text and the inner, spiritual content of the church chants themselves. In the Orthodox Church, there are eight main church melodies called vocabulary.

Orthodox liturgical singing

Church singing and icon, Since the most ancient times, accompanying Orthodox worship, have a living related connection: reveal the transcendental essence of being through special, sacred art; They are equally captured by the sophisticated depth of religious contemplation, elevation, penetration, revelation of special, unearthly beauty. Icon is a contemplative chacture, where the gamma of musical sounds and tones is embodied in the visual form of paints, lines and figures. Haming is icon in musical sounds. Mystically consonant with the Holy Trinity of St. Andrei Rubleva and the chant "Light Silent" of the Kiev Plant. Orthodox church singing and iconography is a worldview, embodied in iconography and songcomers ...

Church singing, one-haired or multi-voice, choral, should be a reverent and prayerfully adjusting. Rents and Psalmomers should be held for this to hold the ancient church velocities - bannyar, Greek, Bulgarian and Kiev. Invalid in church singing, theft and manner of secular singing, characteristic of opera arias, as well as the accompaniment of the choir with a closed mouth and all the other, which would like the church singing secular.

Holy Patriarch of Alexy (1877-1970) characterizes such singing as a "worldly frivolous combination of sounds." The temple in which non-ear singing is allowed, according to him, "turns out of the house of prayer to the hall of free concerts attracting the" public ", and not praying, which must endure this distracting them from the prayer of singing."

The execution of church chants in the tone of secular romances or opera aria does not allow the possibilities who are praying not only to focus, but also to catch the content and meaning of chants. Such singing only impressive hearing, but does not leave any trace in the shower. "Why should we chase a tasteless, from the point of view of the church, imitating secular singing, when we have amazing samples of singing of strictly church, consecrated by time and traditions of church," said Holy Patriarch Alexy.

In church singing, it is necessary to avoid both excessive inadequacy and tightening, - stretched singing and large pauses between the exclamations and chants. Slow, dyeing singing with large pauses is overly lengthens the service and forces to make cuts so that the time of worship is not delayed, for example, the solo execution "now vaccine" and other concert numbers are made by reducing other chants. It is better, of course, nothing that gives the soul with the "concerts" and with quick, but clear singing to fulfill all the stimples and read all the Canon's Troparies, which will allow the believer to enjoy the wealth of their dogmatic content and the incomparable beauty of church poetry. It is also necessary that re bents are preparing for services in advance. Like the readers, they should before it started together with the abbot of the temple to understand all the features of the service. Their duty is to see all the changing chants of this day and make the placement of stanz.

About church singing today

Often, people who come to the temple complain that they are not clear to them in worship. This is a disease that many parishes are sick in our temples. In the temples you can see ads: "Singers in church choir are required, but almost none of the musically competent people comes to the help of the church to make worship more spreeful, understandablely praying. The profession of regent and singing requires much greater education, and not only musical, but also theological, than that that reigns on our closy. But still, who serve in the temples, hope that God will not leave his houses - the Holy Church - in negligence, and will enrich it with a new young generation of competent, singers who can convey rich spiritual meaning Services to praying people.

From the very first centuries of the life of the Orthodox Cathedral Church, the entire service was extended to church music. The holy fathers understood how the strength of the music and the charm, which she produces a man's soul and the need for a person to express their feelings in prayer with God through music.

In the interpretation to the first Psalm Vasily, the Great writes: "Since the Holy Spirit has seen that the human genus remained from virtues, and that we do not make a truth about life because of the tendency to pleasure and then what does he do? Enjoying sweetness connects with the teachings of the church, so that we can imperceptibly, without fatigue, to perceive the benefit of spiritual words with a grantation, which brings our hearing singing. " From the words of the bishop, we clearly see that the introduction of music in church services is not just the artistic intervention of talented musicians, losing church hymns in the melody, but the work of the Holy Spirit, "... who instructs the church for any truth ..." - as the Gospel says from John.

Objectives of introducing music to the service of the Orthodox Church

The church includes music in its service selectively. She knows the strength of music, her friend and lunizing, which she brings the soul of man. From the words of St. Vasily, it is clear that the first goals of the introduction of music in the serving of the Orthodox Church were the goals of educational.

The second goal is theological anthropological. Athanasius Great writes that "... The performance of psalms with a melody is proof of the harmony of mental thoughts, and the melodic reading is a sign of ordering and peaceful state of mind ...". Saint Grigory Nissky says: "The whole world is a musical harmony, the Creator and the creator of God. Similarly, a person in nature is a small world, which reflects the entire musical harmony of the Universe. "

The third goal, with which the church has established music is a pastoral apologetic. Music has become a pastoral way to confront the heresy. St. John Zlatoust, and Rev. Efrem Sirin composed very harmonious hymns to resist the anthem of hehetics, who passed their false views Christians with the help of beautiful music.

Characteristic features of church singing

First, church music vocal - this means that of orthodox service Musical instruments are excluded - an element that makes a worldly spirit into music and causes a carelessness of the mind. "Those who celebrate should celebrate spiritually ..." says Saint Grigory theologian. The use of tools indicates spiritual infancy.

During the prayer, the church brings wine and bread as a victim, and enhances their prayer through a human voice. Saint Gregory Theologian writes: "Above all musical instruments a chant, which connects all souls with divine meaning ...". Saint explains that musical instruments become between a man and God and prevent the soul junction with him.

Church chants, first of all, in the Greek-Orthodox tradition are monophonic. When many sing, everything utters the same thing, the voice comes from some of the mouth. The church did not accept the polyphony, which first introduced Catholicism. It was done by it, in order to avoid scattering and confusion, both the singers themselves and souls, tolerating singing, and to express the unity of the Church in Christ.

Church music of antiphon - that is, consists of two choirs - right and left. Or, if necessary, of two singers on the right and left pollos. Holy Ignatius Godproof, Bishop Antioch, saw in the vision of the angels who were sorry to the holy Trinity with anti-pony songs.

Church singing is part of the legend. This means that there is no place for unauthorized work, based on instant inspiration. Church music was created with the great attention of the Holy Fathers so that she helps the souls of Christians to get closer to God.

(According to the materials http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/Bible/comment/NKSS/NKSS09.htm and http://www.tvoyhram.ru/pravoslavie/pravoslavie12.html)

Church singing as a phenomenon, it arose almost immediately after the appearance of Christianity. Of course, in those days it was very distinguished from the fact that we were used to hearing in the churches of the Russian Orthodox church. That singing was one-haired (that is, singing to unison), and would be perceived on our rumor as a monotonous, east with Arab motifs, coming singing.

The meaning of church singing is that people during worship need to create a certain sound and metric atmosphere, which would allow to immerse themselves in a "prayer trans" (although this explanation is not quite accurate).

It is clear that people are not immersed in some kind of meditation, like the eastern sages, but singing accurately helps to push the thoughts about what needs to go to the store, buy sausages and pick up a child from school. That is, church singing is setting up on prayer.

There are several varieties of church singing.

Party singing, or "parties". The most common in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine singing. Sound - as a classic multi-voice choir, close on the sound to opera, there are low mighty bass, high soprano, complex beautiful multi-handed chords. Often "Parties" criticize for the fact that he is too beautiful - pulls the blanket in the service for herself, becomes too donating, because church singing should serve as a setting on prayer and help pray. Tasks cause a certain delight, accompanying concert - not put. Nevertheless, it is this type of singing well and love the parishioners and rebels.

Bannyal singing. This is a single-haired or two-eye singing. Basically, one voice holds the so-called "Izon" - a standing note, and another voice on the background of a standing note displays some melody. It would be possible to recall the sound of the bagpipes, and probably there is a remote similarity, although the melodies of the church bannyal singing are quite different from the Scottish melodies.

Valaamsk singing. Although it enters the group of bannant, the withdrawal of Valaam led to the fact that it strongly developed its original style of bannyal singing. He recognizes and love listeners. On the network, there are many records of Valaam singing.

Byzantine bias. This is the most ancient branches in the church. He is one-haired and very similar to Arab or Turkish jerseys. It is hardly a modern visitor to the church could learn in the Byzantine branch greek Church singing. Nevertheless, this is the oldest and, in a sense, the most genuine and true church singing, the most ancient and real tradition. For the external simplicity of these tunes, some "tactfulness" of sound, which does not interfere with people pray and does not attract their attention unnecessarily colorful chords.

Church singing is performed on the pollosy - a special place in the temple, on which the singers of the church choir are standing and singing church chants during the divine service (Divine Service). Our site is devoted to the work of church singers and contains many tips on how it is better to work in the church choir.