The Sacred Spirit of Russia
Notes from the pre-concert lectures by Dr. Vladimir Morosan
The notes in the program contain some general information about the Orthodox
Divine Liturgy and about the historical roots of the music. The pre-concert notes that follow contain a few words specifically about each of the composers and their pieces that will be heard in Conspirare’s performance.
The program begins with that best-loved of Russian composers—Peter Ilyich
Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), said to be the most-often programmed classical composer of all time. Not everyone realizes, however, that in addition to his greatly popular symphonic and operatic works, Tchaikovsky played a crucial role as a trend-setter for a great flowering of sacred choral composition that occurred in
Russia at the end of the 19 th and the start of the 20 th centuries. He composed two seminal sacred choral works—the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom , from which the opening pieces, “Come, let us worship” and “Holy God,” on this program are taken, and, five years later—the All-Night Vigil. In the Liturgy Tchaikovsky gave free rein to his creative imagination, composing brand new music to the sacred texts of the
Divine Liturgy, a move that initially got him in trouble with the censors of the
Russian Imperial Chapel, but which ultimately resulted in the downfall of censorship in the realm of choral music. In writing his Vigil, Tchaikovsky became the first major
Russian composer of modern times to make use of the national treasure-trove of chant melodies, many of them centuries old. These two works, composed in 1878 and 1882, respectively, inspired dozens of Russian composers who followed him 1) to turn their creative attention to writing sacred choral music for the Russian
Orthodox Church and, 2) to find new ways of clothing the age-old legacy of chant into beautiful new garments of harmony and counterpoint.
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A vivid orchestrator with a flair for rich and brilliant colors, Tchaikovsky wrote choral works that were equally rich in texture and sonority. But Tchaikovsky’s works are surpassed in choral color by the works of his student at the Moscow
Conservatory, Alexander Kastalsky (1856–1926), who is represented by four works on the program. Tchaikovsky certainly paved the way for a renewed interest in sacred choral music, but it was Kastalsky who, in the late 1890s was hailed as the founder of an entirely new style of Russian Orthodox choral composition.
Kastalsky’s achievement lay in the fact that he was an astute observer of Russian village folk singing, and he recognized the vast variety of colors and textures of sound that human voices could produce when singing as an ensemble—something that the Russian people had done over a period of a thousand years. Kastalsky’s choral works are like intricate and variegated tapestries, woven together out of numerous strands of polyphonic voices. Making extensive use of actual chants and chant-like melodies, they are intimately tied with the rhythms and inflections of the sacred texts.
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Nowhere are these attributes more vividly demonstrated than in the “Great
Doxology,” the second piece on the program. Encompassing every possible movement of the praying human heart, from exaltation to the deepest humility,
Kastalsky’s music sometimes soars towards the heavens, while at other times murmurs in supplicatory intimacy. The Great Doxology is final major hymn from the
Orthodox morning office, which precedes the Divine Liturgy, and as it culminates the prayerful movement towards enlightenment that occurs throughout the Matins service, it prepares the faithful to enter into the timeless reality of the Divine
Liturgy.
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The Divine Liturgy begins with three hymns called “antiphons.” The composer
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859–1935) composed his Liturgy very much in the same style of free composition as Tchaikovsky. In the opening psalm he beautifully captures an air of reverent fear and trembling, a hushed sense of awe, which are called forth by the words “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless
His holy name.”
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Alexander Gretchanínoff (1864–1956), in contrast to Ippolitov-Ivanov’s more intimate style, was a painter of large canvases, a composer who strove to lend a symphonic sweep to choral music, even sacred choral music for the church. Four of his works appear on the program. In the first, “Only-begotten Son,” he masterfully expresses the mystery of the Incarnation and Christ’s triumph over death. Using contrasts of choral color and texture, alternating stark unisons with lush harmonies, and motivic development, Gretchanínoff offers a fascinating early-20 th century interpretation of a sacred Christological text that dates back to as early as the 4 th century.
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The Orthodox Liturgy is not only an entrance, if only for a brief time, into heavenly angelic worship, but it is also interpreted as a recollection of the earthly life of
Christ. Whereas “Only begotten Son” spoke of the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the
Son of God, the next hymn, “The Beatitudes,” presents the words of Jesus’s eloquent
Sermon on the Mount. Vladimir Martynov (b. 1946), the most recent composer on tonight’s program, employs techniques that might be described as “minimalist”— two soloists in alternation singing the words on a pentatonic melody, while the choir sustains seemingly eternal, scarcely changing chords—thus evoking an atmosphere of timelessness and heavenly angelic worship.
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Two processions of the clergy occur in the Orthodox Divine Liturgy; the first is the
Little Entrance with the Gospel, which symbolizes Christ’s first appearance in the world as an adult teacher and the beginning of his earthly ministry. In Russian cathedrals, this is a glorious moment, when the clergy assembled in the center of the church—the bishop, surrounded by a multitude of priests, deacons, and altar servers clergy, all in resplendent vestments—resonantly begin singing the Hymn of the Entrance, “Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ,” while the choirs and people interject, “Save us, O Son of God, who art risen from the dead.” As the clergy slowly process into the Altar area, representing the Holy of Holies—the throne-room of the King—the singing climaxes with a joyful “Alleluia.” The composer Pavel Chesnokóv (1877–1944), who was a prominent church choirmaster as well as a prolific choral composer, skillfully captures this moment in his composition.
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Every Divine Liturgy commemorates a given feast or theme. The commemoration chosen for this concert is the feast of the Nativity of Christ, and it is reflected by two hymns proper to Christmas, the Troparion and the Kontakion. The great Russian composer of the latter 20 th century, Georgy Sviridov (1915–1998), could not openly write sacred choral music during the Soviet era, but he is known to have spent much time privately exploring and pondering the sacred texts. Thus, to his “Troparion of
Christmas,” written to a simple formulaic chord pattern similar to those used in
Russian churches, he imparts a thoughtful level of interpretation, building the choral texture toward a climax on the final phrase, “O Lord, glory to Thee!”
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In the Kontakion of Christmas, Alexander Kastalsky employs a centuries-old
Znamenny Chant cantus firmus , which he surrounds with contrasting and colorful harmonic textures, similar to those heard earlier in the Great Doxology. (The term
“znamenny” is derived from the word “znamia,” meaning sign or neume , and refers to liturgical chant melodies that were written down in chant books using notation, as opposed to those transmitted via oral tradition). In arranging this chant melody polyphonically, Kastalsky employs musical text painting, using high voices when the text speaks of angels singing with the shepherds, and a male chorus texture speaking of the Wise Men, who are accompanied by the Star of Bethlehem—a gently floating soprano descant melody.
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The feast of Christmas was one of the occasions in the early Christian Church when newly illumined catechumens were received into the church through Baptism. For this reason, the Liturgy program in this concert features the hymn “As many as have been baptized into Christ,” a stately processional, which replaces “Holy God,” the hymn customarily sung at this point. Once again, we hear how Kastalsky takes a
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Znamenny Chant and writes a set of “choral variations” on it, each time changing not the melodic theme itself, but the choral “orchestration” surrounding it. In an actual church service this hymn would be followed by some responsorial psalmody, the appointed readings from Holy Scripture, and some intercessory litanies.
With the Litany, the teaching portion of the Divine Liturgy—“the Liturgy of the
Word”—draws to a close. In the early centuries of the Church, catechumens, inquirers, and visitors would have been dismissed at this point, and only the baptized faithful would continue to participate in the worship service.
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The Cherubic Hymn, one of the musically most important hymns of the Divine
Liturgy, begins the Eucharistic portion of the service, the “Liturgy of the Faithful.”
During this hymn, a clergy prepare to make the solemn Great Entrance, carrying aloft the offerings of bread and wine that will later be consecrated to be the Body and Blood of Christ. The procession occurs midway through the hymn, after which the mystical and other-worldly character of the music changes to a triumphal march, as if accompanying a conquering hero of ancient times: “…that we may receive the King of All, invisibly upborne by the Angelic Host. Alleluia!” Once again, we hear how Pavel Chesnokóv succeeds in musically evoking the solemn and mystical atmosphere of this moment in the Liturgy.
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We have already spoken of Gretchaninoff’s tendency to push the envelope of tradition, as he sought out new forms of musical expression for the Liturgy . In his setting of the Nicene Creed, which in Russian churches is typically sung by the entire congregation to a few simple chords, he employs an unprecedented new style: assigning the words of the creed to a solo alto part, while the choir simply sustains the words “I believe” underneath. In this way, Gretchanínoff invites the worshippers to participate in the confession of faith in an extraordinary new way—rather than getting caught up in attempts to express the text emotionally or to paint it musically, as so many other composers had done before him, he invites the hearer simply to focus on contemplating the depth and meaning of the words.
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The confession of faith is followed in the Liturgy directly by the Anaphora or Canon of the Eucharist: after the initial dialog between the deacon, priest, and choir, the celebrant reads a series of Eucharistic prayers, composed by St. John Chrysostom in the 4 th century, giving thanks to God for all and on behalf of all. For this, the most sacred and solemn portion of the Liturgy Conspirare sings the Western-world premiere of a setting by Alexander Kastalsky, again, a polyphonic arrangement of an ancient Znamenny Chant. There is a simplicity of melodic design, an epic quality in the chant cantus firmus , which takes its contour from the text. Kastalsky takes this
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chant theme and on the words “Hosanna in the highest” fashions it into a series of polyphonic imitations, one of the first examples in Russian church music where the chant is treated in this fashion. In two other passages, in the best tradition of anonymous chant composers, Kastalsky includes two marvelous melismas of more than 30 notes on the words “undivided” and “in the highest”—recalling an ancient musical device to approximate angelic glossolalia—those sounds which, in the words of St. Paul, “no ear has ever heard.”
Following the “Holy, holy, holy” and “Hosanna in the highest” the celebrant pronounces the Words of Institution and calls upon the Holy Spirit to come and transform the offerings of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, as the hymn “We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee” is sung. The traditional practice of the Russian Orthodox Church is not to include these sacred words in concert performances on a stage, and out of respect for this tradition, Conspirare will not include them in this concert. The choir will simply sing two “Amen’s” and proceed directly to “We praise Thee,” a continuation of the Znamenny Chant setting by Kastalsky. Once again, the composer uses a chant motive in imitation to fashion a passage of great beauty and tender prayerful entreaty on the words “and we pray unto Thee, O our God.”
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As the Eucharistic prayers continue, the celebrant prays for the whole Church—for prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints—and especially for the ever-Virgin Mary, who is given a special place of honor in the Orthodox Church as “Theotokos”—the “one who gave birth to God.” On the feast of Christmas, the customary Hymn to the
Mother of God is replaced by a special festal proper, in this instance, a poetic composition by St. John of Damascus, the great Syrian hymnographer of the late 7 th early 8 th century. “It would be safer for us,” says the poet, “to remain silent in holy fear.” “But,” he continues, as we might paraphrase him today, “help us to go out on a limb, Holy Mother, and to compose intricately woven songs of praise out of our love for you.” These amazing words are an example of an Orthodox hymnographer reflecting poetically upon the very act of composing sacred hymnody, affirming the
Church’s belief that all beauty and inspiration ultimately comes from above, destined through human cooperation ( synergia ) to be sent back to its Source. The musical setting of this hymn is a simple unison Znamenny Chant, which offers a small taste of how all church singing sounded throughout the first 600 years or so of
Christianity in the Slavic lands.
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The Holy Gifts have been prepared for Communion, and the faithful prepare for participation in the Sacrament by praying the Lord’s Prayer. Once again, like the
Creed, this prayer is typically sung in Russian churches by the entire congregation using a simple chordal recitative. But, as already seen earlier, when Alexander
Gretchanínoff sets a sacred text to music, things are likely to break precedent: in his
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Liturgy No. 2 , composed in the year 1902, Gretchanínoff imparts to the text of the
Lord’s Prayer a scale and proportion that had never been encountered to that point.
Since there were no pre-existing melodies for the Lord’s Prayer, he invents chantlike motives and themes and then proceeds to develop them, while building rich and contrasting harmonic textures.
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The Communion Hymn or Communion Verse is a short phrase, usually from the psalms, that is sung while the clergy partake of Holy Communion in the altar sanctuary. Chesnokóv has taken this short text, the first verse from Psalm 148 and, using techniques of thematic development and imitative polyphony, fashioned an extended choral piece of a few minutes’ duration. This is one rather unusual instance in Russian Orthodox music when the words aren’t said simultaneously or homorhythmically; in writing a brief fugato in the middle portion of the piece,
Chesnokóv borrows a device used by the great polyphonic masters of the West, from
Josquin and Palestrina to Bach and Handel .
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After the Communion Verse has been sung in the Liturgy, there is a period of some duration before the priest comes out to offer Communion to the faithful. This time, when no liturgical action is taking place, has traditionally been filled in Russian church practice by “sacred concertos,” relatively extended choral pieces on texts that usually but not always have some connection to the feast or event being celebrated. Conspirare’s program features several such “sacred concertos.”
Georgy Sviridov, as mentioned earlier, was a far-ranging student of Orthodox sacred texts, even though he had to pursue this interest secretly during Soviet times. His
“Having Beheld a Wondrous Birth” is a very obscure text, not set to music by any composers before or after him. Undoubtedly he selected it because it captures the very essence of the feast of Christmas: a miraculous birth—the Most High God being born as a humble human—and in contemplating this wonder, we are transported from earth to heaven, singing “Alleluia.”
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This piece was not included in all concert performances.
The Russian émigré composer Andrei Ilyashenko (1884–1954) fashioned a sacred concerto from the text of the Hymn to the Mother of God, heard earlier. This composer showed great promise and originality in some sacred pieces published before the Russian Revolution of 1917. Like many of his predecessors and contemporaries, Ilyashenko invented chant-like motives and used them to build choral textures of rich and varied colors. He then emigrated and lived out his life as a piano teacher, mostly in Brussels, Belgium, in relative obscurity, without the
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opportunity to publish his works or hear them performed. Tonight’s performance of his sacred concerto, composed in 1922, is an American, and more than likely, a world premiere.
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“Now the Powers of Heaven” is a Eucharistic processional hymn ( cherubikon) taken from Alexandre Gretchaninoff’s monumental cycle Passion Week , composed in 1911-
12. The text of this hymn is from the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts, which is sung on certain days of Great Lent and Holy Week. As in other examples on the program, the composer exceeds all precedent, writing massive textures for double choir in a late-Romantic outburst of opulence. It is unlikely that this work was ever intended to be sung during an actual service, but increasingly, one hundred years after its composition, Gretchaninoff’s Passion Week is being revived on concert stages throughout the world.
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As mentioned earlier, Pavel Chesnokóv was not only a composer, but also a renowned choral conductor and pedagogue. In his pioneering treatise on choral conducting, The Choir and How to Direct It , Chesnokóv described the voice of the bass octavists or basso profundo as being “so commonly known that we need not expand upon it further.” Yet, even in Russia, good bass octavists were relatively rare, and in the entire Russian choral literature there is only one sacred concerto written expressly for basso profundo solo and choir. As it turns out, bassi profundi are also found in America, though they are also rare. And since we have one here as a member of Conspirare, the program offers the rare opportunity to hear some of the lowest notes of which the human voice is capable.
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This piece was not included in all concert performances.
The section of sacred concertos closes with “Praise the Name of the Lord” from
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s (1873-1943) monumental All-Night Vigil , without doubt one of the best known sacred choral works to come out of Russia, composed in 1915, and now being performed extensively throughout the world. The use of hymns from the All-Night Vigil as sacred concertos during the Liturgy is not entirely unprecedented, and certainly, Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Znamenny Chant arrangement, which contrasts the heavenly and earthly realms through the layering of the voices in the choir, is a fitting close for this period of the faithful’s anticipation of Holy Communion.
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While the build-up and preparation for Holy Communion in the Orthodox Divine
Liturgy is considerable and lengthy, the Conclusion of the Liturgy is relatively brief, consisting of just a few hymns of thanksgiving, customarily sung to simple chants.
Sergei Rachmaninoff, in his setting of the Liturgy , dated 1910, freely composed like
Tchaikovsky’s, chose instead to give this text a much more profound and thoughtful treatment. He lingers thematically and meditates harmonically on the words
“Mystery” ( tayna ) and “Truth” ( Pravda )—inviting the worshipper to make a spiritual connection between the Sacrament that had just taken place and its ongoing translation into real life as one goes forth from the church.
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The ending of Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy , a double-chorus blaze of glory on the phrase
“Blessed be the Name of the Lord, henceforth and forevermore,” is used to wrap up this concert rendition of the Liturgy as well. It is followed by a brief prayer,
“Preserve, O Lord, for Many Years,” by Gretchaninoff, invoking God’s blessings on all mankind—this nation, the faithful, and members of the congregation (as well as the audience).
—Copyright © 2013, by Vladimir Morosan
Courtesy of www.musicarussica.com
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