|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
The Russian Choral Tradition
| Article
# : |
13636 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1988 |
3,382 Words |
| Author
: |
Tom Pniewski
Tom Pniewski is a musicologist at Hunter College in New York. |
The Russian choral tradition is one of the musical treasures of the world. In the form closest to us--the Romantic choruses of the Orthodox liturgy--it conveys tremendous emotional power, boasts soaring tenors and booming basses, and ebbs and flows in great waves of sound. But there are earlier, medieval traditions, stately and elevated, preeminently suited to the vast spaces of the cathedrals of Kiev and Novgorod, and to the enormous monastery complexes like those of Vladimir and Pskov. And these traditions, which date back a thousand years to the introduction of Christianity into Russia, bring together even more ancient elements--folk music and the Byzantine liturgy of Constantinople (itself nearly a thousand years old at the time). Thus the Russian tradition as a whole is an amalgam, uniting several thousand years of musical experience, enshrining at its core remnants of music from the very beginnings of Western civilization.
The Beginnings: Medieval Kiev
Shortly after the conversion of Prince Vladimir Sviatoslavich to Christianity in 988 and his marriage to one of the sisters of the Byzantine emperor, a vast stream of musicians, artists, builders, and architects flowed into the state of Kiev. They entered into the rich cultural life of the largest state in Europe, which stretched from the Volga to the Danube and from the Black Sea to the Baltic. At the height of its power in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it was one of the most flourishing and culturally advanced territories on the continent. Medieval Kiev enjoyed especially close commercial ties with Byzantium, and Russian honey, tar, wax, and furs were traded for Byzantine silks, wine, spices, and
... (1933 of 20713 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
