RUSSIAN CHURCH MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 788, 11 April 1910, Page 4

RUSSIAN CHURCH MUSIC.

..•■.TCHAIKO'WSKY'S; CANTATAS. .•;'.. ;■. "Tchaikowsky was a pantheist, but he ilikeiT'tbi' attend' : o!iuTch sorrices.-'and was iau.admirer bf.ohuTch music.. Hβ created 'Works bf-this kind.'-.which bear the.stamp of hi« genius: 'His cantatas are sung in the' churches nowadays, , but about v2O yeara ago they, were confiscated by- the pblice,;'as the Metropolitan' found thein tbov.'moderjt' , . and'-not- approp'riate to .the demands of church singing, 'it.was by a liicky 'chance that "thty "escaped' destriic-tio-E .on' the intercession. , of' some, highplaced 'officials",': Thus 'relates' Ellen, vbn; Tidebohl in an article, in the. "Musician" on'"The Music of tho Russian Church," wiidi'sho regrefe' is nnknowri abroad, being only, perfbrmed. in: Russia. She refers to the composer, Alexis GretdianinofF, wiose "Credo" and "Our .Firther in Heaven" are "of- the most wonderful harmonic'combinations ever heard, and .the music., is solemnly-.appropriate to the words. When;performed in church, theso compositions create: a- great impression." From .the writer's, interesting article, the following'paragraphs are cited:— .

1 Tsars frequently' made new. laws, prohibiting any change in church , music or tho use '■■ of- 'any •'new arrangements. Nevertheless, choristers, principally old monks in the monasteries, attained secretly to some, proficiency in musical knowledge, and 'managed'. • to : : set ~ tho chants to. new miisic, giving free" run to their imaginations. .They-'.noted down their compositions by means of vaa-ious signs without linos—signs resembling those which were used by.the Byzantine Greeks for singing;'-' Many or'.'tjese.'.intei'estiiig manuscrips are" collected''in''the library of. the-Synodal'School of Mo&ow. . The Russian church ohanfe are sung a cappella, as no-instrumenits, not even the organ, are allowed at church services. Boys always used to sing the treble and alto. .Lately, hbw.ever, female voices have been admitted to choirs. Berlioz, when visiting St. Petersburg in-1817, heard', the choir of the court chapel singing.. He was struck by. the perfection, of .their'" : performance ■ and the of the. , . strunif, .severe .style of the chants. He enlarges on the impression made on him in, his; llemoires,, where ho isprofuse in his admiration.

There exists in- Moscow the Synodal School for the purpose of training church singers, its system and training the same as the Court Chapel School in.St. Petersburg. Lately the directors of both have enlarged, their curricula, so as to have them on.a level with the colleges of the country. A ( superior musical, education is also compulsory;, so students, on finishing this school, aro accomplished, wellinformed musicians, especially fit for training or leading choirs, and Russia is supplied with choirmasters* .

Tho boys and students of this school form the choirs which sing at the magnificent St. Saviour's Cathedral (inaugurated in .1894), and in the old cathedrals in the Kremlin, some seven of which are grouped ■ together. .The cathedral of the Assumption is the most venerated, as the coronation of the Tsars always takes placo there, and the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, where the Tsars were buried up to the time of, Peter the Great, whose tomb, as well as those of his descendants, is in St. Petersburg in the Cathedral of Peter and Paul.

Sometimes the Synodal Choir appears on the platform at concerts, performing old chants, and new works, by our illustrious composers. All seats are early sold on these occasions, as it is known that tho performances will be magnificent, and that this thrilling and delicious music will give (rreat delight to the listener. Tho.head of the Synodal School has a committee on ..his staff to help him. in the management of the choirs, the consideration of new compniit'ins of chureh imi : sic.in the investigation of old manuscripts, and deliberation on various problems, etc. 'Much has boon- already achieved in this- department of music, and with time wo hopo to learn more about its past. Our great composers, beginning with Glinka, the father of 'Russian, music, could none of theni avoid the temptation of composing ichnrch music ami these works in modern' key-relationship, although with Russian characteristics, nre splendid, and have added much to their fame. . - ;