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Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine

Kharkov State Academy of Culture

Department of Ukrainian Folk Singing

and musical folklore

By conducting

Choral creativity D.S. Bortnyansky

Is done by a student

Tishchenko B.N.

Correspondence department

group No. 2N

teacher Gurina A.V.

Kharkov 2015

Introduction

Conclusion

Introduction

Partes choir concert Bortnyansky

The work of D. S. Bortnyansky today represents a particularly relevant area for research. First of all, this is due to the revitalization of liturgical life. Bortnyansky’s music is heard in the choirs; moreover, its creator has become one of the most famous “church” composers. Despite the fact that in the period from the 18th century to the present day, sacred music has undergone a strong evolution, it should be remembered that the style of all subsequent liturgical chants adopted by the Synod, one way or another, was based on Bortnyansky.

At the same time, not all of Bortnyansky’s works are equally popular. The number of his works in the repertoire of modern choirs is limited. The lack of auditory representation makes it difficult to study the material. During the Soviet era, everything related to religion was banned. Bortnyansky's highly artistic work - concert No. 32 - appeared under the title "Reflection" and was perhaps the only work of this composer performed. Thus, Bortnyansky's music has recently entered a period of revival. With growing interest in the composer's work, research interest has revived.

Most of the literature about Bortnyansky is represented by monographs. The most famous of them are the books by M. G. Rytsareva “Composer D. S. Bortnyansky”, B. Dobrokhotov, K. Kovalev, V. Ivanov. It is also worth mentioning the articles by S. S. Skrebkov “Bortnyansky - the master of the Russian choral concert” and the book by A. N. Myasoedov “On the harmony of Russian music (the roots of national specificity)”.

Bortnyansky's work is interesting for its synthetic nature. Firstly, being a court singer, from childhood he absorbed the culture of partes singing, that is, the style of “Russian Baroque”. Secondly, Bortnyansky studied composition with the Italian master Baldassare Galuppi, who worked in St. Petersburg in those years. When the master went to Italy, he took his favorite student with him. There is information that Bortnyansky took lessons from Padre Martini, and he, as you know, was Mozart’s teacher. At the same time, Bortnyansky is a Russian composer who wrote Russian music, which has been repeatedly noted by many researchers. “Russian” was expressed mainly in sacred music, in particular in the genre of the choral concert, which is inextricably linked with Orthodox worship.

1. Partes choir concert: a brief historical excursion

A specifically national type of Russian musical art, its basis and foundation is a cappella choral singing. The original musical symbols of “Russian antiquities” were the Znamenny chant, the cant, the partes concert - forms that formed the basis for many surviving monuments of the Russian choral art XVII- beginning of the 18th century.

Created in different historical eras, possessing bright original features of style (the monophonic chants of the znamenny chant of the 11th - early 18th centuries; the three-voice and song-like cant of the 17th century; the splendor of the baroque forms of the polyphonic texture of the partes concert of the late 17th century), these works glorify the same virtues and condemn the same vices. Monumentality, a special sublimity of feelings and the seriousness of the narrative come from the educational orientation of ancient Russian art. Affirmation of fidelity as the highest standard of human actions, compassion for the weak, a plea for mercy, condemnation of treason - these are its main themes.

They are very vividly and vividly embodied in the cycle “Old Russian Passions”, known from notated manuscripts from the 11th century and containing more than 50 chants]. The composition presented in the program is based on fragments of a unique monument of Russian musical culture - the manuscript of the monk Christopher (1604). This manuscript, which appeared during the heyday of ancient Russian monodic singing, contains a complete set of chants that were heard in Rus' at the beginning of the 17th century.

From the first third of the 17th century, the so-called “linear” two- and three-voice singing joined the traditional monophony. Developing intensively, it captured a wide range of chants. The repertoire of polyphony consisted of solemn hymns, performed in the culminating sections of the All-Night Vigil and Liturgy. Polyphonic chants were based on techniques characteristic of the Russian folklore tradition: subvocal dialogues, ribbon movement of voices, and their melodic independence. The basis was not the harmonic, but the melodic principle of the development of each voice. As a result, a bright, expressive-sounding ensemble was created, a unique coloristic harmony of the works, in some cases reproducing the sound of a bell ringing.

From the second half of the 17th century, new forms of choral creativity intensively entered Russian musical culture, a new polyphonic style of choral singing was formed, called partes, i.e. singing in parts. Its main genre was the partes concerto - one of the varieties of the magnificent monumental baroque motet, widely represented in the music of the Catholic Church. Unlike Western European composers, Russian authors were limited in their work by purely vocal sonority, accepted in Orthodox Church. At the same time, they achieved the highest skill and true virtuosity in extracting contrasts from the juxtaposition of individual choir groups, registers, dynamic shades. The main means of contrast was the alternation of a powerful full-sounding tutti choir and transparent concert (solo) formations, most often three-part.

A special role in Russian musical culture belongs to cant - the first genre of Russian secular music, which became widespread during the reign of Peter the Great in the widest strata of Russian society. Having a regular rhythm, a clear structure, a stable three-voice texture and based on the laws of European harmony, the cant at the same time retained the melodiousness, seriousness of tone, soulfulness, epic and lyricism characteristic of ancient Russian art. So, for example, “Kants for Victory at Poltava” are short, emotionally charged musical narratives built on the principle of contrasting comparison of parts: the triumph of the Russian Tsar, the sadness and grief of the vanquished, the curse of the traitor Mazepa.

If the first half of the 18th century in Russian choral music was characterized by a baroque orientation, then from the middle of the century the signs of classicism clearly emerged in it. The central genre is the classical spiritual concert.

The development of Russian choral culture and the genre of spiritual concert in the last quarter of the 18th century is inseparable from the name of Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (1751 - 1825). The composer's musical heritage includes many genres - operas, keyboard sonatas, instrumental ensembles, songs. And yet, Bortnyansky paid his main attention to the creation of spiritual choral concerts, in the genre of which he is the largest of the Russian masters of the 18th century. Which, however, is not surprising, because from 1796 until the last days of his life, Bortnyansky headed the choir of the Court Singing Chapel, being its director since 1801. In his work, the composer approved and completed the development of a choral concert of the classical type, the structure of which has common features with the sonata-symphonic cycle. In the strict, proportionate, truly classical harmony of the concerts, the composer embodied the ideas of moral self-improvement of the individual, preached kindness, faith, and the power of reason, which ennobles man. Among the most famous works of Bortnyansky is “Cherubic Song” No. 7. The sublimity, calmness, and tranquility of her music make you feel the true highest spiritual values, detached from everyday life. The three-part concert for two choirs “We Praise You to God,” which concludes the program, delights with the majesty of its sound, the power of contrasts, and the simplicity and severity of intonations.

2. Partes choir concert as the apogee of Bortnyansky’s creative development

At the end of the 18th century. choral music becomes the main area of ​​Bortnyansky's entire activity - he left over a hundred choral works, including 35 4-voice choral concerts and ten concerts for a double choir. In these works Bortnyansky achieves great mastery of monumental choral writing, continuing the traditions of his predecessors.

He worked a lot on ancient melodies from “Obihod” and on the harmonization of Znamenny chants. The melody of his concerts is intonationally close to Russian and Ukrainian folk songs. Bortnyansky's work is associated with the traditions of folk song, with the principles of the partes style and cantine lyrics. The main secret of the charm of Bortnyansky’s choral music is its sublime simplicity and warmth. Every listener feels as if he could sing along with the choir. Most of the choral works are written for four-voice ensembles.

Bortnyansky's text is a free combination of stanzas from the psalms of David. For the choral concert, the traditional texts of the psalms served as a common emotional and figurative basis. Bortnyansky selected the text based on the traditional principles of constructing a musical cycle, contrasting neighboring parts in character, mode, tonality, and meter. The initial parts were created under the influence of the text. The first phrases of concerts are the most striking in terms of intonation expressiveness. Bortnyansky had several concerts, identical in name, but different in music, since the text of the psalms was used many times in the Russian choral concert.

The early ones include those that cover the first part or half of 4-voice concertos and all two-part concertos. The rest are late.

Early partes concerts incorporate various genres (lamentation, lyrical song), are distinguished by their solemn and panegyric appearance. The musical and thematic origins of early concerts go back to such popular genres as cant, march, and dance. Kantianism permeates Bortnyansky’s choral style through and through: starting from texture-into national traits and ending with thematics. Marching and dancing are typical of the themes of early concerts; marching is heard especially often in the final parts of the cycle.

Another type from the field of ceremonial marches, with a more civil content, is found in the slow movements (in Concerto No. 29 - a funeral march). Bortnyansky also contains features of dancing and marching in one theme. A typical example of a march-dance theme is the finale of the Two-Chorus Concerto No. 9.

In later concerts, viva-panegyric images give way to lyrical, concentrated ones; dance - to soulful song folklore. There is less fanfare in them, the theme becomes more expressive, solo and ensemble episodes are more developed, among which minor ones appear. It is in the later concerts that one can hear the intonations characteristic of Ukrainian lyrical songs. The features of Russian songwriting are characteristic of Bortnyansky’s melody.

Basically, all late concerts begin with slow movements or introductions performed by soloists. The fast movements in these concertos serve as a contrast.

Along with solemn, festive or majestic epic ones, Bortnyansky also has deeply lyrical concerts, imbued with concentrated reflections on life and death. They are dominated by slow tempos, minor modes, and expressive melodious melody. One of the lyrical ones is concert No. 25 “We will never be silent.” The main theme of its first part, accentuated by the third and then the sixth degree of the minor mode, is carried out alternately by pairs of solo voices.

The final part is written in the form of a fugue, the theme of which is intonationally related initial topic concert. In the first presentation, the topic is presented in two voices, with an accompanying echo. This technique is often found in Bortnyansky, emphasizing the harmonic basis of his polyphony. The richness of the choral texture with polyphonic elements constitutes one of the features of Bortnyansky’s most mature and significant concerts.

Bortnyansky's two-choir concertos are similar in structure to single-choir concertos, but their structure is more monotonous, a majestic solemn tone predominates, and moments of in-depth lyricism are less common. He achieves a striking effect using antiphonal presentation techniques. Alternately, the entering choirs merge into a single powerful sound. Bortnyansky creates various contrasts between groups of voices, distinguished from individual voices. Thus, a multi-timbre choral sound and a constant change of nuances are achieved.

Concerts of a solemn panegyric nature should also include “Laudatory” (“We praise God to you”). Structurally, all Praises are the same and consist of three parts with fast and moderately fast outer sections, and a slow middle.

In Bortnyansky's concerts, the most important features of the choral style were revealed, these include thematism and its structure. It is dominated by smooth melodic movement, gradualism, and leisurely singing of the supporting tones of the mode. His themes are characterized by freedom and ease of presentation, not constrained by the text. The structure of the theme is determined not by the text, but by the laws of musical development. The theme of the concerts has varying degrees of completeness. Along with closed and even symmetrical themes (the main themes in concertos No. 14 and No. 30), many choirs have open thematic material.

Along with harmonic development, timbre development plays a leading role in formation. Timbre dialogues in many cases become the basis of the form, especially in slow movements. It is here that one can pay attention to the role of solo-ensemble episodes in the formation of concerts. Basically, all concerts use ensembles; there are even entire movements written for an ensemble of soloists (slow movements of concerts No. 11, 17, 28). In ensemble episodes (sections, parts), the timbral generosity of the texture attracts attention. Most ensembles are trios, as in partes concerts. Duets, solos and quartets are very rare. The composition of the trio is very diverse: bass tenor, alto; tenor-alto-treble. In one concert there can be from two to 12 different ensemble compositions, usually from 5-6. The initiative for contrast belongs to the ensemble and is evoked by the text: a new text usually appears from the ensemble, and then from the choir.

The first parts are characterized by the use of ensembles: from small fragments to expanded, independent sections. Almost all the later concerts (from Concerto No. 12) begin with extended ensemble formations.

The structure of the later concerts has its own characteristics. They show a gradual acceleration of tempo - from slow to fast or moderately fast. Bortnyansky uses such techniques as tonal openness in the middle parts, highlighted connectives that herald the finale, and the severity of the last part. The general structure of Bortnyansky's concerts is well known.

3. The influence of D.S.’s creativity Bortyansky on Russian musical art

Bortnyansky's fame in Russia, and his influence on the further development of Russian musical art, is primarily determined by his sacred choral works, which make up the bulk of creative heritage composer. He wrote 35 concerts for a four-voice choir, 10 concerts of praise (“We praise God to you”), 10 concerts for two choirs, 7 cherubim songs, a three-voice liturgy, separate chants of the liturgy and all-night vigil, and the most important chants of Lent. In addition to his compositions for choir, Bortnyansky is the author of a number of operas. Among them, the most famous operas are Alcides, The Rival Son, and The Falcon. Among the composer's chamber-instrumental works, a cycle of 6 sonatas for clavier stands out.

All of Bortnyansky’s spiritual choral works received official recognition as exemplary, and largely determined the style of Russian church choral singing, from the end of the 18th century until the middle of the 19th century.

In church music, Bortnyansky refuses the excesses introduced into it by Italian composers and their Russian imitators. The choral texture becomes clear and balanced. Polyphonic techniques of presentation are used sparingly, and only in those moments where the logic of musical development requires it. However, in general, the composer's style of choral presentation is based on elements that were characteristic of secular music of that era. In Kherubimskiye, which still occupy a prominent place in the church singing repertoire, one can hear intonations close to a sentimental everyday romance or urban song (Kherubimskiye Nos. 3, 6, 7). Particularly close to the composer are the intonations of Ukrainian folk songs, which were widespread in Russian musical life at the end of the 18th century (Kherubimskaya No. 1).

Bortnyansky's concert style is not alien to the features of magnificent grandeur that were characteristic of the official court art of the 18th century, and especially of Sarti's music. Indicative in this regard are Bortnyansky’s double concertos, where he achieves the effect of grandeur and power.

The best of his concerts are those in which a state of prayer and sorrow dominates. This is concert No. 32 (c-moll) “Tell me, Lord, my death.”

The first movement wonderfully expresses the mood of heartfelt sorrow, especially in the initial construction, which is entrusted to the terzetto soloists (trezeto, alto, tenor). “Mozartian” chromaticisms and intonations of “sighs” are clearly audible here. The constant variability of the rhythmic pattern is, first of all, associated with the composer’s sensitive attitude to the correct rhythmic organization of the everyday prose text of the Psalms of David.

The two middle parts are a kind of lyrical center of the concert. Choral chords sound calm and impartial. The intonations of the solo voices contain a passionate, sometimes persistent plea for mercy.

The final part of the concert is a strict and severe fugue, which is characterized by strenuous pairs of the main theme.

Conclusion

D.S. Bortnyansky went down in the history of Russian music not only as the largest choral composer, but also as the founder of the partes concert.

His work went in two directions: spiritual and secular. In his works he embodied sublime philosophical lyrics, saturated with warm human feeling. He created new type Russian choral concert, he owns 35 concerts for a four-voice mixed choir, 10 concerts for two choirs. Among his works, the quintet (1787) and the concert symphony stand out, as well as the patriotic choral song “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors” based on the words of Zhukovsky. Bortnyansky’s best concert is considered to be “I cried out to the Lord with my voice.”

In addition, Bortnyansky worked hard to cleanse church singing from contamination and distortion; at his insistence, the Synod allowed partes singing in churches only from printed notes. On the initiative of Bortnyansky, ancient chants written in “hooks” were published; he worked on the processing of ancient melodies, giving them rhythmic harmony.

Bortnyansky handled the text with care, keeping it intact, avoiding rearrangements and awkward repetitions of words. He borrowed the texts from the Psalms of David and other prayers. Behind the external religious form, the music of Bortnyansky’s spiritual choral works reveals the depth of human feelings, thoughts and experiences.

Bortnyansky's cult choral work was intertwined with folk music. So he created cants for three voices, cantatas “For the Lover of the Arts”, “Song Books”, “Orpheus’ Meeting of the Sun”, etc.; hymns, songs.

The originality of Bortnyansky's choral style was noted by major foreign musicians. Feedback from Berlioz, who heard Bortnyansky’s concerts performed by the Court Singing Chapel during his stay in St. Petersburg in 1847: “These works are marked by rare skill, a marvelous combination of shades, full-sounding harmonies and an amazing arrangement of voices.”

Bortnyansky's choral concert was democratic both in music and in purpose. It always assumed a large audience, the widest layers of listeners and performance not only in church, as part of the Liturgy, but was a musical decoration for various state ceremonies and holidays.

Concerts and other choral works of Bortnyansky were sung in everyday and musical practice: in small ensembles and choirs, in fortress chapels, in educational institutions, and in the home circle.

The concerts are very popular not only among professionals and musical educational institutions, but also among the general population.

List of used literature

1. Berlioz G. Selected articles. - M.: Gosmuzizdat, 1956. - 407 p.

2. Dobrokhotov B.V. D. S. Bortnyansky: biography of an individual. - M.: Muzgiz, 1950. - 55 p.

3. Levasheva O. E. History of Russian music. T. 1. From ancient times to the middle of the 19th century. - M.: Music, 1972. - 594 p.

4. Metallov V. Essay on the history of Orthodox church singing in Russia. - M.: Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1995. - 150 p.

5. Myasoedov A. On the harmony of Russian music (the roots of national specificity). - M.: Prest, 1998. - 141 p.

6. Porfiryeva A.L. Bortnyansky Dmitry Stepanovich // Musical Petersburg. Encyclopedic Dictionary. 18 century. Book 1. - St. Petersburg: Composer, 2000. - P. 146-153.

7. Razumovsky D. Church singing in Russia: (Experience of historical and technical presentation). Vol. 1-3. - M.: Type. T. Rees, 1867. - 400 s.

8. Rytsareva M. Composer D. Bortnyansky. M.: Muzyka, 1979. - 256 p.

9. Skrebkov S.S. Russian choral music XVII beginning XVIII century. - M.: Music, 1969. - 120 p.

10. Uspensky N.D. Old Russian singing art. - M.: Music, 1971. - 216 p.

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The work of D. S. Bortnyansky today represents a particularly relevant area for research. First of all, this is due to the revitalization of liturgical life. Bortnyansky’s music is heard in the choirs; moreover, its creator has become one of the most famous “church” composers. Despite the fact that in the period from the 18th century to the present day, sacred music has undergone a strong evolution, it should be remembered that the style of all subsequent liturgical chants adopted by the Synod, one way or another, was based on Bortnyansky.

At the same time, not all of Bortnyansky’s works are equally popular. The number of his works in the repertoire of modern choirs is limited. The lack of auditory representation makes it difficult to study the material. During the Soviet era, everything related to religion was banned. Bortnyansky’s highly artistic work, Concerto No. 32, appeared under the title “Reflection” and was perhaps the only work performed by this composer. Thus, we see that Bortnyansky’s music has recently entered a period of revival. With growing interest in the composer's work, research interest has revived.

Most of the literature about Bortnyansky is represented by monographs. The most famous of them are the books by M. G. Rytsareva “Composer D. S. Bortnyansky”, B. Dobrokhotov, K. Kovalev, V. Ivanov. Of the works devoted to Bortnyansky’s actual harmony, mention should be made of the articles by S. S. Skrebkov “Bortnyansky - the master of the Russian choral concert” and L. S. Dyachkova “The Harmony of Bortnyansky”, as well as the book by A. N. Myasoedov “On the harmony of Russian music (roots national specifics)". Similar problems were highlighted in the works of students of the Moscow Conservatory - T. Safarova, O. Puzko, T. Klimenko, N. Dontseva, E. Krainova.

Literature about Russian Baroque and Russian classicism is of enormous value. First of all, these are the works of N. A. Gerasimova-Persidskaya about the partes concert of the 17th century. The cultural features of Russian classicism can be traced through the statements of great Russian writers, in particular V. F. Odoevsky and N. V. Gogol. Irreplaceable material are articles by S.V. Smolensky and Ant. Preobrazhensky, published in the Russian Musical Newspaper and reflecting a view of Bortnyansky’s work at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Bortnyansky's work is interesting for its synthetic nature. Firstly, being a court singer, from childhood he absorbed the culture of partes singing, that is, the style of “Russian Baroque”. Secondly, Bortnyansky studied composition with the Italian master Baldassare Galuppi, who worked in St. Petersburg in those years. When the master went to Italy, he took his favorite student with him. There is information that Bortnyansky took lessons from Padre Martini, and he, as you know, was Mozart’s teacher. At the same time, Bortnyansky is a Russian composer who wrote Russian music, which has been repeatedly noted by many researchers. “Russian” was expressed mainly in sacred music, in particular in the genre of the choral concert, which is inextricably linked with Orthodox worship.

Russian classicism is a stylistically diverse phenomenon. The style arose in the 18th century rather not in an evolutionary way, but in a “revolutionary” way. Peter's reforms entailed a radical change in the entire way of life; “Europeanization” affected all spheres of life, starting with the transfer of the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg and ending with changes in the area of ​​everyday life. Connections with Europe were felt even more strongly at the royal court. Historian V. O. Klyuchevsky says that the spiritual education of Empress Catherine II herself was extremely synthetic: “Catherine was taught the Law of God and other subjects by the French court preacher Perard, a zealous servant of the pope, Lutheran pastors Dove and Wagner, who despised the pope, the school the teacher is the Calvinist Laurent, who despised both Luther and the Pope. And when she arrived in St. Petersburg, the Orthodox Archimandrite Simon of Todor was appointed her mentor in the Greek-Russian faith, who, with his theological education completed at the German university, could only be indifferent to the pope, and to Luther, and to Calvin, and to to all religious sharers of the one Christian truth."

The culture and art of the upper class also experienced a powerful renewal. N.V. Gogol writes about it this way: “Russia suddenly clothed itself in state greatness and flashed the reflection of European sciences. Everything in the young state was delighted... This delight was reflected in our poetry, or, better, he created it.”

Modern literary critic M. M. Dunaev, based on literary works that era, highlights the following features of classicism:

1. Everything is subordinated to the ideals of statehood: glorification of the state, first of all, the monarch, glorification of him.
2. Reason is the main means of self-improvement of a person and society.
3. Didacticism (teachings, reasoning).
4. One-sidedness, illustrativeness.
5. Rationalism, which is partly generated by the schematism of the ideology that feeds it. The ideal of statehood represents a clear and precise hierarchy, builds a pyramid of values ​​that is understandable to everyone, and a person’s understanding of his place in this pyramid gives a sense of stability and order. The same orderliness can be seen in any work of classicism. A typical example of this order is the Park of Versailles.

One of the features of Russian classicism is that the self-consciousness of Russian people, Orthodox in its essence, cannot come to terms with the ideal of Reason as the highest perfection (note that in European classicism the rationalistic interpretation of mythological, ancient and biblical subjects predominates). Thus, Lomonosov became one of the founders of the tradition of poetic transcription of sacred texts (the Psalter, the book of Job). Derzhavin wrote odes of spiritual content - “Christ”, “God”, “Immortality of the soul”. Perhaps this is why the proportion of Bortnyansky’s spiritual works is much greater than secular ones. They are the ones that are of the greatest value and still live in the repertoire of modern church and secular choral groups. It is here that the individual features of Bortnyansky’s compositional style are revealed more fully, while in many secular works one can only notice a more or less accurate adherence to the laws of the classical style.

Such imitation is more than natural. In the 18th century, a whole galaxy of Italian composers worked in Russia - Francesco Araya, Baldassare Galuppi, Tomaso Traetta, Giovanni Paisiello, Vincenzo Manfredini, Giuseppe Sarti. Foreign opera companies opened in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and an Italian court opera was created. In addition to operas, sacred music was written. For example, Sarti wrote 2 Liturgies, 10 spiritual concerts, and individual chants.

Russian composers also received professional education in Europe: Galuppi gave lessons to Bortnyansky, Sarti to Davydov, Degtyarev, Vedel, Kozlovsky. Fomin and Berezovsky made educational trips to Italy.

It is significant that Russian musical classicism is enriched with Baroque features. In Europe, Russian composers found a certain “transitional form” from one style to another. This synthesis was reflected in harmony, texture and shape. In addition, having learned to “speak a foreign language,” they did not lose their national traits. A researcher of the national specifics of Russian harmony, A. N. Myasoedov, writes the following about this: “... from the time of Peter the Great, the quite conscious introduction of the experience of foreign musicians into Russian music began. ... One should not see in this, however, only a positive ... or only a negative aspect associated with the introduction of a foreign element into music. By introducing into music an element that was not so alien as it was new to it, they ultimately contributed to its enrichment.”

Bortnyansky's harmony is entirely based on the classical style. The main aspects of classical harmony are: mode-tonal centralization, homophonic-harmonic structure, functional metrics and functional formation. In concerts we hear clear, mostly triadic harmonies, and we see structures that at first glance are familiar from Western European models:

All three aspects are met here. There is modem-tonal centralization (d-moll), a homophonic warehouse, and a functional metric. Before us classic version a large sentence of eight bars. The only alarming thing is the absence of a subdominant; harmony is represented by two functions. But this example is the exception rather than the rule.

The absolutely “correct” eight-bar is sometimes difficult to find. Most often, Bortnyansky writes structures with missing measures, their metric functions drop out. Moreover, sometimes it is not clear which bar is missing. So, in this example, the first or second bar is missing.

If we try to reconstruct the missing bars, the following structures are formed:

It is noteworthy that the same technique is used in operatic forms. Thus, the instrumental and vocal presentation of the main theme in Alcides’ aria from the opera “Alcides” is a long sentence with the fifth bar missing. In the reprise he appears in his place.

The functions of bars turn out to be even more “demagnetized” when Bortnyansky turns to polyphonic forms. Here the laws of polyphonic harmony come into force; classical metric functions lose their meaning. There is a feeling of fluidity of form, very characteristic of works of the Baroque era. The fugue in the finale of the 32nd concert is reminiscent of Baroque examples, in particular, the works of J. S. Bach:

It is therefore not surprising that for Bortnyansky the inclusion of rhetorical devices of Baroque origin is of great importance. N. Diletsky wrote about the mandatory use of rhetorical figures in composition in his treatise “The Idea of ​​Musician Grammar.” This was a necessary condition for the accurate transmission of the liturgical text: “The natural rule, called natural in Latin, is when the creator of a song, according to the power of speech, creates things to sing. In the image let there be speech descending to the earth, such as creative singing descends to the earth with speeches. Or the creator writes ascended to heaven

Bortnyansky follows Diletsky’s instructions almost literally. Thus, an upward movement in the volume of an octave is found in the slow introduction of Concerto No. 16 on the words “I will exalt Thee, my God.”

Concerto No. 24 “Lift up my eyes to the mountains,” on the contrary, begins with a deep bass line. I am reminded of the psalm “From the depths I cry” (De profundis). This is no coincidence: both psalms - the 120th and 129th - are combined common theme and are called “Song of Ascension”.

Very often the composer uses fanfare intonations to depict wind instruments (trumpets) or even the human voice.

As an example of “signature” rhetoric, the 15th concert “Come, let us sing, ye people,” written to the text of the Sunday stichera, is indicative. It is no coincidence that the “golden” key of D-dur was chosen. Here the composer follows the tradition of the Baroque masters, connecting this tonality with the affect of joy and jubilation. Bortnyansky has five D major concertos out of thirty-five, their texts are united by a common content - praise to the Lord:

1. No. 8 “Your mercy, O Lord, I will sing forever (Ps. 88)
2. No. 13 “Rejoice in God our helper” (Ps. 80, 95, 104)
3. No. 15 “Come, let us sing praises” (Sunday stichera)
4. No. 23 “I will praise the name of my God with song” (Ps. 88)
5. No. 31 “Clap all the nations with your hands” (Ps. 46)

In the concert under consideration, the “golden” key of D-dur is contrasted with the “black” h-minor - the key of death and sorrow. The text of the second part is “Crucified and Buried.” Associations involuntarily arise with the tonal plan of Bach's High Mass in B minor. In the roll call of voices one can hear lamento intonations, the origins of which are most likely in Italian opera. And the descending chromatic move (passus duriusculus) in the bass is a well-known rhetorical figure that accurately conveys the meaning of the text:

The link between the second and third parts - “and resurrected” - is a modulation from H minor to D major. The intonations of the motif of the ascending sequence are reminiscent of the intonations of “Et resurrexit” from the same Bach mass.

Connections with the Baroque era are also found in content. Let's compare the number of works written on religious themes in the Baroque era (Handel's oratorios, Bach's passions and masses, even instrumental works are imbued with spiritual themes) and in the era of classicism, where the secular principle clearly predominated. L. S. Dyachkova calls Bortnyansky’s style “restrained, noble and sublime.”

The concert genre was widespread in both the 17th and 18th centuries. In the era of classicism it was a purely secular genre. Bortnyansky, in his work, turns specifically to the spiritual concert, which also speaks of connections with the Baroque era.

In choral concerts Bortnyansky uses texture type, characteristic of a partes concerto - the contrast between solo and tutti. Turning off the choral mass, the timbre contrast can emphasize the introduction of a secondary theme. Pompous tutti is a hallmark of main themes and solemn conclusions. Roll calls of voices occur most often in running sections.

N. Diletsky, in his treatise, set out the following rules for writing a concerto: “We love to take the verse into creation, and then reason and decompose it - where there will be a concert, that is, voice by voice struggle, and where everything is together. Be in the image, taking this speech to creation - “The Only Begotten Son”, so I decompose: Let the Only Begotten Son be your concert. Voluntary - all together, incarnate - a concert, and the Ever-Virgin Mary - everything. Crucified - a concert, death by death - all, One - a concert, Glorified to the Father - all, one according to others or all together, which will be according to your will. I explain the image for your teaching, which is in agreement with you, which will be in three vowels and others. This is in concerts, watch it."

This principle is common to all works called “concert” (think concerti grossi or concerts for soloist and orchestra). The concert genre has its origins in the Baroque era. Relief textural contrasts create a feeling of multi-figures and frescoes, so characteristic of Handel’s oratorios. Thus, the European Baroque tradition is represented in Bortnyansky’s concerts in its entirety.

In the formation of the building, the Baroque-Renaissance influence was even more pronounced. Usually the form of Bortnyansky’s concertos is defined as continuous-cyclic, originating from the form of a partes concerto. However, paradoxical as it may sound, the origins of the form should be sought in Bortnyansky’s operas. In the opera Alcides, forms were found that combine the features of the baroque aria da capo and the classical sonata form. The same type is found in Mozart's early operas; G. Abert points to its first appearance in Johann Christian Bach.

In the work of N. Dontseva “Classicism in St. Petersburg...” it first received a theoretical explanation and was called the “form of a large aria.” As you can see in the diagram below, the first movement is an ancient sonata form, the second is an episode, the third is a reprise with themes in the main key:

The same thing can be seen in concerts.

D. S. Bortnyansky. Concert No. 2 C major

The first movement is a sonata exposition, but closed, with a return to the main key. middle part(or parts) - independent, episodic in nature. Finale - reprise. The reprise is the main difference between the “opera” and “concert” versions. There are almost no exact thematic reprises in the finales (the exception is the 6th concert). Repetition is carried out due to the obligatory tonal isolation, the return of the size from the exposition; there may be thematic echoes, repetition of the characteristic rhythmic “core”, etc.

What prevents accurate reprisal? New text. Another principle comes into force - the motet principle. New words imply new music.

At the same time, one cannot underestimate the influence of the classical sonata-symphonic cycle on the form of Bortnyansky’s concerts. Among them there are many four-part ones, and in this case the order of the parts of the sonata-symphonic cycle is accurately reproduced.

The combination of features of all these forms gives us the right to name the form of Bortnyansky’s concerts motet-cyclic.

Let us now take a closer look at how the thematic structures are organized.

The main topic is most often a sentence or period. The favorite structure is the large sentence (8 or 16 bars).

Moves (between topics, in developments, connections between parts) usually represent a chain of sequences. Maybe the simplest modulation without a sequence, sometimes quite straightforward:

The tonal relationships between themes are never more complex than the first degree of relationship. The classic ratios predominate: T - D in major and T - Tr in minor. All the more unexpected is the holding of a secondary theme in A minor with the main theme in C major (see Part I of Concerto No. 3).

A side topic is usually less independent and more freely structured. Its introduction is usually characterized by a sparse texture (rolling voices or highlighting a group of soloists) and new text. Usually a side topic is shorter than the main topic.

From the point of view of harmony as a formative factor, we propose to consider Concerto No. 1 “Sing a new song to the Lord” (B-dur) - the composer’s first experience in this genre. This composition, on the one hand, laid a kind of “foundation” for subsequent concerts; many of them are written according to this model. On the other hand, there is a lot of unique and inimitable things here.

The concert is a continuous cycle in which four parts are distinguished. There are modulation links between movements I and II, III and IV. The tonal plan seems unusual compared to subsequent concertos: T - DD - Dp - T. The principle of the tonal circle is observed, but the subdominant sphere is absent.

Part I is a sonata exposition, the main theme of which is written in the form of a long sentence. Noteworthy is the non-square structure, which is dictated primarily by the text:

The first element of the theme is a kind of thesis, the second continues the idea expressed and restores squareness. The proposal has a number of additions. We can say that they perform the function of unfolding the thematic core; on the other hand, they balance and affirm the initially asymmetrical structure.

3 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2

A small side theme is, rather, in the nature of consolidation in the key of D. Its duration is only 5 bars. However, the text changes - “Praise Him in the church of the venerables”, a characteristic rhythmic formula appears.

Part II, C major, is march-like in nature. It is based on fanfare intonation, the “golden move of the horns.” The nature of the music is dictated by the text of the psalm - “Let Israel rejoice.” This is the smallest part in form - a large sentence with additions. Here Bortnyansky seems to deliberately avoid squareness, stretching out the seventh and eighth bars. There is a shift in the center of gravity to the cadence section.

Part III is the “lyrical center” of the concert. A bright contrast is achieved by changing the meter, mode, and comparing the keys C-dur and d-moll. This movement is written in the form of a petit rondo. The main theme is a long sentence ending on a half cadence. A side topic is two phrases of a question-and-answer structure, F-dur. The reprise is not only tonal, but also has thematic resonances with the main theme.

The finale is unique in that it is written in full sonata form. Such miniature sonata forms were also found in Bortnyansky’s arias, which served as models for concerts.

In general, we can talk about a sonata-cyclic form, where the first part is an exposition, the fourth part is a reprise. The organization of the form is based on the principles of sonata and motet. This pattern continues in subsequent concerts. But the full sonata form in the finale is almost an isolated case.

Even more interesting structures arise when homophonic and polyphonic forms are superimposed. Thus, in the finale of Concerto No. 33, the main theme is an exposition of the fugue. At the same time, this is a period of repeated construction, where the first sentence represents the stretta of the theme for sopranos and altos, and the second - the stretta for tenors and basses (diagram below). A move is nothing more than an eight-bar interlude, which is built as a sequence on a motive related to the theme. Side Theme - A brand new episodic theme. It introduces a bright contrast by changing the polyphonic type of texture to a homophonic one. In the reprise, the fugue returns, but the stretta becomes more compressed, and all voices participate in it. So the fugue is “superimposed” on the small rondo, and with a sonata-like tonal relationship (D-minor - F-dur).

Thus, Bortnyansky’s concertos are perhaps the only surviving source that combines the features of a large operatic aria and a motet. In addition, the composer worked in the genres of sacred music, and these genres are characterized by a structural connection between music and text. The text influences both shaping and metrics. Hence the lack of classical stability, weakening of clock functions, a feeling of continuity, “fluidity” of form. This feature, on the one hand, is characteristic of the Baroque era, on the other hand, it reflects the typical Russian trend time, familiar from ancient Znamenny chants.

Scientific adviser - M. I. Katunyan

The eighteenth century is glorified by many outstanding representatives of Russian culture. These include Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky. He is a talented composer with rare charm. Dmitry Bortnyansky was both a conductor and a singer. He became the creator of a new type of choral concert.

Childhood

Dmitry Bortnyansky, whose biography is described in this article, was born on October twenty-eighth, 1751. His father, Stefan Shkurat, was a Cossack who served under Hetman Razumovsky. Even before his marriage and the birth of his son, the serviceman came to the city of Glukhov and stayed there to live. He changed his last name to Bortnyansky, which was the name of his native village. After some time, he married Marina Dmitrievna Tolstoy, a Cossack widow. And soon the couple had a son, Dmitry.

The first shoots of talent

When the boy was six years old, his parents noticed his obvious talent. Dmitry had a beautiful clear voice and excellent hearing. The boy sang correctly, never out of tune. He picked up any melody on the fly; Dmitry did not need repetition to remember it. His parents, seeing his son’s talent, enrolled him in the Glukhov Singing School.

Beginning of music education

Studying was easy for Dmitry, and he himself showed great interest in music. The boy sang with great pleasure, and this was important, since the condition was set for the children that constant service was at the forefront of their education. After a short time, teachers began to make Dmitry a soloist. When the young talent went to school, the boy immediately began learning to play musical instruments.

Departure to St. Petersburg

Bortnyansky was distinguished by an amazing treble. Its purity was very important for the choir. And Dmitry was highly valued by the teachers. In 1758, the singers were sent to St. Petersburg, to the Chapel. Marina Dmitrievna baptized her son and gave him a bundle of gifts and a small icon for the journey. Dmitry Bortnyansky left his hometown and never saw his parents again.

Fateful meeting with an Italian composer

At that time, the Italian style of music was in fashion. There were many foreign maestros at court, and the technique of performing works was also appropriate. In 1763, when the mourning for Elizabeth ended, the new empress hired the Venetian bandmaster Galuppi Buronelli. This decision had a great impact on the fate of young Dmitry Bortnyansky.

At that time he enjoyed singing arias in various operas. Galuppi decided to find students for himself, one of them was Dmitry. The famous bandmaster noticed other talents of the teenager. Galuppi noticed how Dmitry literally grasped even the most complex passages, motifs and entire arias played by the composer on the fly. The teenager’s greedy desire to learn new things was also important. As a result, Galuppi, when he was going back to Italy, took Dmitry with him.

Study in Italy

Long months of training followed. Dmitry learned to play the organ and harpsichord and studied counterpoint. The young man became a regular visitor to Venetian theaters and did not miss a single significant premiere. The young musician’s works became more and more independent and professional. However, it was still too early for Dmitry to perform finished works.

Short military service

He did not enjoy the pleasant and cloudless study for long. At that time there was a war going on, and fate did not protect Dmitry from participating in it. Count Orlov unexpectedly arrived in Venice and met with Consul Marutius. A long conversation took place between influential people, and early in the morning Dmitry was brought to them.

The count offered him a position as a translator in the Russian army. A day later, Dmitry Stepanovich was already traveling in Orlov’s retinue to the allied rebels. The negotiations were successful, and after some time the young musician returned to his favorite music.

The first famous operas

In 1776, San Benedetto posters invited those wishing to attend the opera Creon, composed by Bortnyansky, a Russian musician. The work did not fail, but it did not gain much success either. The next work “Alcides” was produced by young composer already more mature. Dmitry Stepanovich was very attentive to the character of the characters, the music became more relaxed and varied. The composer tried to convey the mood of the hero, his wariness, doubts and indecision. The premiere of "Alcides" took place in Venice. The product was a resounding success.

The debut of the next opera, Quintus Fabius, took place in Modena. Dmitry Stepanovich received good reviews from the local press. Critics noted the ingenuity, grace of execution and skillful construction storyline. As a result, the performance even received the approval of the court and thunderous applause from the audience. In 1779, Dmitry Stepanovich returned to Russia.

Receiving court ranks

At first Bortnyansky became the court bandmaster. In 1784, the Italian maestro D. Paisiello had to urgently leave for his homeland, Italy. Bortnyansky was invited to replace him at the small court of Maria Fedorovna. At the same time, his duties were to fill the musical gaps in the princess’s education.

Dmitry Stepanovich has prepared an album of pieces for performance on the clavichord, piano and harpsichord. The princess liked the gift, and in April 1785 Bortnyansky became the official owner of his first, albeit low, rank. Dmitry Stepanovich received the position of collegiate assessor. In comparison with army service, he was equivalent to the rank of major.

Career at court

In 1786, the work “The Feast of the Senor” (Bortnyansky) appeared. Princess Maria Feodorovna asked to make the opera more significant. As a result, Dmitry Stepanovich wrote music for the new libretto. The opera was called "The Falcon", many motifs were taken from "Alcides". The premiere of the new work took place in October 1786. Bortnyansky’s opera “The Falcon” was a huge success.

It reflects the virtuosity and skill of the maestro. He was able to find a combination of individual arias and ballet inserts, harmoniously connecting them, conveying warmth, liberation and emotional expressiveness along with the music. The work “Falcon” has become one of the textbook works. At first the opera was performed at the Gatchina Theater, then moved to the Pavlovsky Theater. Then the work found its way onto almost all small stages.

A year later, Bortnyansky’s new masterpiece, “The Rival Son, or New Stratonics,” appeared. The work became one of the best. Then Dmitry Stepanovich began writing choral concerts. At that time it was a familiar genre. The works were performed mainly at special church services. However, concerts often took place at court celebrations, during important ceremonies. Dmitry Bortnyansky was able to change choral works in such a way that they became a new direction in music.

Over the course of several decades, he wrote more than 50 concertos. Each of them contains elements folk songs. Connoisseurs of European music spoke with admiration of Bortnyansky’s works. The choirs had wonderful melodic shades, full-voiced harmonies and were distinguished by a free arrangement of voices.

In a leadership position in the Court Chapel

Since 1796, Dmitry Stepanovich managed the court chapel. The singers' service was not easy, and Bortnyansky knew this firsthand. He was able to gradually change a lot in the Chapel. Bortnyansky decided to create a separate stronghold of singers who perform works without instrumental accompaniment and relieve the new group from participating in performances.

As a result, the best school of choral art was created. Singers no longer took part in theatrical productions. In 1800, the Capella became an independent music department.

In 1801, Dmitry Stepanovich was appointed director. The chapel grew under his leadership and became very popular. Dmitry Bortnyansky was in great demand as a teacher and became an indisputable musical authority. His school began to be considered first-class, and he trained many professional choristers and bandmasters.

At the same time, Dmitry Stepanovich was engaged in his own art, creating more and more attractive romances, instrumental music, chamber works and sonatas. Bortnyansky met the new century at the peak of his fame. The work “The Rival Son, or New Stratonica” was associated with the heyday of the Chapel. This is the most significant musical piece by the composer of all created based on French texts.

Bortnyansky's hobbies

Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (1751-1825) was a versatile person. Contemporaries called him handsome, strict in his service and condescending to people. All his life, Dmitry Stepanovich was devoted to art, and not only music.

He participated in literary evenings and was an excellent connoisseur of fine arts and painting. Dmitry Stepanovich became interested in collecting paintings back in Italy. There he also found time to study the history of European arts. It was in Italy that Bortnyansky began collecting a collection of paintings, which later received high praise from art connoisseurs.

Dmitry Stepanovich brought all the collected canvases to his homeland. He loved to show the collection to his guests. Bortnyansky also had to participate in the design of palaces in Gatchina and Pavlovsk. He was a constant consultant in the field of architecture and painting. Therefore, the design of the buildings is partly his merit. Dmitry Bortnyansky chose and bought canvases for

In 1804, the composer was admitted to the ranks of honorary academicians. Since the 90s. he immersed himself in the creation of sacred music, especially choral concerts. In them, he often went beyond strict church boundaries. Bortnyansky's compositions were influenced by opera, marching and dance rhythms. The slow parts of the works sometimes resembled urban romances.

Dmitry Stepanovich was never a member of Masonic lodges. However, some of his hymns were considered a priority for secret societies. Bortnyansky’s work “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors” also entered the history of Russian culture. In this masterpiece, Dmitry Stepanovich even surpassed himself, as it turned out to be a drinking choral song. It could also be performed in a solo version.

Bortnyansky's creativity

The work of Dmitry Bortnyansky cannot be contained in just one collection. The composer wrote a variety of music. For the court Chapel - spiritual, for the small court - secular compositions. Many choral concertos are written with clear signs of a classical style. The works are mainly of 3 or 4 separate cycles, not thematically related.

The most famous operatic works are those that Bortnyansky created in Italy. These first works are still considered the “golden collection”. Instrumental collections were written by Dmitry Stepanovich already in the 80s.

Unfortunately, very few works of this direction have survived to this day. Most of these musical masterpieces are one-part. In instrumental works, many connoisseurs note that national Ukrainian features are noticeable.

Personal life of the composer

The wife of Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky was the modest, calm Anna Ivanovna. They had a son, whom they named Alexander. When he grew up, he served as a lieutenant in the guard. Over time, Alexander married and had two children - a daughter, Marya, and a son, named after his grandfather.

Bortnyansky's grandson followed in the footsteps of his famous relative. The boy had a wonderful voice, and Dmitry Stepanovich enrolled his grandson as a singer in the Chapel. The Bortnyansky family lived in a large two-story house, decorated with an oak carved door. Dmitry Stepanovich had his own office, in which he liked to spend time thoughtfully in the evenings.

Alexandra Mikhailovna, a 27-year-old girl, was also counted among the close people. No one, not even herself, knew anything about her parents. While still a young girl, Alexandra was sheltered by Dmitry Stepanovich and his wife, and from then on the girl began to be considered a member of the family. The Bortnyanskys raised her as their own daughter.

last years of life

The court chapel remained the “brainchild” of Dmitry Stepanovich until the last years of his life. During these years, he taught and worked with his students with even greater pedantry, trying to maximize their singing.

All Bortnyansky's days were filled to capacity. He walked home along the Moika embankment, crossed Senate Square and turned right at the corner of Millionnaya Street. Having reached the house, he went up to his office, and sometimes sat for a long time in thought. Old age was taking its toll, Dmitry Stepanovich was very tired in recent years.

He worked hard on the complete publication of his works. He invested a lot of his own money in books, but never saw many of them. Dmitry Stepanovich managed to publish only part of the choral concerts that were written in his youth. The complete collection of his works, consisting of ten volumes, appeared only in 1882, edited by Tchaikovsky.

Composer Dmitry Bortnyansky died in St. Petersburg on September 27 (October 10 according to the new calculation) in 1825. On this day he called the Chapel Choir to his place. The composer asked to perform one of his concerts, and died quietly to his favorite sounds of music.

Dmitry Stepanovich was buried on Vasilievsky Island, at the Smolensk cemetery. An obelisk and a monument were erected at the grave of the famous Russian composer. Then an act of vandalism followed, and in 1953 the burial was moved to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, to the Pantheon of Cultural Workers.

In memory of the great Russian composer, the School of Arts in Sumy, the Chernigov Chamber Choir and a street in Lviv were named after Bortnyansky. In the homeland of Dmitry Stepanovich, in Glukhov, a monument was erected, which was sculpted by the sculptor I. A. Kolomiets. In the 90s. Ukrainian artist Natalya Sviridenko created the Bortnyansky Trio (soprano, flute and harpsichord).

The legacy of a great composer

After the death of her husband, Anna Ivanovna gave manuscripts of works and engraved music boards to the Chapel for safekeeping. However, his choral concerts were increasingly performed, and his secular works in the form of instrumental and operatic works were gradually forgotten.

They remembered this music of Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky many years later, only in 1901, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Found by chance in the Chapel early writings, their exhibition was arranged. Among them were the following famous works, like “Alcides”, “Falcon”, Quint” and others. The keyboard collection, which was dedicated to Princess Maria Feodorovna, has also been preserved.

They started talking about secular writings again another 50 years later. By this time, many of the composer’s works were lost forever, since after 1917 the Chapel’s archive was disbanded into different storage facilities. Some of Bortnyansky’s collections have never been found. Works dedicated to Princess Maria Feodorovna also disappeared.

09.28.1826 (11.10). - Composer Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky died

About Bortnyansky and his sacred music

Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (1751–28.09.1825), composer. Born in Glukhov, Ukraine, into a Cossack family. The future composer learned the first basics of musical art at the singing school of his hometown. In 1758, the capable boy was taken as a singer to St. Petersburg in the Court Chapel. In 1769 he was sent to Italy to study music, where he lived for ten years. In Venice and Modena he staged the operas “Creon”, “Quintus Fabius”, “Alcides”; At the same time, he created choral works based on Catholic and Protestant religious texts. This foreign teaching gave Bortnyansky experience in organizing performing arts, but, unfortunately, “Westernized” him as a composer.

In 1779 Bortnyansky returned to Russia. In 1780–1784 - Kapellmeister of the Court Singing Chapel, led choirs in the Land Noble Corps and the Smolny Institute. In 1758 Bortnyansky was appointed bandmaster at the “small” court. Since 1796, Bortnyansky has been the manager of the Court Singing Chapel, the main choir of the Russian state, and since 1801 - director of the Court Singing Chapel. In 1804 he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. In 1791–1814 wrote a number of cantatas and oratorios based on poetry, Yu.A. Neledinsky-Meletsky, M.M. Kheraskova. In 1816, Bortnyansky was appointed censor of all notes of sacred music published in Russia. Under Bortnyansky, the performing skills of the court choir reached great heights, and the position and education of singers improved significantly.

In the 18th century, in the absence of sound recording and reproduction devices, in the absence of radio, live music was an important part of noble and court life, and therefore in the grand ducal estate it was constantly heard both on holidays and on weekdays. Bortnyansky’s duties included creating works for all possible needs of members of the family of the heir to the throne. The composer's music adorned family celebrations with illuminations and fireworks, people danced to it in the palace at balls and masquerades, his marches accompanied the parades and military entertainments of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, and on summer evenings in the pavilions of the park or directly under open air his romances, sonatas and plays were played. Later, to the music of Bortnyansky, in Pavlovsk they celebrated his return as a winner.

In 1792, Empress Maria Feodorovna allocated Dmitry Stepanovich a plot of land with a house and a large garden on the high bank of the Tyzva River, next to the Bertonov Bridge, and with a beautiful view, in her favorite residence. Near the manor house, the composer built premises for the summer residence of court singers from St. Petersburg. Rehearsals were also held there and sometimes concerts were given.

In St. Petersburg, Bortnyansky had his own house on B. Millionnaya Street, 9, which has survived to this day (in Soviet times, “Khalturin Street”). There was a magnificent art gallery assembled by the composer there. The composer died in this house on September 27, 1825. According to legend, sensing the approach of death, he called the choir singers to his place and asked them to sing his work “How sorrowful art thou to my soul.” With its last sounds, the composer's heart stopped beating. Bortnyansky was buried in the Smolensk cemetery, and with the creation of a necropolis of art masters in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in 1937, his ashes and a monument - a granite obelisk were moved to the monastery’s memorial park.

As the head of the Court Chapel and the author of sacred works, Bortnyansky had a great influence on church singing in Russia in the 19th century. Bortnyansky's spiritual and musical works include about a hundred liturgical chants (including two-horn ones), about fifty spiritual concerts, liturgy, and arrangements of traditional chants. This entire repertoire was performed everywhere throughout the 19th century; works such as " Cherubic Hymn No. 7", Lenten trio" May my prayer be corrected", irmos of the canon of St. Andrey Kritsky " Helper and Patron", Christmas and Easter concerts, are heard in Russian churches to this day.

However, it should be noted that many of them are distinguished by excessive pomp and beauty, “concert-like” - to the detriment of prayerfulness, especially works for large polyphonic choirs. It was a tribute to the general spirit and style of metropolitan life of that time, a unique expression of the spirit of Peter’s reforms in church music. The former Old Believer singing art was preserved mainly in the provinces and in large monasteries.

In the capitals, the 18th century became a period of decline both in icon painting and in church singing, which became increasingly secularized, especially in the second half of the century, when invited Italian masters began working at court: among other things, they wrote music in Orthodox texts and trained the singers of the Court Chapel, who, along with services, often sang in opera.

Author's creativity in church music in this era also often acquired secular features and even came into contact with opera, which is also noticeable in Bortnyansky. His style is oriented towards classicism (with elements of sentimentalism), however, this is skillfully combined with the basics of traditional everyday singing, using folk song intonations, including Little Russian ones.

However, the first attempts to return to ancient Russian singing date back to Bortnyansky’s era, and Bortyansky himself tried to revive it in adaptations of ancient chants. He was followed by another employee of the Court Chapel - Archpriest Pyotr Turchaninov. The model of “harmonic singing” they created (that is, a polyphonic arrangement of traditional melodies according to the laws of classical harmony) was used in the works of composers of the St. Petersburg school, such as G.A. Lomakin, N.I. Bakhmetev, G.F. Lvovsky, A.A. Arkhangelsky and others, up to the twentieth century.

The idea of ​​returning to national principles in music and searching for one’s own Russian harmony received theoretical justification in the works of V.F. Odoevsky, Archpriest Dimitry Razumovsky and other authors (mainly associated with Moscow as the custodian of ancient traditions), and then in creative experiments (in several adaptations of chants made by him in the last years of his life), and starting from the turn of the 1880s. – in works and transcriptions, A.K. Lyadova, S.I. Taneyev and other composers. This process of “nationalization” of Russian music can be compared with the development of “Slavophilism” in the field of ideology.

Materials used:
http://www.romance.ru/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=d-6-3&item=3
http://slovari.yandex.ru/dict/krugosvet

Discussion: 11 comments

When “born in Ukraine” is written by publications or people who are not burdened by knowledge of the historical truth about the separation of an entire part of Russian territory from another part of it, this can somehow be understood. But this site is Orthodox and patriotic, and among the people who created it and participate in its functioning there are educated people and, moreover, possessing thorough and deep historical knowledge. So why do we continue to use the artificial ethnonym “Ukraine” invented by our enemies, when in fact these lands are called LITTLE RUSSIA?
I don't understand this.
Christ save you.

good site

small addition: Dmitry Stepanovich was born on October 28, 1751, and his ashes were transferred in 1953: in 1937, the manager of the Court Singing Chapel, if they were transferred somewhere, it would certainly not be to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Thank you. The year of transfer of ashes has been corrected. But with a date of birth in different sources inconsistency. If 28.10 - what style?

With delay. Before the revolution, along with the historical name Little Russia, the word “Ukraine” was used in the geographical meaning of the Russian outskirts, and only people who are not burdened with knowledge of the historical truth can object to this, giving this word an allegedly national meaning.
See: F.A. Gaida. Historical information about the origin and use of the word “Ukrainians”

the date of birth 10/28 follows the new style as it is always in tandem with 10/11, which means the old style is 11/10/1751. By the way, at the beginning of the article you have a typo in the year of death 1826/1825

Sorry, I did not understand. If 28.10 new. style at the time of birth, then according to the old style in the 18th century this corresponds to 17.09. If already now (for example, Wikipedia) the birth is dated October 28th, then this is 15.10 Art. Check it out.

You are absolutely right October 28th according to modern style. now, since all the reference books are modern (post-WWII), and I mistakenly added 13 instead of subtracting, so it turned out 10.11. instead of 15.10 st.st.

And yet, on what day (which saints) was Bortnyansky born in 1751 according to Orthodox Julian calendar, according to which Russia lived?

October 15/28, 1751: Venerable Euthymius the New, Thessalonica - Venerable Martyr Lucian, Presbyter of Antioch - Hieromartyr Lucian of Pechersk - Saint John, Bishop of Suzdal; and in the 19th century the Icon was also added Mother of God, called the "Different of Loaves"

I can also look at the calendar. The question is the exact date.

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