The concept of "Russian classicism" - rather from the field of general art history - was not popular in musicology. Russian music of the post-Petrine period was considered in the mainstream of a special ideological orientation, which did not allow fixing a multi-genre panorama of the style of the time.
The great importance of rapprochement with Western European art, especially Italian, is noted; influence of baroque, sentimentalism and classical style. However, the concept of the classical style is formed on a broader genre basis, associated with traditional spiritual and musical creativity. But it was precisely it that remained out of sight, although it was in it that characteristic phenomena were observed that retained their strength during the subsequent time.
As is known, Italy played a special historical role in the "style of time" (18th century), which gave Russia not only such maestros as Araya, Sarti, Galuppi, and others, but also educated many future talented composers - Russian Italians.
Characteristic classicist features
Europeanization took place in both secular and sacred music. And if for the former it is a completely natural process, for the spiritual, rooted in age-old national traditions, it is difficult and painful. Brightly and expressively in its own way, the famous classical tonal system is represented precisely in Russian spiritual and choral literature, the creators of which were learned musicians, European educated people - music that has not disappeared from the historical stage and has not lost its significance in our modern culture.
Its creators include: Stepan Anikievich Degtyarev (1766-1813) - disciple of Sarti, conductor of Count Sheremetev; Artemy Lukyanovich Vedel (1770-1806) - also a student of Sarti, who was the choir director in Kiev; Stepan Ivanovich Davydov (1777-1825) - a student of Sarti, and then director of the imperial theaters in Moscow; Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky (1745-1777) - a student of Martini the Elder (Bologna), an honorary member of many academies in Italy. Has this musical contribution survived to this day? At the beginning of the XX century. collections were published (for example, edited by E. S. Azeev, N. D. Lebedev), which contained works by Degtyarev, Vedel, Bortnyansky; at the end of the century they are reprinted and, therefore, become repertoire and in demand.
A special place in the music of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. took over the work of Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (1752-1825), a pupil of Galuppi, a composer who, according to Metallov, discovered "the newest period in the history of harmonic singing", "a new direction in partes singing." The novelty of his musical career lies in a number of interrelated ideas, such as: a deviation from the Italian style, which absorbed the freedom of predecessors; drawing attention to the meaning of the text, bypassing the musical and effective techniques of the language; finally, appeal to the ancient Russian heritage through the processing of tunes and the Project for the reconstruction of national songwriting. Bortnyansky's creations have not faded over time: to this day they continue to sound in churches and concerts, are republished and reproduced in excellent performances.
The musical activities of these composers are related by some general ideas inherent in the style of the time. They concerned changes in the field of the genre system, which, having preserved much of the past, was supplemented by concerts, individual chants of the year circle.
The concerts of this period differed from those that appeared in part music (in particular, in Diletsky's): for the concerts of Russian Italians, a rather clear form is characteristic, consisting of 3-4 parts with different texts, in different tempos and moods; a symmetrical rhythm is characteristic, which subordinates the text in the Church Slavonic language; Finally, the classic major-minor key is characteristic, which realizes itself in a movable timbre structure.
Russian musical classicism, having assimilated the style of Western music, carried out a kind of transplantation of tonal ideas onto an object unusual for European music. The genre system of Russian church music is an area of specific forms and timbre settings generated by specific content, themes and, finally, liturgical tradition. To introduce a harmonic tonality to the place where the ancient Russian modal system reigned supreme for many centuries means completely changing the paradigm of sacred music and approving a new system.
Total system
The tonal system, historically prepared by the creative research of a number of musicians in the pre-classical period, is the primary sign of the classicist thinking of Russian composers of this time. In combination with a genre orientation, this system takes on not only clear enough outlines, but also in some, for example Bortnyansky, a complete expression. At the same time, the traces of baroque thinking do not completely disappear and make themselves felt in the style of musical composition.
What are the specific expressive means, the formal system used by the so-called Russian Italians of modern times?
Our ear quite clearly distinguishes a certain vocabulary and word usage, in other words, units of the pitch system and the connection between them. This dictionary is composed of thirds chords, namely triads - consonant phonism, and seventh chords - dissonant phonism. This kind of sounding matter fills many musical compositions, forming their living flesh, almost without regard for either the artistic task or the genre of the work.
The choice affected not only the chord dictionary, but also the harmonic composition. The centuries-old scale system, based on the 12-tone church scale, was completely supplanted by the 7-step major and minor. Europeanization is two frets instead of eight voice-frets; it is the change of the variety of modality by the uniformity of tonality; it is the idea of centralizing the system instead of the variability of foundations. However, the old system has not "sunk into oblivion", has not been erased from the folk singing memory: having received the status of secondary, it gradually revived - a kind of "delayed renaissance" - in theory and in practice. And the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. - this is a clear confirmation.
So, the building of the tonal system is erected on the basis of interethnic contacts, is built according to the universal laws of beauty; and this law finds clear expression in the formal system - musical material and ways of handling and manipulating it.
The sound-pitch organization of musical compositions is characterized by a characteristic consistency of various levels, and the law of creating internal balance governs sound relations near and at a distance. This is expressed:
- in the interconnection and mutual influence of the parts that form a complete work - the macro level;
- in the unification of chords, held together by gravitation towards the tonal center - the micro level;
- in the presence of two - major and minor - scales, gradually entering into the exchange and synthesis of constituent tones and chords.
Works for choir
Works for the choir on sacred themes are examples of the music of Russian classicism, the features of which are read in their artistic time and artistic space.
Galuppi (1706-1785), the author of a number of Italian operas (mainly opera-buffa), as well as cantatas, oratorios and clavier sonatas, while working in St. Petersburg and Moscow, began to compose music for Orthodox worship. Naturally, the Italian composer did not set goals, firstly, to study the features of the ancient Russian musical system, and, secondly, to change his already established musical language. Galuppi used the same musical words in terms of other verbal texts.
The musical language of this "Italian, who wrote music for the court choir", mixed with the Russian dialect of his followers. Galuppi, the teacher of Bortnyansky, is known in church circles as the author of concerts ("The heart is ready", "The Lord will hear thee") and individual chants (for example, "Good-looking Joseph", "Only Begotten Son", "The Grace of the World", etc.).
The musical system also has classical outlines in the spiritual and choral works of Sarti (1729-1802), whose teaching extended to famous Russian Italians (Degtyarev, Vedel, Davydov, Kashin, etc.). An opera composer (seria and buffa), head of the Imperial Court Chapel, Sarti also composed Orthodox music, which absorbed the stylistics of the composer's opera and instrumental works. Particularly indicative are his spiritual concerts, a genre that has become firmly established in the practice of Russian composers. "Rejoice the People" by Sarti is a solemn Easter concert, characteristic of this musician's technique of composition. The form, consisting of a number of blocks, is not formed under the authority of the text, but, on the contrary, under the authority of the musical image, which leads to numerous repetitions of words and phrases varying in melodic-harmonic turns.
The tonal-harmonic system is extremely clear: the rhythmically prolonged TSDT-formula would have sounded intrusive and primitive, if not for the textured-timbre transformations, combining solo and tutti, vertical and horizontal consonances. The music is expressive and accessible.
The spiritual works of Sarti, who was considered an "outstanding composer", were published in Russia - both in the form of small pieces (Cherubic songs, "Our Father," my heart"). They were included in collections (for example, M. Goltison, N. Lebedev), along with the works of other old masters - Vedel, Degtyarev, Davydov, Bortnyansky, Berezovsky - forming a single layer of culture in demand at the beginning of the 20th century.
The few works of M. S. Berezovsky (1745-1777) "bear the stamp of a strong musical talent and stand out noticeably from a number of contemporary composers" - so they wrote at the beginning of the 20th century. Metals rightly considers the concert "Do not reject me in my old age" as his best work. This concert, says Fr. Razumovsky, has long been ranked among our classical works”. In addition to the concert, Berezovsky developed the genre of "participatory", close in function to the concert, for example: "Create Angels", "In Eternal Memory", "The Chalice of Salvation" - and also wrote the hymn "I Believe" and other chants.
His concert "Our Father", a solemn and bright hymn, consisting of several parts, marked by an expressive change in tempo and tonalities, has survived in the performing repertoire to this day. A typical European system manifests itself at different levels of choral composition, in other words, it realizes its artistic resources in structural and syntactic terms.
What is the independence, originality of Berezovsky, which Metallov noted as a national feature? Applying the already fully developed European tonal system, the honorary member of the Bologna Academy could not speak a language incomprehensible to others. However, his musical speech is not devoid of a personal principle, which was facilitated by a number of reasons: a spiritual text dictating a figurative structure; liturgical genre, which determines the way of expressing thoughts; a musical form generated by both, realizing a specific artistic task in space-time. And finally, Berezovsky's music is the result of comprehending the meaning of spiritual poetry, the result of an exciting emotional interpretation.
The works of M. S. Berezovsky are few in number, but they stand out noticeably against the background of the work of his contemporaries. "I Believe", "Do not reject me during the strictness" (concert), "The Lord shall reign" (concert), "Create angels", "In eternal memory", "The Chalice of Salvation", "Out into the whole earth" - all these are spiritual - musical compositions published at the beginning of the 20th century provide considerable material for the recognition of the style of the musical language, its tonal and harmonic features.
SA Degtyarev (Dekhtyarev, 1766-1813) is the lost name of the former serf Count Sheremetev, who was educated in St. Petersburg (from Sarti) and in Italy, a musician who at one time was considered a "prominent spiritual composer", performed and revered. The composer worked mainly in the genre of the concert, for example: "This is the day of joy and joy", "My soul will magnify", "God is with us", "Shout to God all the earth", etc., where he achieved a certain success. Known for his works in other genres - Cherubim, "Grace of the world", "Praise the name of the Lord", "Worthy" and others. Degtyarev outlived his time: his compositions, according to Lisitsyn, were extremely common in choirs at the beginning of the XX century; now they are being republished and possibly sung. We are interested in him as a representative of Russian classicism, who left a considerable cultural heritage.
Like other Russian Italians, the composer worked in a characteristic figurative-genre system, using his contemporary musical language.
At the beginning of the last century, Degtyarev was in fashion, which indicates the demand for his music in certain circles. This is eloquently evidenced by the musical and publishing announcement: "Godfather ubo David", "Bow, O Lord, Thy ear" (concert), "My God, my God, morning to You" (concert), "Our Father" No. 2, "Come let's ascend to the mountain of the Lord "(concert)," This is the day of the Lord "," From the heavenly circles "- predominantly concert pieces.
A. L. Vedel (1770-1806) is another talented Russian composer of the 18th century, whose name for some reason did not get into the textbooks of the history of music, although his works continue to sound at the beginning of the third millennium, and his notes are reissued and reoriented. The melodiousness and harmony of his spiritual and musical compositions, at one time perceived as sentimentality, sweetness and tenderness, is in fact the result of hearing the spiritual text - the fundamental principles of his compositions.
“Open the doors of repentance”, “On the rivers of Babylon” - hymns of Great Lent; irmosi of the canon "Resurrection Day" for Easter; irmosi of the canon for the Nativity of Christ - these are the works that do not lose popularity both in modern liturgical singing and in artistic performance. Notable for “hitting the target accurately,” these compositions, like Wedel's best concertos, concentrate the energy of repentance and sorrow, triumph and joy. And although much remained lost in the thick of time, Vedel was described as "the most outstanding spiritual composer" of his time. A disciple of Sarti and heir to the Italian and Russian-Ukrainian traditions, Wedel realized his talent in the conditions of Russian classicism in the 18th century.
The organic combination of South Russian and Moscow traditions was reflected in the stylistics of his spiritual and musical compositions - no matter what genre the composer worked in. But a special place is occupied by the genre of the concert, which has taken root in practice with the "light hand" of Galuppi, for example: "How long, Lord," "Heavenly King," "In prayers, the relentless Mother of God." With a sufficient genre variety, the pitch system, adapting to the canonical text, retains its outlines. This property is not a feature of Wedel alone, it is observed in many "Russian Italians".
Specific music material
“Open the doors of repentance” (No. 1: tenor 1, tenor 2, bass) is a genre-free genre form, consisting of three blocks of stichera, differing in texture, melodic-harmonic material and rhythm. An open tonal plan (F-dur, g-moll, d-moll) forms an open form with a subdominant-mediant orientation. The logic of the harmonic system, based on the major-minor duality, consists in the texture-variant development of the classic functional formula TSDT. Tertsovo-sixth duplications, supporting functional basses, linearly-activated voice leading - all this forms the characteristic phonism of the chant. Despite the seeming banality, the music of the composition "touches the hearts" by the sincerity and sincerity of the feeling awakened by the word, the location in the service of the Lenten Triodion.
Comparison with "Repentance" by Bortnyansky, composed like "Helper and Patron", reveals, on the one hand, the same intonational connections with the South Russian everyday life, and on the other, a different author's approach, the meaning of which is the severity of texture, the unity of the tonal plan and rhythmic pulsation …
"Christ is born", the irmosi of the canon on Christmas Day, differ from the usual chant in the "elegant" texture, flexible rhythmic movement, melodic and harmonic brilliance. The concert style of the stylistics is also reflected in the fact that each of the parts is its own image dictated by the canonical text. The features of the classical system are in the whole set of means, starting from the fret and chord material and ending with harmonic connections inside. The typical shaping of the canon - the succession of nine songs with different lyrics - also gives rise to a specific tonal plan, which is developed by the composer on the basis of the classical ratios of tunings, but with the dominant position of the main one (C-major).
If we describe the harmonic structure, then it will turn out to be stereotyped: authentic turns, sequences with secondary dominants, full cadences, tonic and dominant organ points, deviations in the tonality of the first degree of kinship, etc. But the point is not in the formulas, although this is also important for the style of that time … Wedel is a master of choral texture, which he skillfully sings according to models of classical tonality, develops in different timbre versions (solo - all), in different register colors and pulsating density of the choral sound.
The classicist harmonic tonality is heard with particular clarity in the genre of the concert, which makes it possible to reveal its macro- and microplanes. "Now the Lord of the Creature" for a mixed chorus is an integral one-movement composition consisting of clearly separated text-musical sections: moderate (G minor) - rather (C minor / E flat major) - very slowly (C minor - G major) - rather soon (in g minor). The major-minor tonal plan is functionally and temporally clearly "debugged" and partly resembles Western cyclicality.
Intra-tonal thematic development, combining vertical-horizontal methods, is a process that is directed by the logical principle of the correlation of melodic-harmonic "blocks". In other words, the musical triad "exposure-development-conclusion", defined by the text, is based on a certain choice of tonal-harmonic means corresponding to the location in the composition. Authenticity of initial and developmental turns is clearly opposed to full cadence successions, and the dominance of the basic functions of chords leaves no room for variable functions. Major-minor phonism makes you forget about the characteristic Old Russian modal color.
The simplicity and uncomplicatedness of harmonic solutions, spread throughout the whole concert, is "compensated" by the textured and timbre variety. Mobile density of musical fabric, variability of timbre combinations, grouping “one by one, all” - these various techniques color the monotony of harmonious forms. Wedel has the ability to penetrate the figurative structure of the text and create an expressive heartfelt melodic-harmonic mood.
SI Davydov (1777-1825), also a student of Sarti, asceticised in the field of theatrical activity (director of the imperial theaters in Moscow) and left a number of spiritual and musical works published. Quite corresponding to the spirit and style of the time, they are written in the same musical and stylistic language, but not devoid of their intonation.
So, the stylistics of Davydov's harmonic language, clearly not oriented towards Russian antiquity, is revealed in the context of certain genre preferences - concerts, for example: “We praise God for you”, “Behold now”, “Sing to the Lord”, “Representation of Christians” - one-chorus; "Glory to God in the highest", "Lord, who dwells", "Lord from heaven …" are two-sided, as well as, which is significant, the Liturgy (15 numbers) There is evidence that at the beginning of the 20th century Davydov's works were popular - for example, "Grace of the World", "Come", "Renew" - and were considered especially suitable for special occasions.
"Glory to God in the highest", a hymn for Christmas, is a vivid example of the harmonious language of Davydov, sunken classicist, although not without "traces" of baroque signs. The form of the concert (fast-slow-fast) encourages the author to develop tonal-harmonic. The author thinks in rather active and developed modulation forms, not limiting himself to the "tunings" of the first degree of kinship.
In general, the major-minor system is presented not only not primitively and schematically, but, on the contrary, as an organization that is subject to texture and timbre variations, horizontal and vertical combinations, rhythmic and metric changes. Sounding solemn, colorful and joyful, this concert could turn out to be a repertoire even today.
D. S. Bortnyansky (1751-1825), a brilliant representative of Russian musical classicism, having outlived his time, after almost two centuries, entered modern musical culture. The solemn, heartfelt, prayer-focused sounds of his chants began to symbolize the perfection of forms, the beauty and grandeur of images. And hardly anyone perceives them today as Europeanisms, alien to the national spirit; moreover, they are now associated with the Russian idea itself, which has gone through a peculiar path of development and formation. It is the spiritual works of Bortnyansky that are in cultural demand at the present time: they are performed, recorded and republished, which cannot be said about his secular genres.
The composer's spiritual and musical works embody the type of poetry that characterizes the system of modern times in Russia. In music, the artistic system was also prepared long ago and gradually - in the 17th century, which was a bridge between the ancient and new periods of culture.
The works of Bortnyansky are an illustration of that classicism, which smoothly followed the Russian baroque and, accordingly, could contain stylistic features of both systems in the poetics of expressive means. The signs of this phenomenon are in the aggregate of compositional techniques, and first of all, in the peculiarities of the pitch organization, the structure of the tonal system, which serves as the basis for figurative and semantic interpretations. Harmonic tonality realizes its potential in the context of a special genre, developed precisely in the conditions of Russian musical culture.
The genres of Bortnyansky's spiritual compositions are not a collection of any particularly new genre forms (with the exception of a concert), but an interpretation of traditionally existing and fixed statutory chants. At the present time, perhaps, the concert Bortnyansky predominates - for example, cyclic recordings by Valery Polyansky and other conductors have a great resonance, although the spiritual Bortnyansky is actively in demand in churches, especially on major holidays.
In conclusion Bortnyansky
- the poetic function of the harmonic language closely interacts with the genre-compositional one, that is, the choice of means depends on the task; a small piece differs from a large one: the genre designation determines the harmonic construction;
- the poetic function of language is manifested not so much in vocabulary (chords, groups of chords), but in grammar - abstract and concrete connections that determine both the small and large plans of the work.
In other words, Bortnyansky, who speaks the language of harmonic tonality, uses established units-triads and seventh chords (minor major), the distribution of which has little to do with the text and genres. This also applies to the modes of scales: the major and minor modes are the basis of all sound combinations. The system of the classicist language is determined by a hierarchical structure adapted to specific genres of liturgical singing - Orthodox concert singing, canons, individual hymns, as well as the service as a whole. This Bortnyansky could not borrow from the Italian teachers; he created a system whose potential continues to emerge in other forms.
Determining the features of Russian classicism, one should take into account not only the structure of the system of sound relations, but also the specific poetic function of the musical language. Bortnyansky in this regard paved his way, following them, created wonderful examples of sacred music, which resonates with many generations, including the present one.
From the point of view of characterizing the state of the pitch system in Bortnyansky's work, it is important to touch upon one more aspect. This refers to the "restoration" tendencies that were noted before and which were later forgotten. Thus, Metallov associated with the name of Bortnyansky a certain new direction in partes singing, meaning the gradual liberation from the musical traditions of the Italian school, attention to the "ancient melody" of musical music books. Isn't Bortnyansky's style a phenomenon that combines signs of the past-present-future, namely, baroque and classicist style with elements of future trends?
If the baroque performed, according to the literary concept, the functions of the Renaissance due to the absence of the Russian Renaissance, then perhaps such a fact of musical history as an appeal to the sources of national culture is a vivid confirmation of this theory in practice.
The works of Bortnyansky, having outlived their time, fit into modern musical reality - temple and concert. The solemn, heartfelt, prayer-sublime sounds of his chants began to symbolize the perfection of forms, the beauty and grandeur of images.
So, having mastered the laws of harmonic thinking that existed in the music of Italian teachers, Russian composers of the 18th century. applied them in a different verbal environment and the existing genre system in our country. Indeed, neither the altitude nor the rhythm - in the form in which they existed in the West - were adapted to the style of the musical language of Orthodox liturgical singing. Having its age-old institutions, this singing, having changed course in the middle of the 17th century, turned out to be surprisingly viable and promising. And the transplantation of the system did not become alien to the susceptible organism of the Russian musical environment and, moreover, turned out to be not fruitful and even fruitful in terms of the further development of the musical mentality.
A number of problems solved by composers within the framework of certain conditions of choral practice:
- there is a fairly close connection between harmony and form - in the foreground; between texture, tempo and metro rhythm - in the background;
- harmonic formula T-D is the dominant stylistic feature in the process of presentation and development of musical thought, and T-S-D-T - in the final cadances;
- material - tertz chord (triads, dominant-seventh chords with inversions), enriched and equipped with various secondary tones;
- modulation processes include tonalities of close kinship that fit into the diatonic basis of the piece, and these relationships are realized both in the large and small planes of the form.
All these features of the tonal system, known in the West, are applied to the specific genre form of the Russian choir concert, canon, and other Orthodox chants. Harmony, subject to their structural and figurative content, acquires specific features determined by the conditions of the context. This, perhaps, is the essence of the classicist features of the music of Russian composers of the 18th century: Berezovsky, Degtyarev, Vedel, Davydov and their contemporaries.
Music and word, Slavic text and high-altitude rhythmic organization, being in close interaction, determined the specific features of tonality and created sound images - the embodiment of the "soil" sound outlook and world perception.
This is how the classical tonal system of the Western type entered the works of Russian composers working in spiritual and musical genres. The assertion of dissent versus right-thinking is a phenomenon that has historically been both prepared and justified. Those were right who fought against the planting of other crops on the soil that from time immemorial has grown the fruits of rooted singing; those who understood the need for interconnection, interaction of musical thinking were also right. But a pronounced functional orientation - liturgical singing - contributed to the emergence of persistent characteristics of a negative plan.
More than one century has passed since the flourishing of the chants of Italians and their Russian followers: thinking within the framework of the classical system has become the same national phenomenon as the creations of Russian architects and painters, and not an ancient song with a unique scale, but a major and minor song, has become a common phenomenon. The development, formation and flowering of "harmonic tonality" would have been impossible without "creative interaction" with a foreign culture during the period of great changes in the 17th-18th centuries.
