THE TRADITION OF CHANT AS A STATUTORY CHURCH DISCIPLINE

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to systematise the guidelines for evaluation, performance (intonation) and perception during the practical implementation of liturgical singing in its statutory forms. The research methodology is based on a comparative analysis of the singing of modern multiethnic practitioners of Byzantine church singing culture, the creation of a logical and structural model of intonation suitable for sounding the service with hymns adapted to Church Slavonic texts. The scientific novelty: for the first time, an attempt was made to formulate and integrate all the necessary practical features for the statutorily correct way of intoning Byzantine liturgical singing; the terminology for statutory church singing in the context of the general culture of liturgical intonation was specified. Conclusions. In the course of the study of the statutory forms of liturgical art as an ascetic discipline, several major milestones have been identified for their correct understanding, performance, and perception, and several terms have been formulated and clarified about church art in general and the sound content of worship in particular. Based on a general historical overview, an attempt is made to shift the terminological emphasis about the main type of chant tradition of Rus from sign chant to stave chant. The results of the study allow us to emphasise the exclusively melodic basis in the statutory culture of church singing and its predominance over harmony (even in polyphonic ethnic singing cultures). In addition, the possibility of prayerful dominance of melody over the poetic text in the melismatic type of presentation is emphasised for the first time. The problems of the clarity of the text’s pronunciation in the conditions of temple acoustics in singing or reading, in particular with two or more consonant sounds close together, are considered. It is suggested that instead of the rule of vocal transposition inherent in the traditional method of vocalisation, kliros practitioners working in the chant tradition should return to the ancient technique of expedient separateness. In general, the study points out the problems of sounding the divine service of the Orthodox Church and provides certain guidelines for the practice of reviving the chant culture of church singing.