The Concept of Church Singing in Old Believer Tradition
–Starikova I.V.
The role of singing in Old Believer worship is one of the most significant. Like iconography, the text of prayers, and the overall structure of the service, singing is intended to reveal the spiritual beauty of ancient Orthodoxy. “Church singing was revered in Rus’ as a bearer of wisdom, divine word, and reason, clothed in an aesthetic form” (1). In their singing, Old Believers strove to preserve ancient Christian traditions that had developed by the 17th century. Undoubtedly, this required adherence to the canons of singing. Therefore, a number of Old Believer polemical and didactic works reflect a strict attitude toward singing.
In preserving ancient piety, Old Believers relied on a comprehensive set of canons established by the holy fathers at local and ecumenical councils. Over the centuries, the collection of sources—books containing instructions on church singing—continued to grow. However, the “starting point” for discussions and remarks on the issue of singing remained the Rules of the Ecumenical and Local Councils: the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, Rule 75; and the Local Council of Carthage, Rule 103. According to these, the primary conditions for reverent singing were “attention and contrition… without any shouting”; strict adherence to liturgical texts; and permission to sing only for those blessed “by the hand of the bishop” (2). These were the rules followed by the Church in Rus’ until the 17th century.
After the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, according to the zealots of ancient piety, new forms of singing were introduced: polyphonic, in a secular manner, and in a “foreign” style. Archpriest Avvakum fiercely opposed such singing: “They have defiled the holy images and all church statutes and practices, and, as if that weren’t enough to grieve dear Christians! The poor man toils for six days, and on Sunday he hurries to church to pray to God and listen—but there’s nothing to hear; they sing in Latin, like buffoonish dancers!” (3).
Similar statements are found in the “Responses of Deacon Alexander” from Nizhny Novgorod: “Newly introduced singing in the church: Kievan four-part, polyphonic part-singing, melodies unheard of in the ancient church… And in the Nomocanon of Mount Athos, compiled from the holy rules, it is testified concerning the regulation of singing. Rule 75 of the Sixth Council… Those who come to church should desire to sing. They should neither engage in disorderly shouting nor force their nature to cry out, nor say anything unfitting for the church or inappropriate” (4).
The central work that most comprehensively addressed the issues of church singing is the Book of Faith. This book (full title: The Book of the One True Orthodox Faith and the Holy Eastern Church. And of the Most Excellent Orthodox Compositions, Briefly Selected from Divine Scripture) is a highly authoritative source for Old Believers. It was compiled by Hegumen Nathanael of the Kyiv Mykhailiv Monastery and printed in Moscow in 1644. The book is a collection of dogmatic and polemical articles written against Uniates and defending the traditions of Orthodoxy.
A special chapter (No. 16, “On Sacred Scripture and Church Singing, Whence It Originated”) is devoted to church singing. It contains the main principles and views on what constitutes Orthodox liturgical singing. Hegumen Nathanael draws on numerous church-historical materials, highlighting the contributions of the holy fathers and teachers of the Christian Church to the formation of the tradition of church singing. He presents theoretical principles regarding the character, content, and principles of Orthodox singing art. This material became the foundation for church singing in the Old Believer community.
Interest in the issues of church singing increased in the early 20th century. This was linked to the 1905 Manifesto, which established in Russia “the unshakable foundations of civil liberty based on the principles of genuine inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly, and association.”
Following the proclamation of freedom of religion, numerous Old Believer printed publications appeared—books, journals, and newspapers. The pages of the journal Church frequently discussed issues of singing. In 1909, a special journal, Church Singing, was published as a supplement to the journal Old Believer Thought starting in 1910.
The performance of the Morozov Choir in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1907, followed by concerts in various cities, sparked heated debates within the Old Believer community regarding singing. Many enlightened lovers of singing and choristers discussed the issue of returning to “authentic znamenny chant based on books” and abolishing napevka—local singing traditions. In the journal Church Singing, “the necessity of uniformity in singing was argued not only from a dogmatic and liturgical perspective but also from a scholarly-historical viewpoint, as well as from the position of preserving a high artistic ideal and pure style” (5). At one of the bishops’ councils, it was decided to retain napevka for weekdays, “but to first record it, select harmonious variants, and publish them alongside canonical chants” (6).
At the 1916 Council of Old Believer Bishops, the issue of singing was one of the main topics (7). A special report was dedicated to it, stating: “In some of God’s churches, divine services are desecrated by a lack of decorum—not conducted properly or according to order: reading and singing are performed too hastily and indistinctly, without any attention to the meaning of the words pronounced. Moreover, singing deviates from the ancient, universally accepted melodies, with disorderly, unnatural, strained cries, with embellishments and excessive vocal flourishes that are not characteristic of church statutes and services.” Further, in the “Patristic Instruction,” the following requirement was set: that “reading and singing in churches be performed quietly and intelligently, with attention, and not in haste,” in accordance with Rule 75 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. In conclusion, the Council of Bishops “asked and implored all” to “preserve the doctrine of the faith in all its purity, observe church rules, perform the church rite according to the patristic statutes, and introduce nothing new—neither in singing nor in reading, but follow the ancient patristic custom” (8).
During this time, special unions were organized to bring together choristers from various parishes. The need for their creation was explained by the existing problems in the practice of singing during services. Addressing these issues was of concern to priests, choir directors, church singing teachers, and choristers.
After 1917, Old Believer debates, gatherings of scholars, and the publication of newspapers and journals were halted. Throughout the Soviet period of Russian history, the Old Believer communities preserved a living church-singing tradition. However, the development of pedagogical and literary activities was impossible under the regime of that time. All knowledge was transmitted orally: from elder to younger, often within the family circle. These traditions of modern Old Believers—their attitude toward church singing and their understanding of its role in worship, which have been preserved to the present day—should become the subject of scholarly expeditionary research.
Notes
- Bychkov V.V. Aesthetics in Russia in the 17th Century. Moscow, 1989, p. 44.
- Rule 75 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople / Rules of the Orthodox Church with Commentary by Nikodim, Bishop of Dolmatinsko-Istrinsky. Publication of the Holy Trinity Lavra, 1996, Vol. 1, pp. 66–567.
- Life of Archpriest Avvakum. Moscow, 1997, pp. 218–219.
- Responses of Deacon Alexander. Supplement to the journal Old Believer, 1906.
- Rakhmanova M.P. Old Believer Tradition and the New Direction in Russian Spiritual Music // Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rus’ in the Traditions of Ural-Siberian Old Believer Communities: Materials of the All-Russian Scientific Conference. May 17–19, 1999. Novosibirsk, 1999, p. 197.
- Ibid.
- It should be noted that the issue of singing was raised at many other Old Believer church councils in the 20th century.
- Melnikov F.E. A Brief History of the Ancient Orthodox (Old Believer) Church. Barnaul, 1999, pp. 412–413.
Starikova Irina Vladimirovna, Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory Old Believer Tradition: History, Culture, Modernity – Moscow: 2002