CORRECT POSITION
What is a znamenny chant: meaning, history, types
Russian church music began with the famous chant that arose during the baptism of Russia. Its name is associated with the use of special notation signs – “banners” for its recording. Their intricate names are associated with a graphic image: a bench, a darling, a cup, two in a canoe, etc. Visually, banners (aka hooks) are a combination of dashes, dots, and commas. Each banner contains information about the duration of sounds, their number in a given motive, the direction of the melody and the characteristics of the performance. The intonations of the znamenny chant were assimilated by the singers and parishioners of the church according to rumors from the masters of znamenny singing, since the banners did not record the exact pitch of the sound. Only in the XVII century. the appearance in the texts of special cinnabar (red) droppings made available the designation of the pitch of the hooks. Continue reading
From the history of blues: from plantations to the studio
The blues, like everything with stunning success, has been an underground music trend for decades. It is understandable, because the White Society could not accept the music of African-Americans working on plantations, and even listen to them was shameful. Such music was considered radical and even calling for violence. The hypocrisy of society took place only in the 20s of the last century. The history of blues, like its creators, is negative and depressive. And, just like longing, the blues is simple to genius. Many performers engaged in heavy physical labor until death, they were vagabonds, and had odd jobs. Continue reading
Russian choral music of the X-XVI centuries
Russian choral music of the 10th – 16th centuries is an important layer that serves as the basis for the further development of Russian music and culture as a whole. At the previous stage of development – in ancient Russia – folk art played a dominant role in society, since developed secular forms of professional music simply did not exist. Even among the upper feudal layers and in the prince’s court, one could hear folk songs distributed by representatives of song traditions – buffoons. DEVELOPMENT OF SPIRITUAL SINGING Everything has changed with the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in 988 and, as a result, the strengthening of ties with Byzantium. These events greatly influenced the further cultural development of our state. In contrast to folk song, church music developed, which at first was subject to the strong influence of Byzantium. Spiritual chants were recorded in Church Slavonic. Continue reading
