Russian church music began with Znamenny chant, which arose during the baptism of Russia. His name is associated with the use of special notation signs for his writing - "banners". Their intricate names are associated with a graphic image: a bench, my dear boy, a cup, two to the canoe, etc. Visually, banners (in other words, hooks) are a combination of lines, points and commas.
Each banner contains information about the duration of the sounds, their number in the given motif, the direction of the sound of the melody and the characteristics of the performance.
The intonation of the znamenny chant was assimilated by the church singers and parishioners by ear from the masters of znamenny singing, since the banners did not fix the exact pitch of the sound. Only in the XVII century. the appearance in the texts of special cinnabar (red) litter made available the designation of the pitch of the hooks.
The spiritual component of znamenny chant
It is not possible to understand what a znamenny chant is and evaluate its beauty without resorting to the spiritual significance of chant in Russian Orthodox culture. Samples of znamenny melodies are the fruits of the highest spiritual contemplation of their creators. The meaning of znamenny singing is the same as that of the icon - the liberation of the soul from passions, detachment from the visible material world, therefore the old Russian church unison is devoid of the chromatic intonations that are needed in expressing human passions.
Due to the diatonic scale, the znamenny chant sounds majestically, passionlessly, strictly. The melody of the monophonic prayer chant is characterized by smooth movement, noble simplicity of intonation, clearly defined rhythm, and completeness of construction. The chant is in perfect harmony with the performed spiritual text, and singing in unison focuses the attention of the singers and listeners on the words of the prayer.
From the history of znamenny chant
An example of znamenny notation
Fully reveal what the znamenny chant is that will appeal to its sources. Znamenny church singing originates from the ancient Byzantine liturgical practice, from it the annual circle of osmoglasii (the distribution of church chants on eight singing voices) is borrowed from Russian Orthodoxy. Each voice has its own bright melodic turns, each voice is designed to display different moments of a person’s spiritual states: repentance, humility, tenderness, delight. Each melody is associated with a specific liturgical text and is tied to a specific time of day, week, year.
In Russia, the singing of Greek singers gradually changed, incorporating features of the Church Slavonic language, Russian musical intonations and metro rhythms, acquiring great melodies and fluency.
Types of znamenny chant
Asking what the znamenny chant is and what its variations are known for, you should look at it as a single musical system that embraces the actual Znamenny, or pillar (eight voices form a pillar set of melodies, cyclically repeating every 8 weeks), travel and demestvenny chant. All this musical matter is united by a structure based on popevok - short melodic turns. Sound material is built on the basis of the liturgical rite and the church calendar.
Traveling chant is a solemn, festive singing, which is a complicated and transformed type of pillar chant. Traveling chant inherent severity, hardness, rhythmic virtuosity.
Of these stylized varieties of znamenny singing, demestvenny chant is not included in the book of the Octoechos ("eight-grader"). It is distinguished by the solemn character of the sound, the festive style is presented, they sing the most important liturgical texts, the chants of the bishop's worship service, the wedding ceremony, and the consecration of the churches.
At the end of the XVI century. the "big znamenny chant" is born, which has become the highest point in the development of Russian znamenny singing. Long and melodious, smooth, unhurried, equipped with an abundance of extensive melismatic constructions with rich intra-syllable chants, the "big znamenny" sounded at the most significant moments of the service.
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