The Evolution of Russian Sacred Music: from Byzantium to the National Tradition

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of Russian sacred music in the period from the X to the XVII century under the influence of the Byzantine tradition. The relevance of the topic is due to the insufficient study of the processes of transformation of the Byzantine musical heritage on Russian soil and their importance for the development of national culture. The aim of the work is to identify the key vectors and mechanisms of adaptation of Byzantine musical models in ancient Russian worship. The research is based on a comprehensive historical and cultural analysis of the annotated manuscripts and theoretical treatises of the X-XVII centuries. The methods of comparative musicology, paleography, and textual studies are used. The empirical base consisted of 52 handwritten sources from the collections of the RSL, RNB, and GIM. It is established that the adaptation of Byzantine musical models in Ancient Russia was selective and creative. The main genres and types of singing that have undergone transformation are revealed. The key factors of the formation of the original style of Old Russian liturgical singing are identified. The results obtained significantly complement modern ideas about the ways of development of Russian musical culture in the Middle Ages. They open up prospects for further study of the mechanisms of cultural transfer between Byzantium and Russia.