Krylov Victor court singing chapel. Imperial court singing chapel

Court singing chapel, a choir for singing in the palace churches of the royal house, inherited its modern structure from the sovereign's singing clerks. – The history of the chapel is extremely sparse in facts due to the lack of special research. It is known that in 1713 the choir of the sovereign's singing clerks was transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg and led during the reign of Peter. was replenished by calling singers from the synodal and other bishop's choirs, usually reaching 40 people. After Peter's death he led. its singers were disbanded, and only 15 people remained in the court choir, as it was now called. During the reign of the Emperor. Anna Ioannovna's choir began to increase in size and by the second half of the century, according to Shtelin, the chapel consisted of 15 trebles, 13 altos, 13 tenors and 12 basses, not counting the “younger students.” From this time on, the fame of the chapel began as an exemplary singing institution, and it was precisely during this time that the service of M. F. Poltoratsky, who, while still a court singer, attracted attention with an excellent voice and skillful singing and was sent abroad for improvement.

In 1742, during the celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Metastasio’s opera “La Clemenza di Tito” was staged in Moscow, and to perform the choirs in it, on the orders of the Empress, singers of the court choir were invited, for which the Italian words of the opera libretto were rewritten in the parts by Russians letters. From that time on, the court chapel was supposed to participate in all court opera performances where a lawyer was needed. There is, however, news that back in 1737 the court choir participated in the performance of Araya’s opera “Albia a o”. The development of theatrical performances at court and in the capital, as well as the subordination of the court singing choir to the Italians - bandmasters and composers, could not but respond to the chapel, on the one hand, very favorably - by improving its vocal and singing art, on the other - by introducing sad consequences into the liturgical church singing character of Italian opera music. And the composers themselves - Italians who served at the Russian court, began to write music based on the words of sacred songs, and thus the secular style quickly spread throughout church choirs throughout Russia. Tsoppis, Galuppi and Sarti during the reign of the Emperor. Catherine II were the main representatives of this trend. The talented young singers of the court chapel, Berezovsky and Bortnyansky, were students of these composers (the first - Tsoppis, the second - Galuppi) and, according to the thoughts of their teachers, to complete their musical education they traveled to Italy - the then trendsetter in the field of vocal music. Bortnyansky was destined, upon returning to the chapel, to take the place of conductor of the court choir, and from 1796, first as director of vocal music, then as manager of the court singing chapel (until the end of his life, 1825), and to bring both the vocal part and the official position of the chapel to brilliant condition. In 1817, Bortnyansky introduced new staff for the chapel and improved the financial situation of the singers. At the same time, Bortnyansky obtained permission to stop the participation of the court chapel in theatrical performances, and with his compositions he helped to divert attention from the spectacular, but poorly serving the purpose, church works of Sarti, Galuppi, etc. Bortnyansky, as the director of the chapel, then the only competent musical institution , the Supreme Authority granted the right to approve newly compiled spiritual and musical works for publication and, with the consent of the Holy Synod, for use in worship. Under the next director, F.I. Lvov, the choir, otherwise still living in the glimmer of Bortnyansky’s glory, began publishing various musical works, and mainly the so-called. “The use of court singing,” which was then published under the title “The Circle of Simple Church Singing Used at the Highest Court,” and only for two voices – tenor and bass, and then the works of Bortnyansky, Rev. Turchaninov, Berezovsky, Galuppi and others. This publishing house marked the beginning of the existence of a music warehouse at the chapel.

Under the next director A. F. Lvov (1837–1861), the chapel, in replacement of the far incomplete and only two voices set out “circle”, publishes, under the editorship of Lvov, a complete set of notated church singing, used at the Highest Court, for 4 voices, in the compilation of which mainly singing teachers I.M. Vorotnikov and G.Ya. Lomakin took part. The newly published everyday life strengthened the general popularity and use of the court chant, and at the same time raised the authority of the chapel, which in Lvov, thanks to the everyday use and censorship rights of the chapel, became the arbiter of the destinies of church singing throughout Russia. In addition to everyday life, there are in the same arrangement: - the octoech of the Znamenny chant, the abbreviated irmology of the Znamenny chant, as well as the Greek chant: Sunday and holiday irmos, irmos of Pentecost and Holy Week, Sunday morning antiphons and matins. – The singing of the chapel at Lvov was again brought to significant perfection; her fame also penetrated beyond Russia: formerly in St. Petersburg. in the 50s, Berlioz raised chapel singing to unattainable heights. The annual concerts of the chapel have always attracted a large number of visitors, which was partly facilitated by the fame of Lvov himself as a composer.

In 1837, the chapel's activities began to teach church singing and regency work, first to singers of various regiments, and then to other individuals, which led in 1848 to the first regulation on the regency class, which received the definite character of a permanent musical educational institution only in 1884.

In 1839, an instrumental class was established at the chapel for singers who had fallen asleep, which had existed unofficially since the time of Bortnyansky, with a break between 1845 and 1856. This class exists to this day.

From 1861 to 1883, during the directorship of N.I. Bakhmetev, the chapel continued to exist on the same basis and went in the same direction as under Lvov. Over this entire period, the most significant facts in the history of the chapel are: 1) A change in the method of replenishing the choir with young singers. Until now, the recruitment of singers was carried out by requisitioning the best voices from bishops and other choirs of southern Russia, and the chapel usually received singers more or less already experienced in church singing. Now the choir began to recruit boys from outside the bishop's and other choirs, taking upon itself the responsibility of initial singing training. 2) Under the leadership of Bakhmetev, the everyday life of the court chant was again republished with significant changes compared to the everyday life of Lvov, which introduced more correctness and sonority of harmony; however, some voice melodies in Bakhmetev’s use lost their character and, sometimes approaching recitative, removed voice singing from its original. Nevertheless, Bakhmetev’s usage is widespread and remains exemplary to this day. 3) The censorship powers of the chapel, which had been passed from one director to another since the time of Bortnyansky, seemed unlimited by the time of Bakhmetev: only on this basis did the latter begin a case regarding the liturgy compiled by Tchaikovsky, which was not reviewed by the director of the chapel and was printed without his permission. However, according to the clarification of Govt. The rights of the Senate director of the chapel extend only to approving or not approving the performance of spiritual and musical compositions in churches, and does not concern those that are not intended for this. The results of the process could not but have an adverse effect on the position of the chapel.

Bakhmetev’s own spiritual works, despite their effectiveness and choral sonority, could not help strengthen the authority of the chapel, since they sometimes excessively enhanced the sweetness and “spiciness” that began with Lvov’s works. From 1883 to 1895 the chapel lived a different life. It was headed by a chief, to whom the manager and his assistant were subordinate. Count S. D. Sheremetev, appointed to the position of chief, invited famous figures of the national trend in Russian music: M. A. Balakirev to the post of manager and N. A. Rimsky - Korsakov - assistant manager. The musical and artistic significance of the chapel gradually developed in the direction characteristic of the names given. At this time, the chapel made an attempt to publish the first simple, but at the same time artistic harmonization of ancient church melodies; Unfortunately, the attempt stopped after the publication of “Singing Ancient Chants at the All-Night Vigil.” At the same time, the chapel published the works and arrangements of Rimsky-Korsakov.

After 1895, the position of manager was held - until 1901 by A. S. Arensky, and from 1901 to 1903 - by S. V. Smolensky, after whose departure the chapel was managed by the head - gr. A.D. Sheremetev and assistant N.S. Klenovsky.

A. Preobrazhensky

Article by Peter Trubinov with additions by Vitaly Filippov

The site on which the complex of buildings and courtyards of the Chapel are located was acquired on the initiative of D.S. Bortnyansky. Such eminent masters as A.E. lived and worked here. Varlamov, A.F. Lvov, M.I. Glinka, G.Ya. Lomakin. Reconstruction of the Chapel buildings carried out by L.N. Benoit, breathed new life into these stones. The architectural decoration of the facades, the interiors, the layout of the premises, their technical equipment, the concert hall with excellent acoustics - all this has become fully consistent with the creative, artistic and everyday needs of the choir with a centuries-old past.

The complex of Chapel buildings occupies a wedge-shaped site, starting from the Moika River and tapering towards Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street. Two residential buildings overlook the Moika embankment, the passage between which leads to the front yard. In the depths of the courtyard there is the Chapel Concert Hall and the Royal Pavilion attached to it, which are visible from the Winter Palace from Palace Square.

The site has retained this form since its very appearance, which can be dated back to the time between 1714, when the development of the left bank of the Moika began, and 1738, when the site was recorded on the plan of St. Petersburg.

Currently, the entire territory of the Chapel is divided by transverse buildings into four walk-through courtyards. In addition, there are two more side courtyards inside the residential outbuildings facing the Moika and two light ones. Thanks to such an abundance of courtyards in the layout of the site, the buildings of the Chapel surprisingly fit into the spatial structure of St. Petersburg, which had developed by the end of the 19th century. From the day they appeared, these courtyards became a necessary link connecting Palace Square and Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street.

The chapel did not settle in the buildings on the Moika immediately, but only more than a hundred years after it moved from Moscow in 1703 and took part in the ceremonial service at the founding of St. Petersburg. On the initiative of the director of the Chapel D.S. Bortnyansky On October 15, 1808, the buildings on this site were purchased by the treasury and after the necessary repairs carried out by the architect L.I. Ruska, November 1, 1810, occupied by singers.

Previously, the Court Choir rented housing on the Admiralty Canal, and rehearsals were held in the Winter Palace. Long, constant walks along the street, interspersed with singing, had a detrimental effect on the health of singers, especially children. Having received its own building, the Capella was freed from the need to hold rehearsals in another place. Soon after Bortnyansky's death, a wide passage appeared from Palace Square to the Moika embankment. In 1834 a wooden bridge was built, and in 1840 a stone Pevchesky bridge was built in front of the Chapel building across the Moika. Thus, the “Singing Corps” were included in the ensemble of Palace Square, and the shortest direct road to the Winter Palace was established.

The buildings into which the Capella moved were built for himself by one of the previous owners of the site, architect Yu. M. Felten, in 1773-1777. The Felten wings facing the Moika River were two-story, each of the wings had an arched passage to the courtyards, and between the buildings there was a passage to the main courtyard. The internal layout of the buildings has been preserved without significant changes to this day and formed the basis for Benoit’s work on rebuilding the entire complex. The central house with a large projection, standing at the back of the site, was three stories high. Behind the central house there was a garden, limited on the side of Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street by a three-story building.

The building in which the Chapel ended up originally had a different functional purpose. Built as an estate, it was now used for living and operating a large concert and educational institution. On the plan of St. Petersburg in 1828, buildings on the site are designated as Singing Buildings. However, the new director of the Chapel F.P. Lvov testified in his note to the Ministry of the Imperial Household that “there was not even a suitable place for singing.” There was not enough residential and utility space.

In 1828, the architect Charlemagne was commissioned to carry out two projects for the reconstruction of the Chapel buildings, one of which was approved by the Emperor. Charlemagne's project implied a complete change in the development of the estate, although it left the outbuildings along the Moika embankment. It was planned to attach long buildings to these wings along the boundary boundaries of the site. As a result, a through passage would be formed from the Moika embankment to Konyushennaya Street. The project did not include a concert hall. However, the restructuring was cancelled.

In 1830, director F.P. Lvov submitted a new petition for the addition of a singing hall. This request was granted, and in February of the same year, Charlemagne added a three-story extension to the main building, with a hall on the second and third floors. It was in this hall that Glinka and Lomakin trained with singers, and it was here that N.A.’s first rehearsals took place. Rimsky-Korsakov with his brainchild - the orchestra of instrumental classes of the Capella. The walls of this hall have been preserved to this day, and part of its volume is now occupied by a recreational hall in which artists gather before going on stage.

The singers still did not have enough apartments, and in 1834 Lvov managed to secure the addition of residential buildings on the Moika embankment. It was carried out by architect P.L. Willers. At the same time, he closed the arched passages that led from the street to the inner side courtyards of these buildings, and built two new apartments in their place. From now on, the side courtyards could only be accessed through passages from the main courtyard. In the same year, Villers remodeled the front gate of the Chapel, creating a new lattice design that is still preserved. During perestroika 1886-1888. Benoit redid the fence on the Moika side, re-making the gate grille while maintaining the old design.

During the 19th century, additions were made three more times, as a result of which almost all the buildings in the complex became three-story. Despite all the reconstruction, by the end of the 19th century there was a catastrophic shortage of premises. By this time, the Singing Chapel carried out not only its main function - services at the Imperial Court, but also conducted its own concert activities. In the hall built by Charlemagne, a box was arranged for the empress. And additional doorways were made from the hall into the adjacent rooms so that listeners could sit there as well.

A regular educational process was established in instrumental and regency classes. The Chapel also had a music store, since its director by that time played the sole role of censor on all spiritual and musical compositions allowed for performance in the church. All this activity was carried out in dilapidated, small, damp, inconveniently located premises.

In 1883, the following were appointed at the head of the Chapel: Count S.D. Sheremetev, manager - M.A. Balakirev, his musical assistant - N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. They managed to convince the Ministry of the Imperial Household of the need for a major reconstruction of the Chapel building. The development of the project was entrusted to civil engineer N.V. Sultanov. His project involved the addition of part of the buildings to four floors. As a result, the Chapel's courtyards would be completely deprived of sunlight. In addition, the proposed external decoration of the facades was not satisfactory. Ultimately, the project was canceled, and in July 1886, Alexander III approved the project of L.N. Benoit.

When creating the new ensemble of the Chapel, Benoit used the most durable of the existing buildings: residential buildings overlooking the Moika, the front wall of the residential building on Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street (by adding two floors and erecting the courtyard part of the building here on a new foundation) and part of the main building, dismantling the Felten walls to the level of the vaults of the first floor, and leaving the three-story Charlemagne extension entirely. Completely, on new foundations, according to Benoit's design, the School outbuildings, the Regent's classrooms, the Tsar's pavilion, the Machinery building and two residential courtyard outbuildings on the side of Konyushennaya Street were built.

Benoit designed the educational buildings based on the building of St. Petersburg University. Passing through the building, the second floor corridor finds itself in the former concert hall built by Charlemagne. In this place, Benoit left a recreational room for rest and gathering of artists before going on stage.

All buildings of the complex are compositionally connected by a single facade pattern, flowing from the Moika embankment into the front yard.

Benoit managed to masterfully disguise the irregular shapes of the site. Thus, without seeing the plan, one can imagine that all the courtyards have a symmetrical rectangular shape. Meanwhile, in the entire complex of Chapel buildings there is practically not a single strictly rectangular space. Even the concert hall is shaped like a bell, expanding from the stage to the choir by about a meter. The skillfully executed round and semicircular foyer of the concert hall makes the curvature of the site boundaries completely invisible.

The Chapel Concert Hall is considered one of the best in Europe in terms of acoustics. Its floor and ceiling are made like a violin soundboard. The ceiling of the hall is not flat, but coffered, suspended from a metal roof structure. In the center of the stage, Benoit proposed the installation of an organ, but the manager of the Chapel, Balakirev, being an adherent of the Orthodox tradition, prevented its installation. However, Benoit provided everything so that the organ could be easily installed later. Forty years later, in 1928, this was done: the organ from the Dutch Church was moved to the Chapel.

Another change made to the project on Balakirev’s initiative concerned the manager’s apartment, which occupied the entire second floor in the southern building overlooking the Moika. Balakirev asked to build a balcony in the corner window of this apartment, which was done there and in the same apartment opposite. An imaginary thread was stretched from the manager’s balcony to the balcony above the central entrance of the Winter Palace and, thus, visual contact was established between the head of the Chapel and the emperor. From the manager’s balcony it was possible to monitor not only the main gates of the Chapel, but also the life taking place on Palace Square. The events of Bloody Sunday unfolded in 1905 in the immediate vicinity of this balcony: cavalrymen, standing on the opposite side of the Pevchesky Bridge, blocked the road to Palace Square for a procession of workers gathered near the Chapel buildings.

Benoit designed not only the Chapel buildings and their external decoration, but also completed sketches of interiors and furniture. In addition to the foyer already mentioned, special attractions are the entrance hall with the school staircase, the music library and “collection” rooms, and the dressing rooms located on the floor above. All of them were surrounded by wooden panels, and under the ceiling along the perimeter of the rooms there was a second tier with railings and a narrow staircase leading to it.

On October 3, 1894, shortly after the completion of the reconstruction of the buildings, a fire broke out in the Capella concert hall. Only the ceiling of the concert hall burned down, and the walls, choirs and all the decoration of the hall were flooded with water. The side residential wings were not damaged at all. The cause of the fire was a malfunction of the chimney in the wall of the hall. The chapel was forced to eliminate the hearths and stoves located in the apartments under the hall and replace them with central stove heating. A year after the fire, on November 9, 1895, the hall was re-dedicated, restored to its original form.

A sad fate befell the Royal Pavilion built by Benoit. In September 1941, during the Nazi bombing, one of the unexploded bombs split the pavilion in two. For several years the pavilion stood with a crack, and then was destroyed. A photograph dated 1943-1944 shows a mountain of broken bricks with a lonely entrance door on the site of the pavilion.

Around the same time, when the ruins of the Tsar's Pavilion were cleared and a lawn was laid out in its place, the relief of the façade of the concert hall was smoothed out by another alteration. The left arched passage, from where listeners previously entered the foyer and the staircase to the stalls of the concert hall, was closed on both sides and a wardrobe was installed in the resulting room, and the windows of the service premises on the sides of the former pavilion were sealed shut.

For almost 60 years the Chapel stood without the Royal Pavilion. In 2000, as part of the project for the improvement of the pedestrian zone “Capella Courtyards”, on the basis of extant drawings, photographs and archaeological data, the pavilion was recreated according to the design of the architect V.N. Voronova. After the restoration of the Royal Pavilion, the windows and arched passage were not opened, so the appearance of the front courtyard was only partially restored. Some of the discrepancies are related to the staircase of the Royal Pavilion.

Throughout the 20th century, the Chapel buildings underwent constant redevelopment: bedrooms turned into classrooms, classrooms into apartments, apartments into bedrooms, and so on. But in addition to multiple redevelopments of buildings during Soviet times, some more significant changes occurred in the Chapel.

After the revolution, the Court Chapel became the State Chapel. Not only the Capella Choir, but also other groups began to appear on its stage. To ensure that these performances did not interfere with school activities, an additional entrance to the rehearsal space and stage was required. This is how a service entrance appeared, converted from a window into the former bedroom, and an additional staircase to the second floor.

In the 1970s, a gallery was added to the back of the concert hall at the second floor level, allowing artists and administration to enter the auditorium and foyer without going through the stage. The gallery is also used for exhibitions of paintings and photographs, as well as a place for listeners to relax during intermissions. At the same time, the gallery provided two additional spaces for artists to relax behind the scenes.

By decree of November 11, 1917, child labor was prohibited. This meant that the Capella Choir could no longer use boys' voices in their performances as intensively as before. Therefore, in 1920, the children's choir began to exist separately, and instead of boys, female voices were recruited into the adult choir of the Capella. Such a sharp increase in staff required additional apartments, and, in addition, the separation of educational and creative tasks again required redevelopment of the premises. A separate artistic entrance turned out to be very opportune in this sense. The former regency building was converted into apartments. In order to separate the living spaces from the concert spaces, instead of a light courtyard, a separate staircase was built in this building.

In 1955, the Choral School officially separated from the Capella, becoming an independent organization, although it continued to be located in the same building and participate in joint concerts. Instead of one of the former bedrooms, a rehearsal hall was installed on the third floor for the Choir School, so that the boys no longer had to share rehearsal rooms with the adult Capella. In the early 1970s, isolation reached its peak and the “academic” corridor on the second floor was blocked off by a wall separating the “small” and “large” choristers.

In 1986, the Choir School completely moved to another building. The reason for the move was that the ceilings in the classrooms had begun to crumble. A major overhaul of the school buildings was not carried out, but these buildings are still in use successfully. After the Choir School moved, its premises were immediately occupied by outside organizations.

After restoration, the Chapel Concert Hall opened in October 2005. Although restorers have made attempts to restore its original appearance (for example, by restoring the gilding and color of the plaster), nevertheless, a comparison with archival materials reveals a number of inaccuracies. In particular, photographs from before 1956 show picturesque panels in the central part of the end wall above the stage. The panels were made on canvas by the decorative artist of the imperial theaters A. Levo and depicted balustrades and vases with flowers against a background of marble-painted plaster. Due to the auditorium, the depth of the stage has been increased. The elegant conductor's podium remained unrestored.

Busts of D.S. Bortnyansky and A.F. Lvov by A.L. The obers, which stood on special pedestals, were replaced in the first years of Soviet power with busts of Marx and Lenin, and in the 1970s. their place was taken by additional wall lamps, but the pedestals have been empty since that time. On the initiative of the artistic director of the Capella V.A. Chernushenko and at his personal expense, the busts were recreated by sculptor B.A. Petrov and on February 3, 2012 took their place on the stage.

In addition to restoration work, the beginning of the 21st century was also marked for the Chapel by the construction of a new hotel on the site adjacent to the south. The tall building, built from heavy concrete structures, gave rise to sediment in the ground, as a result of which cracks appeared on the walls of the Chapel. Fortunately, the cracked walls were pulled together using metal ties.

Many of the former areas of the Imperial Chapel are now used by outsiders and organizations. Now there are luxury housing, restaurants, galleries, etc. Several outbuildings and the land plots they occupy were transferred to a private investor. We can only hope that in the future the Chapel will be able to piece together the legacy that Leonty Nikolaevich Benois left for his descendants.

Petr Trubinov

The choir began to be called the “Chapel of Court Singers” or “Court Chapel” during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. This is a copy of the names of vocal and instrumental groups that served in European courts. Somewhat later, in the year under Catherine II, the name “Court Singing Chapel” was assigned to it.

Under Catherine II, Italian composers were invited to Russia to direct the Italian opera - Giuseppe Sarti and Baltasere Galuppi, who also began to compose works of sacred music for the Orthodox Church based on Slavic texts in the Italian style. Teaching “Italian” singing has taken a strong position in the Singing Chapel. The skill of the court singers, combining the traditional church and Italian style of singing, delighted many, especially foreigners.

Subsequently, the activities of Dmitry Bortnyansky are connected with the history of the Court Singing Chapel, which largely determined its creative destiny. Directing the Capella for years, he was able to create a choir that became the glory and pride of the national musical culture.

The high traditions of the Singing Chapel, laid down by Bortnyansky, were subsequently successfully continued by A.F. Lvov, M.I. Glinka, who worked for several years as a choir conductor and choirmaster G.Ya. Lomakin.

Under N.I. Bakhmetev, the creation of the Court Singing Chapel was essentially completed, which included a large choir that participated in church services, open concerts and opera performances, a music school, regency courses, an orchestra and a small concert hall.

In the year it was renamed the Petrograd Choral Academy, and in the year - the Leningrad State Academic Chapel (later named after Glinka).

Managers

• Bortnyansky Dmitry Stepanovich (1796 - 1825)
• Lvov Fedor Petrovich (1826 - 1836)
• Lvov Alexey Fedorovich (1837 - 1861)

In the Middle Ages, a chapel was the name given to a chapel at a church (in Italian capella - chapel), which housed the choir. Later, a group of musicians who served the court nobility began to be called a choir. In the modern understanding, a chapel is a choral group with a large number of participants. In 1479, the first Russian chapel was formed at the royal court in Moscow - the “choir of state singing clerks.” In the middle of the 18th century, in addition to men's voices, boys' voices were included in its composition.

In 1703, the “choir of sovereign singers” moved to St. Petersburg. He successfully performed at all palace evenings, balls, masquerades, and participated in divine services. At the end of the 18th century, the choir began to be called the Court Singing Chapel. In 1808, the Chapel was located in the former mansion of the architect Yu.M. Felten on the embankment of the Moika River.

In the thirties of the 19th century, her bandmaster and singing teacher was M.I. Glinka. In 1839, the first instrumental classes in Russia were opened at the Capella, which trained musicians. In 1885, based on the students of the Capella N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov organized a symphony orchestra.

After the October Revolution, the Chapel was transformed into the People's Choral Academy. In 1920, it also included female voices. And two years later the academy received the name State Academic Chapel. In 1954, the chapel was named after M.I. Glinka.

Also under her, a choir school was created in 1958. Today, the St. Petersburg Capella is one of the best performers in Russia of choral works by Russian and Western European composers of the 15th – 20th centuries. At different times it was led by famous musical figures: D.S. Bortnyansky, N.A. Lvov, M.A. Balakirev, A.S. Arensky and others. In 1937 - 1941, the Chapel was headed by A.S. Sveshnikov, now V.A. Chernushenko is the rector of the State Conservatory. The Chapel consists of a mixed choir and a boys' choir - students of the choir school.

The Chapel building on the Moika River embankment was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century by the architect L.N. Benois in the forms of neoclassicism. According to the architect's design, the names of figures of Russian musical culture, such as Razumovsky, Bortnyansky, Lvov, Glinka, etc., were laid out in gold letters on the frieze of the building. In 1927, a unique organ was moved from the Dutch church at 20 Nevsky Prospekt to the Capella concert hall. In the sixties of the 20th century, the instrument was reconstructed: it received electric control, and the number of its pipes doubled.

The State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg is the oldest domestic professional musical institution, which through its activities determined the formation and development of the entire Russian professional musical culture. Here, for the first time in Russia, all the main directions of musical performance and music education consistently emerged.

The date of birth of the Chapel is considered to be August 12, 1479, when the choir of the Sovereign Singing Deacons, founded by the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, took part in the consecration service of the Assumption Cathedral, the first stone church of the Moscow Kremlin.

The singers were constantly with the sovereign and provided for the various needs of the court: participation in divine services, accompanying sovereigns on pilgrimages, guest visits and military campaigns, singing at ceremonial receptions and dinners, at the naming of the kingdom, on namesake days and christenings. In addition to music, singers studied literacy and science. Initially, only men sang in the choir, but from the middle of the 17th century. With the development of polyphonic singing, boys appeared in the choir.

Ivan the Terrible brought two wonderful master singers from Novgorod to Alexandrov Sloboda - Fyodor Krestyanin and Ivan Nos, the founders of the first Russian singing school. The choir singers were also creators of new musical works. Among the singing clerks were famous theorists, composers and regents of the 16th–17th centuries: Jan Kolenda, Nikolai Bavykin, Vasily Titov, Mikhail Sifov, Stefan Belyaev and others.

Upbringing in the sovereign's family required a thorough knowledge of the church service, which meant being musically literate and able to sing in a choir. Ivan the Terrible, for example, not only sang, but also composed music. Two of his own works have survived - stichera in honor of Metropolitan Peter and the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1701, Peter I renamed the choir of the Sovereign Singing Deacons into the Court Choir. Singers constantly accompanied the sovereign on his trips and military campaigns. The court choir visited the banks of the Neva even before the founding of St. Petersburg and took part in a prayer service in honor of the victory of Peter’s troops at Nyenschanz. And on May 16 (27), 1703, the sovereign's singers took part in the celebrations marking the founding of the new capital (history has preserved for us the names of all 28 singers). The entire subsequent biography of the choir is connected with St. Petersburg.

Peter I spent a lot of time in the company of his singers, took care of their life, himself monitored the timely replenishment of the creative staff, and often sang the bass part in the choir. Evidence of this is the numerous entries in the marching journal, the emperor’s decrees, and the surviving musical choral parts, edited by the hand of Peter. On September 21, 1738, by decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the first special school was opened for the needs of the Court Choir in the Ukrainian city of Glukhov. From January 10, 1740, by her decree, training of young singers to play orchestral instruments was introduced. Being the only artistically and organizationally established state choir, the Court Choir participated in all musical events held in the capital. Court singers were indispensable participants in solemn festivities, assemblies and masquerades. Since the 30s of the 18th century, the Court Choir has been involved in staging performances at the Court Theatre. The choir gave the opera stage many soloists who were widely known in the musical circles of their time. Among them are Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky and Mark Fedorovich Poltoratsky, who graced Italian and Russian opera performances with their participation. Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky, while still a boy, performed a solo in an opera by the Italian composer Francesco Araya.

The variety of activities of the choir required an increase in its composition, and by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna of May 22, 1752, it was staffed with 48 adults and 52 young singers. On October 15, 1763, the Court Choir was renamed by Catherine II into the Imperial Court Singing Chapel. Its first director was Mark Poltoratsky.

During its activity, the Capella became the most important source of musical education in Russia, a large professional school that trained many generations of conductors, composers, singers and performers on orchestral instruments. Many years of life and creativity of outstanding musical figures - Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Bortnyansky, Arensky, Lomakin, Varlamov and others - were associated with the Capella.

In the very first concerts of the St. Petersburg Music Club, opened in 1772, the Capella singers and orchestra performed cantatas and oratorios by Pergolese, Graun, Iomelli and others.

For several decades, the management of the Capella has been carried out by Italian maestros. This is Baltazar Galuppi, Bortnyansky’s teacher (1765–1768); Tommaso Traetta (1768–1775); Giovanni Paisiello, who composed his famous “The Barber of Seville” (1776–1784) for the St. Petersburg stage; Giuseppe Sarti (1784–1787). During these same years, Domenico Cimarosa worked at the Chapel. Outstanding composers of their time, they were wonderful mentors. With their support, young Russian musicians mastered the highest skills of the European music school.

In 1796, Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky became the director of the Chapel. Under him, the Imperial Chapel Choir gained European fame. Dmitry Stepanovich focuses all his attention on improving the choir and composing works for it.

In 1808, on the initiative of Bortnyansky, a plot with two houses, a large garden and a courtyard between them was purchased for the Chapel. The Chapel buildings are still located here. Thanks to its proximity to the Singing Chapel, the Singing Bridge got its name.

Since the organization of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society in 1802, the Capella has participated in all its concerts. Thanks to the performances of the Capella, the capital became acquainted with outstanding works of classical music for the first time. The first performance in Russia of Mozart's Requiem by the Capella with a symphony orchestra took place on March 23, 1805, Beethoven's Missasolemnis - March 26, 1824 (world premiere); Beethoven's Masses in C major - March 25, 1833, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - March 7, 1836, Berlioz's Requiem - March 1, 1841, Haydn's oratorios "The Creation of the World" and "The Seasons", four masses by Cherubini, etc. were performed.

Choral concerts in the Kapella hall and even “tests” (dress rehearsals) under Bortnyansky’s direction always attracted many listeners. After Bortnyansky’s death, Fyodor Petrovich Lvov headed the Kapella in 1826. Under him, the traditions of the main Russian choir were firmly preserved.

In 1829, the Prussian King Frederick William III sent the captain of the 2nd Prussian Guards Regiment, Paul Einbeck, to St. Petersburg to familiarize himself with the situation in the Chapel. The king wanted to reorganize the regimental (Protestant) choirs and the choir of the Berlin Cathedral (“Domkhor”) on the model of the St. Petersburg Chapel. Einbeck speaks with great praise in his reports about the handling of the matter in the Kapelle. According to Einbeck, the boys studied not only music, but also general education subjects and, when their voices faded, if they did not have a good male voice, they entered either the civil service or military service as officers. According to Captain Einbeck, In 1829, the chapel consisted of 90 people: 40 adults (18 tenors and 22 basses, among whom were 7 octavists) and 50 boys - 25 trebles and altos each.

Einbeck names the following reasons that determine the high perfection of the choir: 1) all singers have exceptionally good voices; 2) all voices are cast according to the best Italian method; 3) both the entire ensemble and its solo parts are superbly trained; 4) as being in the public service specifically as church choristers, the Chapel choir forms a single whole and does not depend on various accidents, and the singers do not devote their activities to extraneous matters.

After Fyodor Lvov, the leadership of the Capella passed to his son Alexei Fedorovich, a world-famous violinist, composer, author of the music for the anthem of the Russian Empire “God Save the Tsar!”, as well as an outstanding communications engineer. Alexei Lvov, Major General, Privy Councilor, close to the emperor and the entire royal family, became an excellent organizer of professional musical education. He was manager of the Court Chapel from 1837 to 1861.

On January 1, 1837, on the initiative of the sovereign, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was appointed bandmaster of the Chapel, who served there for three years. The historical conversation between Emperor Nicholas I and Glinka took place on the evening of the successful premiere of A Life for the Tsar. In his “Notes,” the composer recalls: “That same day in the evening, behind the scenes, the Emperor, seeing me on stage, came up to me and said: “Glinka, I have a request for you and I hope that you will not refuse me. My singers are known throughout Europe and, therefore, deserve your attention. I just ask that they not be Italians.”

An outstanding connoisseur of vocal art, Glinka quickly achieved high results in the development of the Capella's performing skills. He was zealous about the selection and training of singers. So, in the summer of 1838, Glinka made a trip to Ukraine and brought from there 19 exceptionally gifted young singers and two basses. One of them was Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky, opera singer, composer, dramatic artist, playwright, author of the first Ukrainian opera.

In 1846, regency classes were opened at the Chapel to train leaders of church choirs. Since 1858, the work of orchestra classes was finally established in the Chapel.

This brought enormous practical results: young singers were given the opportunity to extend their life in music. At the age when the voice breaks down, boys were expelled from the choir and transferred, depending on their natural abilities, to instrumental or regency classes. Some choristers attended both classes at the same time.

Outstanding Russian musicians Gavriil Yakimovich Lomakin and Stepan Aleksandrovich Smirnov made their contribution to improving the choir's performing skills. A great contribution to the musical education of Russia was the 32-year activity of the Concert Society at the Court Chapel, organized by Lvov in 1850. The chief administrator of the company was Dmitry Stasov. The place of activity of the society was the concert hall of the Chapel, and the performers were its choir, consisting of 70 singers, and the orchestra of the Imperial Opera. The soloists were the most prominent vocalists and instrumentalists. The Chapel Choir, which performed at every concert of the society, was regarded by Vladimir Stasov as “a wonderful rarity of our fatherland, which has no parallel in Europe.” In 1861, the post of manager of the Court Choir was taken by Nikolai Ivanovich Bakhmetev, major general, famous composer and musician, great an expert in the traditions of Russian church singing. On July 16, 1882, on the initiative of Alexander III, the temporary position and staff of the first Russian symphony orchestra, the Court Musical Choir, were approved. This act completed the creation of one of the world's largest music centers. The court singing chapel now included a large choir, a music school, instrumental classes, a school of theatrical arts (Noble Corps), regency classes and, finally, the first symphony orchestra in Russia. In 1883, Mily Alekseevich Balakirev was appointed manager of the Court singing chapel, and Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov was confirmed as his assistant. The latter taught an orchestra class at a music school and did it so well that gradually the school's graduates became leading musicians in the orchestra. The joint work of Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov for 10 years is a whole era in the development of performing, educational and educational work in the Capella. Since 1884, training at the Capella school began to take place according to the conservatory programs with the issuance of a free artist certificate to graduates, confirming higher musical education.

Under Balakirev, a major reconstruction of all the buildings of the Chapel was carried out according to the design of Leonty Nikolaevich Benois. By the end of the 19th century, the Imperial Court Singing Chapel had developed as a unique, unparalleled in the world, creative, performing and educational musical center, where the process of training and education of young musicians organically combined with concert and performing activities. It was here that the best personnel in all musical specialties in Russia were born.

The 20th century became the most difficult test for Russia and Russian culture. After the October Revolution of 1917, the structure of the Chapel was destroyed: the regency classes and the gentry corps, where boys who had “slept from their voices” were taught theatrical skills, were abolished. Subsequently, a symphony orchestra was withdrawn from the structure of the Capella, which became the basis of the first Soviet Philharmonic, and then a school (Choral School).

The former Court Choir and Orchestra continued their active concert activities. Most of the concerts were given at workers', student's and military club venues, as well as in their own hall. The repertoire included works by Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov, Rachmaninov, folk and revolutionary songs.

In 1918, the Chapel was renamed the Petrograd People's Choral Academy. In 1921, the Petrograd State Philharmonic was founded on the basis of the Court Choir and Orchestra. The former Court Orchestra is now known as the Honored Ensemble of Russia, the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.

In the spring of 1920, the choir was reorganized: for the first time, a group of 20 female voices was included in it.

In 1922, the choir was separated into an independent organization and the entire educational and production complex, consisting of a choir, a choir technical school and a choir school, and was renamed the State Chapel. In October 1922, it was renamed the Academic Chapel.

In 1923, girls were admitted to the choir school at the Chapel for the first time. Since 1925, the Chapel Choir has consisted of 30 men, 28 women, 40 boys and 30 girls.

In 1928, an organ from the E.F. Walcker company, previously located in the Dutch Reformed Church on Nevsky Prospekt, was installed in the Chapel. The highest creative achievements of the Chapel in the first half of the 20th century are largely associated with the names of Pallady Andreevich Bogdanov and Mikhail Georgievich Klimov. Pallady Bogdanov is an outstanding musician and teacher , student of Balakirev, composer, People's Artist of the RSFSR. For a short time, Pallady Andreevich was the senior singing teacher (chief conductor) of the Court Singing Chapel. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the choir school, headed by Bogdanov, was evacuated to the Kirov region. Upon returning from evacuation in 1943, the school stayed in Moscow, and on its basis, Alexander Sveshnikov created the Moscow Choir School. In 1944–1945 in the shortest possible time, Pallady Bogdanov restored the activities of the school within the walls of the Leningrad Chapel. For many years he led the school's Boys' Choir, raising a brilliant galaxy of musicians.

Mikhail Klimov is an outstanding conductor and teacher who made a tremendous contribution to the improvement of the first Russian choir, its preservation, development in new conditions and bringing it to the heights of performing art. Every year, Klimov replenished the Capella’s repertoire with fundamental works of world classics and formed new choral programs. Large cantata-oratorio works of Russian and Western European music were regularly performed at the concerts. In 1928, the Capella, under the direction of Klimov, went on a large tour through the countries of Western Europe: Latvia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy. The tour was an exceptional success. Subsequently, the famous conductor Dimitrios Mitropoulos called the Klimov Chapel “the eighth wonder of the world.” After Klimov’s death in 1937, in the pre-war period, Nikolai Danilin and Alexander Sveshnikov, an outstanding choral specialist and a talented organizer, led the Capella for a short time. The Great Patriotic War changed the nature of the Capella’s activities. Some of the choir artists went to the front. The rest of the Capella and its choir school were evacuated to the Kirov region in 1941. The main conductor during this difficult time was Elizaveta Petrovna Kudryavtseva, an outstanding teacher, the first female conductor of a professional choir in Russia. Having reconstructed the repertoire, the Capella, consisting of 50-60 artists, performed concerts in military units, hospitals, factories and factories, and in concert halls in many cities. From September 1941 to July 1943, the Capella gave 545 concerts.

In the fall of 1943, Georgy Aleksandrovich Dmitrevsky, an outstanding master and one of the largest Soviet choirmasters, was appointed artistic director of the Chapel. He made a huge contribution to the development of the performing and educational activities of the Capella. His name is associated with the brilliant revival of the Chapel in the post-war years.

In November 1944, the Capella returned to Leningrad. The composition of the choir has doubled from 60 people. By the end of 1945, the activities of the Chapel resumed almost to their pre-war volume.

In the period from 1946 to 1953, the Capella performed and revived for the first time Taneyev's John of Damascus, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Verdi's Requiem, Haydn's The Seasons, Rimsky-Korsakov's From Homer, Mozart's Requiem, choruses from Wagner's operas and many other works. Premieres of a number of major works by Soviet composers took place.

In 1954, in connection with the 150th anniversary of the birth of M.I. Glinka, the Academic Chapel and the Choir School under her were named after Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka.

For two decades, the Capella experienced a serious creative crisis. Frequent changes of directors, conductors, choirmasters, instability of the singing composition, lack of creative unity within the group adversely affected the sound of the choir. Work on new works slowed down. In 1974, the Capella was headed by its student Vladislav Chernushenko. Endowed with enormous talent, brilliant professional knowledge and organizational energy, he managed to return the oldest choir in Russia to its historical position. Under his leadership, the world fame of the famous Russian choir is being revived. The name of Vladislav Chernushenko is also associated with the return to the concert life of the country of a huge layer of Russian sacred music, which had long been banned. It was the choir of the Leningrad Chapel under the direction of Chernushenko that in 1982, after a 54-year pause, performed Rachmaninov’s “All-Night Vigil”. The sacred works of Grechaninov, Bortnyansky, Tchaikovsky, Arkhangelsky, Chesnokov, Berezovsky, Vedel were heard again. With the arrival of Vladislav Chernushenko, the wide range of music performed, characteristic of the Capella, was gradually restored; works of large vocal and instrumental forms - oratorios, cantatas, requiems, masses - occupied an important place in the repertoire. The Capella pays special attention to the music of contemporary composers, as well as rarely performed works.

On November 1, 1991, the Symphony Orchestra was recreated within the structure of the Capella, which won the recognition and sympathy of wide circles of listeners from all over the world. Outstanding conductors and performers of our time collaborate with the ensemble. The Choir and Symphony Orchestra of the Capella tour extensively and with great success both in Russia and abroad. As in previous times, critics rank Capella among the best musical groups in the world.