For whom did Garlicov write children's choirs? Choral master

Choral creativity of S.I. Taneyev and P.G. Chesnokova

Taneyev Sergei Ivanovich (1856-1915) - Russian composer, pianist, outstanding teacher, scientist, musical and public figure. From an early age he studied music. In 1866 he entered the Moscow Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1875 (with a gold medal). The greatest influence on Taneyev was made by classes in N.G. Rubinstein (piano) and P.I. Tchaikovsky (instrumentation, composition). He was engaged in concert activities (the first performer of most of Tchaikovsky's piano works, performed with violinist L.S. Auer, and participated in the performance of his own chamber works in Russia, Germany, and the Czech Republic). From 1878 he was a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory (piano, special musical theoretical subjects), from 1881 professor, and director from 1885-89. Among his students are S.V. Rachmaninov, A.N. Scriabin, N.K. Medtner, as well as figures of Soviet musical culture - Z.P. Paliashvili, R.M. Glier, S.N. Vasilenko, A.N. Alexandrov, A.B. Goldenweiser, K.N. Igumnov, G.E. Konyus, B.L. Yavorsky. Of outstanding importance are Taneyev’s musical theoretical works devoted to the problems of polyphony, among which the large-scale studies published in the books “Movable counterpoint of strict writing” and “The Doctrine of the Canon”, which became the basis for the development of musical science, stand out.

A huge amount of knowledge strengthened in Taneyev’s nature a trait that was already fully inherent in him - high demands on his creativity. Perhaps this is why many early works, such as the Second Symphony and the Piano Concerto, fragments of which were liked by P.I. Tchaikovsky, were not finished. It is very significant that S.I. Taneyev designated his first opus as the cantata “John of Damascus,” written in 1884. By this time, he had already become a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, continuing to teach classes of P.I. Tchaikovsky and N.G. Rubinstein, and very soon its director. At the opening of the monument to A.S. In 1880, Pushkin’s cantata “Monument” (based on Pushkin’s poems), written by him especially for this occasion, was performed in Moscow; he was the author of an Overture on a Russian theme and other works.

Cantata “John of Damascus”, a true masterpiece of Russian music, S.I. Taneyev dedicated to the memory of N.G. Rubinstein. At the time of writing the cantata, Taneyev was the author of a fair number of works, but the success of the performance of this work prompted him to stage it “op. 1". In the music of the cantata we see a unique combination of polyphonic technique and inspired romance lyrics. The form is close to a concerto - three parts: the first and third parts are fugues, and the second is slow, which can be perceived as an introduction to the final fugue. The everyday theme “Rest with the Saints” runs through the cantata. The cantata “John of Damascus” opened the way for the development of a new musical genre in Russia - the secular lyrical and philosophical cantata.

Taneyev also had his say in the field of the opera genre. His only opera-trilogy “Oresteia” (libretto by A.A. Wenkstern after Aeschylus) is a unique experience in Russian musical culture in the implementation of an ancient plot, embodied in majestic, plastically strict musical images. The abundance of choral scenes gives the work a special uniqueness. In the first scene of the first act, Clytemnestra’s aria with the chorus “Look” - the queen’s rejoicing; confident intonations give rise to a feeling of elation. In the second scene, a triumphal march and a chorus of warriors accompany the entry of Agamemnon. In further development, similar to the majestic frescoes, two choirs of people mourning the killed stand out. In the first scene of the second act, the duet of the queen and Electra with the choir is the musical climax of the scene, which evokes horror. In the third scene a chorus of furies appears. In the third act, one of the central scenes is the dialogue between Orestes and the chorus of furies. The final chorus sounds like an enthusiastic dithyramb, glorifying the wisdom of the goddess. The opera traces the tradition of lyrical musical tragedies by K.V. Gluck, which is combined here with oratorio.

In Taneyev's music, the rich spiritual world of man and the drama of his experiences are reflected in a generalized way, in restrained tones (the slow parts of the cycles - adagio - are of particular importance). Taneyev avoided violent, directly emotional impulses (hence the well-known asceticism of the musical language). The main ideas of a number of works of large forms (both cantatas, the opera “Oresteia”, chorus “Sunrise”, 6th string quartet, piano quartet, piano quintet, etc.) are the apotheosis of light, the triumph of reason, the affirmation of goodness and justice. In genres associated with the word, this idea is concretized in moral and ethical terms. This direction of creativity echoes the moral quest in Russian literature of that time.

The composer's last work was the cantata “After the Reading of the Psalm” for choir and orchestra, dedicated to the memory of his mother. Just like “John of Damascus,” it testifies to the composer’s spiritual quest; it reflects his reflections on faith. It is believed that Taneyev was an unbeliever, he himself spoke about this, since he did not go to church, but the essence of the religious idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe world and the essence of Christianity undoubtedly interested him. The cantata “After the Reading of the Psalm” was written to poems by A.S. Khomyakov, known to the composer since childhood, consists of three parts (9 numbers), including choruses (including double ones), quartets, a viola aria and an orchestral interlude. Following the traditions of the old masters, Taneyev uses individual lines of text to create picturesque musical paintings. The first chorus is “The earth trembles through the ether.” Second chorus - “And the temples shine with gold.” The most complex triple fugue on the words “I created the earth”; double fugue depicting a picture of bubbling metal in the bowels of the earth “It boils there and bursts compressed.” The cantata ends with a grandiose double choir in sonata form with a polyphonic presentation of the cantata's themes. It is written in words that express the main idea of ​​the essay (“I need a heart purer than gold // And a strong will in work”). The composer put all the power of inspiration, all his polyphonic skill into the music of the cantata, as into his best works. The cantata was performed for the first time on March 11, 1915.

Choral works constitute a significant part of Taneyev’s work; they (in terms of the use of polyphonic means) were a new word in Russian music. In addition to the previously mentioned cantatas “John of Damascus” and “After the Reading of the Psalm,” Taneyev’s choral work includes: the early cantata “I have erected a monument to myself”; a cappella choirs, including a cycle of 12 mixed choirs to poems by Y. Polonsky, 16 male choirs of various compositions to poems by K. Balmont. Separate choirs for mixed composition: “Sunrise”, “From edge to edge”, “Alps” to poems by F. Tyutchev, “Stars” to poems by A. Khomyakov. Male choirs: “Evening Song” lyrics by A. Khomyakov, “Venice at Night” lyrics by A. Fet, “Song of King Regner” lyrics by N. Yazykov. Taneyev's early compositions for mixed compositions: “Serenade”, “Pine”, “Venice at Night” - can also be performed by vocal ensembles. Some of Taneyev's choirs exist in manuscripts.

Chesnokov Pavel Grigorievich (1877-1944) - Russian choral conductor, teacher and composer. He graduated from the Synodal School in 1895, and from the Moscow Conservatory in 1917, studying composition with S.N. Vasilenko (previously took lessons from S.I. Taneyev and M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov). After graduating from the Synodal School, he worked as a singing teacher in primary schools and secondary schools. Along with his teaching work, Chesnokov continued intensive performing activities with various choral groups. He directed the Second State Choir, the Moscow Philharmonic Choir, and amateur choirs. He taught in 1895-1920 at the Synodal School (People's Choral Academy), in 1920-44 - at the Moscow Conservatory (from 1921 professor), where he, together with A. Kastalsky, N. Danilin, A. Alexandrov and A. Nikolsky, created the conducting choir department. Chesnokov developed and taught courses in choral studies and methods of working with a choir. In the choral conducting class he taught: I. Litsvenko, G. Luzenin, A. Petrovsky, A. Pokrovsky, S. Popov, A. Khazanov and others.

The choirs under the direction of Chesnokov were distinguished by their excellent ensemble, formation, subtlety of execution; meaningfulness and calculation were combined with sincerity, taste, and deep penetration into the author's intention. Chesnokov was a supporter of touring conductors and repeatedly prepared (with a small number of rehearsals) choral concerts with various groups.

The founder of Russian domestic choral studies and the author of the first Russian major work on choral studies, which was published in 1940 under the title “The Choir and Its Management” - the first detailed and deep work in Soviet and world literature on choral studies, which developed the theoretical problems of choral art, generalizing performing and author's pedagogical experience. Despite some shortcomings (pointed out by the editors in subsequent editions), the book remains one of the most significant works in the field of choral studies (in particular, Chesnokov’s “Advice to Young Conductors” is remarkable).

The composer perfectly knew the capabilities of the human voice and thanks to this, he became an outstanding master of a cappella choral music. The composer believed that an unaccompanied choir is the most perfect instrument and has enormous artistic and performing capabilities. Chesnokov made a number of spectacular concert arrangements for choirs and soloists. Often in them the choir acts as an accompanist, imitating instrumental accompaniment (“Ditch”, “Oh my canopy, canopy”, “I planted the kindergarten myself”). In total, he wrote over sixty a cappella works for mixed choirs. Usually the content of his works. is a complacent and contemplative perception of nature (“Dawn is warming”, “August”, “Night”, “Winter”, “Alps” - the most typical works for Chesnokov’s secular choral work). “Dubinushka” is of a somewhat different nature, but here too Chesnokov softens the socially pointed text of L. Trefolev.

Some choruses are written in the folk spirit: “Forest” (poems by A. Koltsov), “Beyond the Fast River,” “Not a flower in a field withers” (poems by A. Ostrovsky). Chesnokov made a number of complex, concert-type arrangements of Russian folk songs (“Hey, let’s whoop,” “There was a birch tree in the field,” “Oh, you birch tree”), often involving soloists (“A little girl walked,” “Luchinushka and a club”) . Chesnokov's choirs are available, as a rule, to highly qualified groups. His best works are widely used in teaching practice.

Over 20 compositions with extensive piano accompaniment were written for the choir of female boarding school students, where he taught until 1917. Among them there are expanded choirs of dramatic content (“The Uncompressed Strip” by N. Nekrasov, “Leaves” by F. Tyutchev), choral miniatures (“The Sun, the Sun is Rising” by A. Fedorov, “Lotus” by G. Heine), and lyrical choirs, painting pictures of nature (“Spring is Rolling” by G. Heine, “Green Noise” by N. Nekrasov, “Dawn in the Morning” by S. Skitalets, “Apple Tree” by S. Potresov). His compositions also include the opera “Earth and Heaven” and music for A. Ostrovsky’s play “Poverty is not a vice.”

These works of his were very popular (although the author did not escape reproaches for being “romantic”).

Pavel Grigorievich Chenokov is an outstanding church choir director and spiritual composer. Among the spiritual works, cyclic compositions stand out: two “Liturgies”, “Liturgy of Simple Chant”, “All-Night Vigil”, “All-Night Vigil of Simple Chant”, two “Requiem Services”, “Wedding”, the choral cycle “In the Days of War”, “The Hours of Easter”. In total, he created over 400 spiritual choirs, of different genres, the most famous and often performed are “Angel Crying”, “May My Prayer Be Corrected”, “Under Your Mercy”, “The Prudent Thief” (two versions: tenor solo and male choir, baritone solo and mixed choir), concerts with solo soprano, alto, tenor, bass, bass-octavist. In choir practice, his transcriptions of his works and the works of other composers for the male composition are common.

Chesnokov is one of the composers of the “new Moscow” school or a new direction in Russian church music - a unique phenomenon in national and world culture. The “new direction” usually refers to the works of a fairly large group of composers, created mainly in the period from the mid-1890s to the early 1920s. In relation to the “new direction” the expression “Moscow school” is often used, due to the fact that the largest representatives of this direction were Muscovites. The forerunners of the “new direction” are considered to be Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, whose first spiritual compositions appeared in the late 70s of the 19th century. The organizer and ideological inspirer of the direction was the outstanding teacher, scientist, researcher of ancient Russian church chants - Stepan Vasilyevich Smolensky. Composers whose works belong to the “new direction”, except P.G. Chesnokov, include S.V. Rachmaninov, A.T. Grechaninov, A.D. Kastalsky, A.V. Nikolsky, Viktor Kalinnikov, N.N. Cherepnin, S.V. Panchenko, as well as M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, V.I. Rebikov, K.N. Shvedov, N.S. Golovanov, D.V. Alemanov.

The characteristic features of the style are: the use in church musical composition of techniques of folk musical thinking and the experience of the Russian national school of composition, the interpretation of ancient chants not as material for harmonization, but as a musical theme, which became the basis for free composition.

composer Taneev Garcheskov choral

“Not every gathering of singers can be called a choir.” These words are attributed to Pavel Chesnokov. He also composed secular music, but became famous primarily as an Orthodox church composer. His encyclopedic work “The Choir and Its Management” can be called the bible of choral conductors.

His name is mentioned along with the names of such luminaries as Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Chesnokov's legacy includes about five hundred choral works. He wrote arrangements of folk songs, choruses and romances based on poems by Russian poets, and children's songs. But the main part of his work is spiritual works: his own chants and transcriptions of traditional chants of Orthodox worship. Among them are complete cycles of the Liturgy and All-Night Vigil, opuses “Praise the Name of the Lord,” “Great Doxology,” “To the Most Holy Lady” and other works included in the golden fund of church musical culture. Chesnokov’s music is deeply national and original; each of his melody helps to convey the words of prayer to believing hearts.

Of course, in the Soviet years, Pavel Grigorievich’s church music was not performed. But in the 80s, Chesnokov’s spiritual works began to penetrate the repertoire of academic choirs and stood the test of the strictest judgment - time.

Tatiana Klimenko

Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov is one of the largest representatives of Russian choral culture of the late 19th - first half of the 20th centuries, a versatile choral figure - composer, conductor and teacher.

P.G. Chesnokov was born on October 24, 1877 in the village of Ivanovskoye, Zvenigorod district, Moscow province, in the family of an employee. The father combined his service with the work of a church regent in a small factory choir, where the boy’s musical development began. In 1886 he was assigned to the Moscow Synodal School, which he graduated brilliantly in 1895. In the same year, he began teaching at his native school (in 1901-1904 he was an assistant regent of the Synodal Choir and in 1895-1904 - a teacher at the Synodal School). Around the same years, the musician worked in two city primary schools for men, and later taught singing in women's educational institutions.

The choirmaster activity of P.G. Chesnokov began in 1900 in the Church of Cosma and Demyan in Shubin (near Tverskaya Street). From 1902 to 1914, he led the amateur choir at the Trinity Church on Mud, where he achieved significant results. Then, in 1915-1917, P.G. Chesnokov headed the Russian Choral Society (in 1916-1917 he also directed the choir of the Russian Choral Society), was invited to major cities of Russia to participate in concerts and to summer regency teacher courses in St. Petersburg (1911-1916 ).

During the Soviet era, the musician's performing activities reached new heights. Chesnokov led many professional choirs in Moscow: the Second State Choir (1919, 1921), the State Academic Choir (1922-1927), the working choir of Proletkult (1928-1932), worked as a choirmaster of the Bolshoi Theater, and directed the choir of the Moscow Philharmonic (1932-1933). ).

In the mid-1930s, Pavel Grigorievich worked in amateur choirs, achieving remarkable results in a number of cases (the choir of the Central Concert Hall and the Gorky Choir, etc.), conducted methodological courses for amateur performance leaders, and taught special choral disciplines at the School named after the October Revolution.

A characteristic quality of the performing appearance of the choirs led by Chesnokov was a light, beautiful, flying sound. Choral groups under his direction were distinguished by their excellent ensemble, structure, and subtlety of performance. The theoretical work of P.G. Chesnokov is widely known - “The Choir and Its Management,” on which the author worked from 1918 to 1929 (published in 1940). The manual for choral conductors summarized the author’s performing and teaching experience.

As a composer, Pavel Grigorievich graduated from the conservatory in 1917 with a silver medal. In the fall of 1920, Chesnokov joined the teaching staff of the Moscow Conservatory, where he worked until the end of his days. At the conservatory, he taught classes in solfeggio and theory (1920-1924), led a choral class (1924-1926; 1932-1934), participated in opera class productions, and taught a choral studies course he created (1925-1928). In 1932, having become a professor, he taught a special conducting class. Among his students: I. Litsvenko, G. Luzenin, Yu. Petrovsky, A. Pokrovsky, S. Popov, A. Khazanov.

The composer is from Peru about 360 chants, 18 works for mixed choir a cappella , 21 works for women's choir with piano, 20 children's songs, 21 romances.

In the last years of his life, the composer made 22 arrangements of Russian folk songs for soloists, mixed and male choirs a cappella , created about 20 chants and 4 romances. Many choral works were widely known and loved by performers during his lifetime. Spiritual opuses of P.G. Chesnov - two Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom for women's choir, opus 9 and 16; Liturgy of the Pre-illuminated Gifts, opus 24; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, opus 42; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, opus 50-a and All-Night Vigil, opus 50-b; and individual chants are the brightest examples of Russian musical culture.

In the constellation of names of famous composers of Russian sacred music, there is one name, when uttered, many Russians feel warmth and bliss in their hearts. This name has not been overshadowed by others, sometimes very famous names; it has stood the test of the strictest court - the impartial Court of Time. This name - Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov.

Chesnokov was born on October 25, 1877 in the village of Ivanovskoye, Zvenigorod district, Moscow province. Already in childhood, he discovered a wonderful voice and bright musical abilities. At the age of five, Pavel began singing in the church choir, of which his father was the choir director. This helped him enter the famous Synodal School of Church Singing, which became the cradle of many outstanding figures of Russian choral culture. Here his teachers were the great V.S. Orlov and the wise S.V. Smolensky. After graduating from college with a gold medal (in 1895), Chesnokov studied composition privately with S.I. for four years. Taneyev, simultaneously working as a teacher of choral singing in women's boarding schools and gymnasiums. In 1903, he became the choir director at the Church of the Trinity on Pokrovka (“on Gryazi”). This choir soon gained fame as one of the best in Moscow: “They didn’t pay the singers, but the singers paid to be accepted into Chesnokov’s choir,” one of the Moscow regents later recalled.

For many years, Chesnokov, while continuing to work in Moscow (during these years he also presided over the Church of Cosmas and Damian on Skobelevskaya Square), often traveled around Russia: he acted as a conductor of spiritual concerts, conducted classes at various regency and regency-teacher courses, and participated in the work of regency congresses. It was the regency business that was central to the life and work of the renowned master of church singing. But he himself was never satisfied with himself, and therefore in 1913, being already widely known throughout singing Russia, the 36-year-old composer of sacred music entered the Moscow Conservatory. Here he studied composition and conducting with M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov and instrumentation with S.I. Vasilenko. Chesnokov marked his fortieth birthday in 1917 by graduating from the conservatory in the free composition class (with a silver medal), having in his creative portfolio about 50 opuses of sacred and secular music. And in the same year, it was Chesnokov and his choir who received the honor of participating in the enthronement of Patriarch Tikhon.

The master's subsequent activities were filled with painful attempts to find a place for himself in a new, radically changed life: conductor and artistic director of various Moscow choirs (but nowhere for a long time), teacher at a music school and the People's Choral Academy (formerly the Synodal School), professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Until 1931, he was regent at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and in 1932 he became the first head of the department of choral conducting at the conservatory. In 1933, Chesnokov’s book “The Choir and Its Management” was completed and in 1940 published (and sold out within a few hours) - the only major methodological work of the famous choral figure. It summarized the many years of invaluable experience of the author himself and his fellow synodals. For many years, this work (though without the chapter on regency practice removed by the author at the request of the publisher) remained the main manual for the training of domestic choirmasters. All this time he continued to compose sacred music, however, no longer for performance or publication, but only for himself.

The last years of the composer's life were the most dramatic: mental suffering was increasingly drowned out by alcohol, in the end his heart could not stand it, and one of the most soulful lyricists of Russian sacred music found his rest in the old Moscow Vagankovsky cemetery...

Assessing Chesnokov’s multifaceted, original talent, contemporaries noted in him a unique combination of various qualities, both musical and “great human”: strict professionalism and deep respect for his work, enormous musicality, brilliant artistic talent, a magnificent refined ear and, also, spiritual purity , sincerity, deep humanity and respect for people. And all these qualities were reflected in one way or another in his music, just as his characteristics as a choirmaster, conductor, and performer were reflected in it.

Among Chesnokov’s works there are romances and children’s songs (just remember the charming cycle “Galina’s Songs”), there is piano music, and among student works there are instrumental works and symphonic sketches. But most of the opuses were written in the genre of choral music: choirs a sarrella and with accompaniment, arrangements of folk songs, transcriptions and editions.

Chesnokov in his work turned to two directions of choral music: church and secular; in total, the composer created about 500 choral works. He wrote over 60 mixed choirs (secular) a cappella, the content of which is a complacent and contemplative perception of nature (Dawn is warming, August, Night, Winter, Alps), of a somewhat different nature - Dubinushka, but here too Chesnokov softens the socially pointed text of L. Trefolev . Some choruses are written in the folk spirit: Forest (lyrics by Koltsov), Beyond the fast river, Not a flower withers in a field (lyrics by A. Ostrovsky). Chesnokov made complex, concert-type arrangements of Russian folk songs (Hey, let's whoop, There was a birch tree in the field, Oh, you, birch, etc.), soloists often participate in them (Oh, you, the canopy, Kanava, A little girl walked, Luchinushka and Dubinushka and etc.). In connection with his teaching work in women's boarding schools, Chesnokov wrote more than 20 women's choirs with extensive piano accompaniment. (Green Noise, Leaves, Uncompressed Strip, Peasant Feast, etc.). Several male choirs of Chesnokov - arrangement of the same works with a mixed composition.

The most important part of his heritage is sacred music. In it the composer's talent and soul found the most perfect, deepest, most intimate embodiment.

Entering the galaxy of composers of the so-called new Moscow school of church music, Chesnokov is still noticeably different from them. Like Kastalsky, who constructed a special (partly speculative) “folk modal system” and used it in his secular and spiritual compositions, Chesnokov “built”, or rather, syntonized his own system, built on easily recognizable melodic and harmonic turns of Russian urban song and everyday romance of the late 19th century. Unlike Grechaninov, who created a special monumental temple-concert style of sacred music, based on the vocal-instrumental polyphony of orchestral writing, Chesnokov creates the no less rich polyphony of his compositions exclusively on the unique originality of the singing voices a sarella, imperceptibly dissolving the dome “echoes” into the choral sonority » temple acoustics. Unlike Shvedov, who imbued his spiritual compositions with the “delights” of romantic harmony and rational design of form, Chesnokov never succumbs to the temptation to compose for the sake of demonstrating authorship, but always follows his lyrical, sincere, childish, slightly naive musical instinct. Unlike Nikolsky, who often complicated the church-singing style by using brightly concert, purely orchestral writing techniques, Chesnokov always preserves in purity the unique, entirely Russian vocal-choral style of temple sonority. And yet he approaches the text like an astute playwright, finding in it monologues, dialogues, lines, summaries and many stage plans. Therefore, already in his Liturgy, Op. 15 (1905), he discovered and brilliantly applied all those dramatic techniques that Rachmaninov would use 10 years later in the famous “Vespers.”

And there is, among many others, one fundamental feature of Chesnokov’s vocal-choral writing. Whether a soloist sings or a choral part sounds, this statement is always personal, i.e., essentially, solo in nature. Chesnokov's melodic talent is not characterized by developed melodies (with the exception of quoting everyday tunes), his element is a short motive, less often a phrase: sometimes of a recitative-ariot nature, sometimes in the spirit of an urban romance song. But any melody requires accompaniment, and the role of such accompaniment is played by all other choral voices. Their task is to highlight, interpret, decorate the melody with beautiful harmony - and it is precisely admiring the beautiful, “spicy”, romantically refined harmony that is characteristic of Chesnokov’s music. All these features indicate that Chesnokov’s music belongs to the genre of lyricism - often sentimental, expressive in its improvisational and everyday origins, and personal in the nature of the statement.

Most of all, this statement becomes romantically moving and artistically convincing when the composer uses the concerto genre by entrusting the solo part to a separate voice. Chesnokov's legacy includes many choral concerts for all types of voices. Particularly notable among them is the six-concert opus 40 (1913), which brought the author truly boundless fame and glory (especially thanks to the unique concert for bass-octavist accompanied by a mixed choir). At the same time, much more often one can observe in Chesnokov’s works diverse manifestations of the principle of concert performance, based on the maximum identification of the group performing capabilities of the parts that make up the choir. Opus 44, “The Most Important Hymns of the All-Night Vigil” (1913), can be classified as works of this kind. It is significant that both of these opuses, completed in the year their author began studying at the Moscow Conservatory, not only demonstrate a new level of Chesnokov’s compositional skills, but also testify to his unique attitude to the genres of sacred music, built on the creative combination of domestic church singing traditions and the latest achievements musical art.

His unsurpassed knowledge of the nature of the singing voice, the peculiarities of the expressive means of individual choral parts and the choir as a whole gave him the richest opportunity to create works in which the richness of timbre colors and the captivating beauty of choral singing were maximally revealed. Characteristic of Chesnokov's works is the mastery of choral writing, the identification of the colorful possibilities of the choir, the desire for acoustic euphony; his choirs are distinguished by the breadth of their range, the use of low basses (octavists), and the use of divisions. Chesnokov uses bright harmonic means, comparison of tonalities, imitation, and complementary rhythm.

A remarkable feature of Chesnokov’s music is its simplicity and accessibility, its recognition and heartfelt closeness. She delights and elevates, cultivates taste and corrects morals, awakens souls and inspires hearts. Having gone through a long and difficult path together with the land that gave birth to it, this music still sounds bright and sincere today. Because, as it was said in the obituary of the composer’s memory, published in the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” in April 1944, “without striving for any external effects, Chesnokov inspired the words of prayer petitions and doxologies with the simplest melodies, sounding from the depths of pure and perfect harmony. (...) This wonderful composer conceptualized church music as prayer wings on which our soul easily ascends to the throne of the Most High.”

His name is mentioned next to such famous names as P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninov, S. Taneev, M. Ippalitov-Ivanov, all of them belong to the so-called Moscow school of composers. The music of these composers is characterized by deep psychologism and lyricism, love of nature, and the ability to recreate its unique features through the language of art (in this case, through musical means). Many musical theorists compare Pavel Chesnokov with wonderful Russian landscape painters: Savrasov, Levitan. Currently, many of P. Chesnokov’s compositions are widespread in concert and pedagogical practice.

In style Vic. Kalinnikova two main trends clearly emerge: the first - melodic, coming from Tchaikovsky, in particular from his romances, is clearly felt in the composer’s landscape lyrics (“Elegy”, “Winter”, “Autumn”, “Lark”, etc.), and the second - epic, coming from Borodin (“Forest”, “On the Old Mound”, “Condor”, “Oh, what honor to the fellow”, etc.). The melody of Kalinnikov's choirs is close to urban and sometimes peasant songs. The choral texture is very varied: an incomplete choir is occasionally used; the melody is often carried out in different parts in the form of “roll calls”; the organ point is used not only in the lower, but also in the upper voices, at different degrees of the scale. Among other characteristic features of his choral writing, one can note a pronounced desire for strophicity, that is, for the design of each stanza of the text with new musical material, and the intense melodization of voices with a generally harmonic texture.

Already from these very sketchy characteristics it is clear that in Russian choral music of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Not only collective, but also individual styles are quite clearly visible.

Concept of choir

Many people believe that any group of randomly gathered people singing together is a choir. From the point of view of choral science, this is incorrect. This kind of performance can be called everyday or mass singing. As an artistic group, the choir must have a number of specific characteristics.

In methodological manuals on choral singing, many different definitions of the concept “choir” are given. Of greatest interest are the definitions of famous choral conductors: P. Chesnokov, V. Sokolov, K. Pigrova, V. Krasnoshchekov.

P. Chesnokov - “A choir is a collection of singers, in the sonority of which there is a strictly balanced ensemble, a precisely calibrated structure and artistic, clearly verified nuances.”

V. Sokolov – “A choir in the full sense of the word can be called a group that sufficiently masters the technical and artistic and expressive means of choral performance necessary to convey those thoughts and feelings, the ideological content that is inherent in the work performed "

K. Pigrov - “A choir is an organized group of singers, a creative team, the main goal of whose performing activity is the ideological, artistic and aesthetic education of the masses.”

These formulations highlight the most significant and important points for the choir. However, the question remains unclear: how does choral singing differ from other forms of vocal ensemble performance?

The choir is the largest vocal ensemble in terms of number of participants. But this is not the only peculiarity of the choir. Trios, quartets, octets are ensembles of soloists: each singer performs an independent voice line. In a choir, each voice line is performed not by one singer, but by a group of singers singing in unison, that is, together, as one voice, matching in pitch, rhythm, timbre, volume, and pronunciation of words. The unison nature of choral singing determines the originality of the choral sound and the peculiarities of the technique of choral performance. The movement of good unison, unity in the sound of voice groups is the starting point in working with a choir.

Based on this, V. Krasnoshchekov gives the following definition of the choir:

“The choir is a large vocal and performing group, which, through its art, truthfully, artistically, fully reveals the content and form of the works performed and, through its creative activity, contributes to the ideological and aesthetic education of the masses. As a musical performing “instrument,” the choir is an ensemble of vocal unisons.”

In the practice of choral singing, there are two forms of performance: singing without accompaniment (a cappella) and singing with accompaniment. Unaccompanied singing is considered to be the highest form of choral performance. Indeed, such singing requires great culture and technical skill from the choir. Independently, without the help of musical accompaniment, the choir must express the content of the work being performed. But it would be wrong to judge the skill and artistic maturity of a choral group solely on the basis of what percentage of its repertoire consists of unaccompanied works, or to judge the degree of difficulty of a choral work based on whether it is written unaccompanied or with accompaniment.

In works with accompaniment, accompaniment greatly facilitates performance. It helps the choir to intonate cleanly, maintain the correct rhythm, tempo, etc. But this is not the main meaning of the accompaniment. Accompaniment is one of the most important means of musical expression. In cases where the accompaniment lacks an independent image and basically duplicates the choral score, the work can be performed unaccompanied without losing its artistic qualities. There is no fundamental difference in working on one or another type of choral singing. In all cases, it is necessary to ensure that the choir sings purely, expressively, beautifully, so that it can sing any part of the work without accompaniment, even if it is not intended for performance without accompaniment.