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PSALTIC CHANT VERSUS CHORAL MUSIC IN THE CONTEXT OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY ROMANIA (SECOND HALF)
Abstract
Byzantine music is today, in Romania, undergoing a profound process of rediscovery and revival, after approximately 130 years marked by political changes which, more often than not, exerted a negative influence upon the life of the Orthodox Church and its culture. This return to the psaltic chant of Byzantine tradition, in order to be fully embraced, requires a thorough understanding of the historical events and of the sinuous path which, on many occasions, endangered the very practice of this ecclesiastical music within the liturgical sphere. The present article therefore aims to highlight several significant moments along this historical trajectory, beginning with the second half of the nineteenth century and extending into the early decades of the last century—a period in which numerous official changes were introduced within the Church, including in the musical domain. At the same time, strong reactions emerged from within the Church against such imposed cultural and musical reforms, reflecting the conflict between tradition and innovation that arose from the intrusion of political forces into ecclesiastical life at that time.
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References34
Vasile Vasile, Istoria muzicii bizantine ?i evolu?ia in spiritualitatea romaneasca [History of Byzantine Music and Its Evolution in Romanian Spirituality], vol. II, Bucharest, Interprint Publishing, 1997, p. 240.
Nifon Ploie?teanu, Carte de Musica Bisericesca pe psaltichie ?i pe note liniare, pentru trei voci [Book of Church Music in Psaltic and Linear Notation for Three Voices], Bucharest, 1902, p. 230.
Inochentie, Bishop of Buzau, in the preface of Neagu Ionescu, Buchetul Musical ce con?ine tote cantarile indispensabile unui cantare? in tot timpul anului [The Musical Bouquet Containing All the Chants Indispensable for a Singer Throughout the Year], Buzau, 1881.
Vasile Ciureanu-Bode?ti, Liturghier [Liturgy Book], Chi?inau, 1928, p. 623.
See Vasile Vasile, op. cit., p. 242. Also see Zeno Vancea, Muzica bisericeasca corala la români [Choral Church Music among Romanians], Timi?oara, S.A. Mentor Publishing, 1944; and Titus Moisescu, Crea?ia corala religioasa [Religious Choral Creation] in Muzica, new series, Vol. V, No. 2 (18), April–June 1994, pp. 125–140.
Melchisedec ?tefanescu, Bishop of Roman, Memoriul catre Sfantul Sinod al Bisericii Ortodoxe Roman [Memorandum to the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church], in Official Gazette of Romania, 49, No. 205, 12 December 1881, p. 7199.
Nifon Ploie?teanu, op. cit., p. 231.
Vasile Vasile, op. cit., p. 240.
Nifon Ploie?teanu, op. cit., p. 231; and Costin Moisil, Geniu romanesc vs. tradi?ie bizantina. Imaginea cantarii biserice?ti in muzicologia romaneasca [Romanian Genius vs. Byzantine Tradition: The Image of Church Singing in Romanian Musicology], Bucharest, Musical Publishing, 2016, p. 20.
Theodor T. Burada, Corurile biserice?ti de muzica vocala armonica Г®n Moldova [Ecclesiastical Choirs of Harmonic Vocal Music in Moldavia] in Works, vol. I, part, Bucharest, Musical Publishing, 1974, p. 282, cited in Moisil, op. cit., p. 19.
R. Rosetti, Conflictul intre guvernul Moldovei ?i manastirea Neam? [The Conflict between the Government of Moldavia and the Neam? Monastery] in An, Series II, Vol. 32, apud Mihail Gr. Poslu?nicu, History of Music among Romanians, Bucharest, Cartea Romaneasca, 1928, p. 94.
Mihail Gr. Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 94.
Metropolitan Iosif Naniescu admitted, for the first time in the history of the Romanian Church in 1876, female voices in church choirs, at the initiative of Gavriil Musicescu, conductor of the harmonic choir of Ia?i Cathedral; the Holy Synod, upon the metropolitan’s proposal, later approved this measure.
Mihail Gr. Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 95.
Mihail Gr. Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 95.
Vasile Vasile, op. cit., p. 241.
At only 19 years old, in 1866, Gavriil Musicescu, an exceptional talent and tireless spirit with great openness toward Western culture, was appointed professor at the Ismail Seminary and founded the episcopal choir there. At Musicescu’s initiative in 1876, as conductor of the Ia?i Metropolitan Cathedral choir, Metropolitan Iosif Naniescu admitted for the first time in Romanian Church history female voices in the harmonic choir.
Academician A. D. Xenopol praised this initiative as a “significant renewal in the chants of divine service” of a metropolitan who “understood the need to keep pace with culture […] embracing new ideas arising over time” and creating a choir “fully satisfying the demands of modern music.” Arhiva Review, No. VI, Feb. 1895, No. 5–6, apud Mihai Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 357.
Mihail Gr. Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 361.
Idem, p. 362.
Idem, p. 361.
Melchisedec ?tefanescu, op. cit., pp. 7290–7291.
Idem, p. 7200.
As defined by N. E. Idieru, history professor at the Commercial School of Bucharest, in Istoria artelor frumose [History of the Fine Arts], Part IV, in Musica Journal, pp. 438–441, apud Nifon Ploie?teanu, op. cit., p. 80.
Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 361.
Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 361.
Vasile Vasile, op. cit., p. 249.
Nifon Ploie?teanu, op. cit., pp. 229–238.
Main arguments: 1. In Western music, there are not enough measures accurately reflecting the rhythmic diversity of psaltic music; some, attempting to transcribe psaltic music into linear notation, omitted meter indications; 2. Differences exist between tempered intervals and psaltic scales, which include “major tone, augmented, diminished, minor tone, and smaller tone”; 3. While Western music has only sharp, flat, and natural, psaltic music contains 20 “accidentals and ftorale” (types of modulations) divided into diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic categories; 4. Expression marks have no equivalent in Western music.
Vasile Vasile, op. cit., p. 249.
Nifon, op. cit., pp. 229–238.
On the rights and injustices of the 1863 decree, see the article Cum a lasat Cuza Voda Biserica Г®n sapa de lemn [How Cuza Left the Church in the Lurch] at https://www.historia.ro.
In Arhiva Journal, VI (Feb. 1895), No. 5–6, apud Poslu?nicu, op. cit., p. 357.
Vasile Ciureanu-Bode?ti, op. cit., p. 10.
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