Bibliography

This is a work in progress; all listings note an English-language source when possible.

Last revised 1 June 2003.

General Reading

• note: this category is defined as any books that are not chant manuscripts. These could be historical studies, theory books, etc.

Gardner, Johann von. Russian Church Singing, volume 1: Orthodox Worship and Hymnography. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1980. 145 pp.

• (In English) Volume One of this series has much useful information that is especially for new choir directors, readers and chanters or those who are new to Orthodox worship. This book is available from Musicarussica.

Gardner, Johann von. Russian Church Singing, volume 2: History from the Origins to the Mid-Seventeenth Century. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2000. 378 pp.

• (In English) Volume Two of this series opens the reader's eyes to as clear an understanding of the development of Russian Church music as is available in English. In taking you through the Mid-1600s, Gardner takes you from the Christianization of Rus' through the post-Times of Troubles development of Znamenny Chant and into the development of Put' and Demestveni Chants. I cannot recommend another book as more critical to understanding Russian chant history. This book is available from Musicarussica.

Mezents, (Staretz) Alexander; Smolensky, Stepan. Azbuka Znamennago Pienia. Kazan Imperial University Press: Kazan Russia, 1888. Mezents' original book, which comprises a portion of this book, was published in 1668.

• (In Russian) Fr. Alexander's Azbuka (literally "Alphabet") is a common textbook of its era that teaches one the names of the kriuki. Smolensky, a giant in his day in the field of ancient Russian chants, turned Fr. Alexander's book into the foundation for an expanded Azbuka that taught one how to read the kriuki; Smolensky included in this volume a comparison of eight sets of notation from different eras dating from 12th century Kondakarion [which no one knows how to read] to 19th century square-note notation. Smolensky was kind enough to print this book in black and red ink, so that the cinnabar marks are clearly distinguished from the rest of the notation. The book is available at the University of Kansas Music and Dance Library and probably some other university libraries

Preobrazhensky, Anton. Po tserkovnomu peniiu ukazatel' knig, broshiur i zhurnal'nykh statei (1793-1896 g.) [A bibliography of books, brochures, and journal articles on church singing for 1793-1896]. Ekaterinoslav, Russia: 1897; 2nd edition, Moscow, 1900.

Schidlovsky, Nicolas. "Sources in Russian Chant Theory," appearing in: McQuere, Gordon D., ed. Russian Theoretical Thought in Music. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1983. pp. 83-108.

• (In English) Professor Schidlovsky reviews the various studies that have been done on the old Russian chants. His study, to my knowledge, offers the most recent information in English on all the studies, in Russian and English, that have been done on this body of music. Regretably, this essay is 20 years old and does not include any of the work that has been done after scholars in Russia were given more freedom to study this body of music. This book is extremely expensive on Amazon.com; I recommend finding a copy in a university library, as I did at the University of Kansas.

Chant Manuscripts

_______. Obikhod. Solovyetskii: Solovyetskii Monastir, 1912. Reprinted Madison, Connecticut: Musica Russica, Inc., 2000.

_______. Obikhod. Valaam: Valaam Desert, 1902. Reprinted Madison, Connecticut: Musica Russica, Inc., 2000.

_______. Oktoik. St. Petersburg, Russia: Valaam Monastery Press, 1999. Reprint of 18th century manuscript of Solovki monastery.

• (In Russian and handwritten Church Slavonic) The Oktoikos is the book of the eight tones that represents the weekly rotation of hymns. This book includes music in Greater (Middle?) Znamenny Chant for Saturday night and Sunday morning only. The music includes Little Vespers (the Lord I Call stichera and Dogmatika), Great Vespers (Lord I Call stichera and Dogmatika, the First Aposticha stichera and Dogmatika), Orthros (Antiphons and Eothinon Doxastika) and Liturgy (Beatitude Troparia). What made this book worth reprinting was that all texts include notation with both kriuki and square-note notation! The monks of Valaam have included a very brief explanation of how to read the various notation at the end. I do not know whether this book is still available; mine was gifted to me by a monk of another monastery who had two copies. You might contact the Valaam Podvoria in St. Petersburg (812 252-53-61) to see if they have any copies.

Potulov, N. Drevnago Bogosluzhenago Pyenia. Moscow, 1898. Reprinted Madison, Connecticut: Musica Russica, Inc., 2000.

Uspenskii, Nikolai D. Obraztsy Drevnerusskogo Pevcheskogo Iskusstva. Leningrad, Russia: Isdatelstvo "Muzika" Leningrad, 1971. 354 pp.