Nikolai Konstantinovich Zatsepin – Monasteries on the choir, 1852

Who sings in the temple? For Russia this is a rather strange question. Everyone understands that in our churches special choirs sing during services. Sometimes these choirs consist exclusively of men, sometimes of women. But the most common situation in our country is mixed choirs, which include both men and women.

Once upon a time, before the revolution, only men had the right to sing in Russian churches. Women were not allowed to participate in choirs on principle. In those days, women's church choirs were only available in convents. Everything changed after the revolution. Few parishioners Orthodox churches Only women or grandmothers remained in Russia at that time. They eventually began to sing during the service.

In Greece there was no generation gap like ours. That is, there was no situation where, up to a certain point, the temples were full of people, and after that they were almost completely empty. Tradition of belonging to Orthodox Church passed down in Greece from generation to generation. In addition, children adopted from their parents forms of participation in church life. It's about not only that the sons of Greek priests often took orders themselves. But also about other, unusual for Russia, forms of service in the Church.

In Greece there are special church singers and readers who call themselves psaltis. Only men can be psaltis. Usually these are very respectable, middle-aged Greeks with extraordinary vocal qualities. For special solemnity, psaltis wear cassocks to the service - wide vestments that priests wear in Everyday life. By this they show that they are part of the clergy, that is, they belong to the category of special church servants.

In the Churches of the Greek tradition, women generally have nothing to do with singing during services. Sometimes in Greek parishes there are women's or mixed choirs, but this is regarded by parishioners as an innovation and is not particularly supported.

I have a psaltis friend in Greece. This is an old man. He was once married (now he is a widower), had secular work, but at the same time from the very early years He sings every Sunday and holidays in Church during services. The service has become an integral part of his life, so much so that he knows many texts by heart. I remember how amazed I was when I saw that this psaltis, without even looking at the book for a moment, pronounced several psalms in a row, and then sang several hymns.

The Psaltis are a real caste. You can’t just become a psaltis. Even if you have a beautiful and strong voice. Psaltis know the service very well and are well versed in liturgical books. They also have amazing hearing and therefore are fluent in the art of Byzantine singing, which is much more complex than Slavic singing. Therefore, every psaltis in a Greek parish is respected and appreciated, almost like a priest.

Priest Anthony Borisov was with you. We talked today about psaltis - special singers and readers in the Greek Church.

This blog is read by several million people every year, and many of them are not believers. They watch how we communicate with each other.

I know I'll hit a few sensitive points in this article: music volume; lighting for worship; musical preferences; and performance or performance as opposed to congregational singing.

An obvious reality in many congregations is that congregational singing is declining in many churches. In some churches it seems to have disappeared completely.

I will try to discuss this reality as impartially as possible, at least for the most part. And I don't consider myself an expert in this field, so I turned to a guru church service, Mike Harland to help me understand some of the technical issues or decisions we make.

Ultimately, this is my personal blog and I take full responsibility for its content. What, then, are the main reasons why fewer and fewer people sing in church? Why does this act of worshiping God become nominal or formal in many situations? Here are six reasons:

1. Some church members do not prepare themselves for worship. We come to judge others, to fulfill some kind of obligation, or simply out of habit. We have not prayed for God to do a work in us through worship. If we don't have a song in our hearts, there won't be one on our lips.

2. We don't know the songs. We only sing songs whose words we know. It is obvious. But if there is a constant influx of new songs and not enough time to learn them, we are not participating in worship. It is best when both familiar and new songs are offered for congregational singing, with worship leaders teaching new songs until we learn and love them.

3. The songs are not sung in a range in which we can participate. Many trained musicians have a wider range in which they can sing. Most of the rest of us can't do this. If we are supposed to sing in a range that is beyond our ability, we will not even try. Worship leaders decide, intentionally or not, whether they want to lead the congregation in worship or sing to the audience.

4. Lighting encourages us to see everything as a performance rather than something we need to take part in. We take part in singing when we can hear each other's voices and see each other. If the lighting in the meeting room is dim and the lighting on the stage is bright, we perceive everything that happens as a performance. Thus, we fail to convey that everyone present should participate in worship and praise.

5. The music is too loud to hear others in the congregation. There have been quite a few comments on this blog about the proper decibel levels for music in worship. I think the more important question, however, is whether we can hear others. If we hear the voices of other brothers and sisters around us, we are encouraged enough to join. If the music is so loud that we can only hear ourselves, most of us get scared. And in this case we prefer to remain silent.

6. Worship leaders don't listen to the congregation. If worship leaders truly want to lead people in congregational singing, they must be able to hear the congregation. Some of them only hear the equipment and voices from the monitors on stage. And some of them have in-ear headphones (earphones or earbuds) that actually block out the voices of people in the meeting. Church singing is powerful when it is done well. And worship can only be led well if the worship leaders hear those they lead.

When a person comes to church for a service, he immediately pays attention to the sound of the prayer performed by the choir, that is, to the very presence of music. Why sing prayers at all? After all, they can be read.

It is also interesting how the choir sings, and not only the choir, but the church and clergy. The parishioners can clearly hear their voices, their hearing, and even their musicality. It is known that in the seminary, spiritual singing has a special significance among other subjects. Actually, why does the Church sing? Why does she need so much music? After all, there are even several choirs: left and right? What are they for and why are they called that? What is the meaning and purpose of male, female and mixed choirs? All that remains to be added is that the churches also have amazing acoustics, conducive to singing and reading...

You can often hear an opinion and feel for yourself that church music touches you and doesn’t let you go; contact with it turns you towards the Church and encourages you to pray. Why? In this context, it is also interesting that it is a large choir, and not a duet or trio, that participates in the service. And why then are musical instruments not used, while in Catholicism organ music is a full-fledged attribute of the ministry?

Bishop of Pokrovsky and Nikolaevsky Pachomius answers:

Today, such questions arise quite often, but 50-100 years ago they would hardly have been asked. Previously, relatives, when gathering on holidays, sang - that was the custom. Currently, the traditions of singing are disappearing from the life of the Russian people, and with them their spirit. After all, the songs contain feelings and experiences that reflect what the Russian people are. This phenomenon has many reasons, one of which is technological progress: the availability of television, the Internet, audio and video media. But singing is an integral part of any society, including Russian, expressing joys, sorrows, doubts, and quests. Take a look at the history of mankind - singing has accompanied people at all times. Warriors going into battle sing, a suffering woman cries, but this is also singing to some extent. There is even one literary genre- crying.

The church, of course, sings too. Church singing is an expression of a person’s spiritual experiences. Almost the entire service is sung: by the choir, by the priest, by the people. The tradition of singing the service goes back to ancient times, to the very foundation of the Church. Initially, short psalms and excerpts of prayers were sung. Over time, the liturgical Charter developed and acquired modern look, but singing remained one of its most important components.

A person who is just beginning to become a church member asks many questions regarding the life of the Church and its teachings. And often the answer is found not by the mind, but by the heart. And church singing, which allows you to touch God, the shrine, penetrating directly into the heart, awakens feelings that no word can touch.

In prayers and in worship we sing praises to the Lord. A secular person will ask: “Why do we chant?” Because the soul, overflowing with joy, sings. And then, singing has a practical meaning - this way the text of the prayer is remembered better and faster. However, in worship there is time not only for singing, but also for reading, and even silence. For example, Lent- a time of repentance, a contemplative attitude towards life. A person tries to be more attentive to himself and to what is happening around him. Therefore, changes are taking place in worship - singing is giving way to reading sacred texts, and a person who regularly goes to church notices this, of course.

It is rightly noted that clergy, as a rule, have assigned votes. Singing is a skill, an ability that is taught in seminaries and church schools. In the seminary training program for sacred singing, an hour or two per week is allocated. Why is this getting so much attention? On the one hand, unfortunately, now applicants practically do not know how to sing, and they need to be taught. Again, this is due to the fact that the tradition of singing is gone. On the other hand, the priest must learn not only spiritual qualities, but also the external component of church life - its rules and traditions. Here we can give the following example: when we go to a doctor, we want him to be a professional, and his tools to be best quality. It's the same in the Church. Its splendor is achieved by certain skills. A priest must be able to sing and read correctly.

The Church Charter says that one should read dispassionately. And this also applies to singing. The reader does not convey his mood and feelings, but helps parishioners touch God. In turn, church singing allows a person to dispassionately listen to the words and feel his own experiences, that is, tune in to prayer, helps to detach himself from vanity.

Secular people feel awkward in church—they don’t understand what they are singing about at the service. Therefore, they have to learn to listen to the words of prayer. And in this regard, the structure of the temple is important. However, it is worth understanding that the temple is not a concert venue or a theater. We must pay attention to what is happening here, not how. Of course, over the centuries, types of Orthodox architecture have been formed. The basis was the basilica, a Roman state institution where the first services were held, and then the cross-domed type became widespread. But, despite all the styles, churches were built so that parishioners could clearly hear prayer. After all, we come to the service to put in our hearts knowledge about God, elevating us and freeing us from vanity.

A significant portion of the prayers at the service are sung by the choir. In ancient times, such a choir as we have now did not exist - the parishioners sang chants. They reacted to the proclaimed dogmas. For example, during a service the priest says some exclamation, and the choir responds: “Amen.” This word from the Hebrew language, which is still used among us and is not understood by everyone, can be translated as “truth” or “I agree with this.” The parishioners responded to the exclamation with agreement or disagreement. Over time, the intensity of spiritual feelings and experiences of the Christian community decreased, and liturgical material increased, and therefore there was a need for professional singers and readers. This is how choirs began to be formed. In essence, the choir is the people, the Church. Today you can also find churches where people sing as a whole community, but this is rare.

Even 200-300 years ago, the Russian Church used Znamenny singing during divine services. Today, most churches use partes singing, which came to us from Europe in the 17th-18th centuries. The main trend of the era was the borrowing of the European way of life and culture, both secular and ecclesiastical. But it wasn't that bad. During the period of persecution of the Russian Church, emigrated laity and clergy presented Europe and America with Orthodox chants, which in their structure were understandable to them. This metamorphosis made it possible Western countries feel Orthodoxy.

As partes singing, multifaceted and polyphonic, came to Russia, the need arose to expand the range of the choir. Women's voices added color, making the choir sound wider and larger. Space has opened up for creating new chants. It was a natural and continuous process. In general, women's and mixed choirs are a rather late phenomenon. If we talk about Russian church life, then such choirs, with the exception of monastic ones, appeared a little more than a century ago. In the parish churches of the Orthodox Church, there have traditionally been only male choirs. Because worship is to some extent a male profession. Women in our churches began to receive some positions, including passes to the choir, only in the 19th century. The emergence of female and mixed choirs was due to the weakening of church life. IN Soviet time, when priests were shot and churches were empty, myrrh-bearing women came to the rescue, singing, reading and even helping at the altar, although this contradicts church canons.

The division of choirs into right and left was intended for antiphonal singing and appeared in the 4th century in the Church of Constantinople under St. John Chrysostom. Then the prayers were sung in pairs, in two choirs. This also happens today. Although most often antiphonal singing of the right and left choirs can be heard at large, festive services. But in the divine service there are moments, prescribed in the Charter, when some chants are sung by a trio, a duet, or even one person.

As for the use musical instruments, then traditionally both Catholicism and Orthodoxy did not use instrumental music. Organ music, which became for the Western Church permanent element services is a late phenomenon. In Russia, in general, any music was not used in worship, since it has a different effect on a person, evokes certain emotions, and church singing and reading should awaken a feeling of repentance, a spiritual experience. We can say that in our worship we use the most perfect instrument - the human voice, which the Lord himself rewarded us with.

There is such a concept - a musical offering. This is a kind of sacrifice, praise through which we express our gratitude and love. What can a person bring to God? He can sing and glorify Him through prayer. In my opinion, every parishioner needs to undergo choir obedience in order to get to know church life as best as possible. At the monastery, the regent who taught us to sing always said: “Your task is to learn not so much to sing as to listen.” When a person learns to sing, he learns not only music, but acquires such virtues as humility, unity, and a sense of comradeship. Let us remember the warriors going into battle singing. They sing because they feel their strength and power, unity and brotherhood. The Church does not belittle the importance of the individual, it only says that not everything comes down to the talents and desires of one person. Christianity is the religion of society, where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

So, you want to get into the church choir. If you are a believer, then you are doubly interested in singing in the choir. In the end, the choir imitates the angels and imitates the heavenly angelic face. This in itself is quite attractive for a believer, and more active participation in worship subconsciously (and sometimes quite consciously) instills the idea of ​​greater personal value for the parish.

Of course, we cannot completely exclude the possibility that you see in this work an opportunity to combine the good with the utilitarian (that is, money). There is nothing wrong. Work on the choir is difficult and it is quite appropriate to get at least something for it. So, the background is clear. You want to get into a church choir.

Now, actually, how this is done

1. Go to the church cash register (where candles are sold) and ask -
“What is the name of the rector of this temple and when does he serve?” The rector is, in fact, the head of the parish, its “director,” and it is he who coordinates all processes in a particular church. Nothing is done without the abbot and you cannot avoid communicating with him. Having found out when the abbot is serving, you simply ask him for a few words. Usually after the service.

2. So, you go up to the abbot and say “Hello, my name is so-and-so... I want to sing in a church choir. I have/don’t (underline as appropriate) a musical education, I have/don’t (underline as appropriate) experience of singing in the choir, I am ready/not ready (underline as appropriate) to work for free.”

The rector will very quickly weigh your chances, and if they are non-zero (if you are a man, the chances increase slightly, since there are traditionally not enough men in the choir), then he will give the contacts of the regent - the “director” of the choir.

And he will direct you to talk with him. If the rector clearly rejects you (it is clear that he is giving arguments why you cannot sing), then ask him “is there a school of church singing at the church that you are ready to go to.” If there is, ask how to get there. If not, politely say goodbye and apologize for wasting your time.

3. At this phase, it is assumed that the abbot did not “dismiss” you after all and sent you to the regent. It's too early to relax. The regent often simply “for the rector” competently sings, in addition, the regent is already a professional in singing (and he certainly thinks so to himself), so your natural excitement will be added to the conversation (unless, of course, you have not sung for 15 years before in different choirs ).

So, go up to the regent and you will have to repeat to him everything that you told the rector, after which you can offer the regent right now to sing something simple with him together (so that the regent can appreciate the pleasantness/creakyness of your voice).

Usually confidence in such matters works as a plus. If the regent has any interest in new choristers, he will give you his time. If the regent is not interested (he is satisfied with everything in the current composition) - well, try asking him about whether there is a school of church singing in the city. If yes, ask for coordinates and say goodbye. If not, just say goodbye. You cannot get a job in the choir yet. Actually, this is hard work and your loss (or missed opportunities, as you prefer) cannot be called tragic.

4. Suppose the regent nevertheless agreed to accept you for a probationary period. And he appointed a time for you to come to the general rehearsal (in other words, a rehearsal), in which all the people working in the choir are already participating. You are now required not to burn your nerves and not to frighten the already working choristers. There are some tips.

• Do not use a lot of church words/expressions during the rehearsal and in communication in general. Singers, as a rule, begin to think about such a person like this: “Oh, a mega-Orthodox has come, who was sent by the rector to spy on us, he will ruin our singing, but will be in good standing with the rector.” Be yourself, don’t act too relaxed, but you don’t need to be a timid mouse either (otherwise they will conclude that you are as useless as a dead fly; after all, performing musical works requires a certain amount of performing courage).
• Dress well and well. Dressing poorly is not a plus for you simply because the singers will immediately begin to think “you want to get into the left choir at any cost and take away the services of the already working singers.” You don’t know this yet, but for singers all services are limited and there is a fight for each one (because the abbot does not allow everyone to go out at will, there is a limit on the number of people at the everyday “left” service). Show that you are ready for anything at holiday services on weekends, but you are a working person and you have money (even if this is an embellished reality)
• Be prepared for the fact that at first only the regent will give you goodwill. Singers are very afraid of destroying the fragile world that they develop during their work - this is the balance of the workload, and the distribution of authority in the team, and therefore no one will “bet on a dark horse.” You will be treated with cold politeness, and in especially advanced cases - with cold impoliteness)) If you want to sing for real, you will have to endure all this.
• Of course, don't be late. Come early and look around. Offer to take the sheet music home to study them (this is, of course, if you don’t sight read like a computer, but this is very rare, at least in the provinces). If you took some sheet music home, prove that you watched them at home. Don't take too much. Two or three pieces, but then show that you have begun to sing them better (in other words, demonstrate progress).

In general, at this stage everything already depends on real benefit, which you can bring. If you are useful and your character is not terrible, they will most likely leave you. By the way, there is a secret - if you want to be left behind, offer to read on the choir - a psalter or a clock. Start by memorizing the text of these prayers so that you can recite these texts like a robot at any time of the day or night. Singers hate reading (because it ruins their voice), and any reader is usually welcome like a piece of forfeit in the heat. And the willingness to “read everything” during the beginner phase very, very helps to soften the steely shine in the eyes of old and experienced singers))

Well, remember. If the Lord wants to see you on the choir, you will be on the choir. This has been verified.