Guseinova Zivar

Historical and theoretical information in the Ukaz o Podmetkakh (the copy of Russian State Library, f. 379 no. 1)

Abstract

This article deals with one of the copies of the famous musical and theoretical document of the 17th century Ukaz o podmetkakh in the manuscript of the Russian State Library, fund 379 (of D. V. Razumovsky), no. 1. This document, preserved in several copies of the 17th and 18th centuries with diff erent names, became famous because of the presentation of the “teaching” of the Novgorod chanter Ioann Shaidur regarding the introduction cinnabar letter marks specifying the height of symbols of the hook notation and the structure of the scale. The need to introduce such adjustments was caused by the gradual attrition of unity in the performance of one chant by diff erent singers, and even more so in diff erent churches. The “teaching” of Ioann Shaidur is based on information about the singing of signs in explanatory manuals, abbreviated to one or two letters added to the notation signs in red. This system of marks came into use in the middle of the 17th century and was actively used until the introduction of marks presented in the other theoretical document, Izveshchenie (“Notifi cation”) by Alexander Mezents (1670). In the text studied in this article, the system is presented several times in diff erent variants, which shows that diff erent masters repeatedly introduced additional information and clarifi cation in the document refl ecting local traditions of church singing. As a result, the marks and the structure of the scale are presented in this document in diff erent versions. The copy also contains important historical information on the personality of Ioann Shaidur, as well as on the origin of church singing, which was not borrowed from Byzantium, but originated on Slavic soil, similarly to the Cyrillic alphabet.

Keywords

Ukaz o podmetkakh, hook notation, marks, sound, church singing, music theory, chanter

References

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Information about the author

Guseinova Zivar

Academic Degree: Doctor of Sciences* in Art Criticism;
Place of work: St. Petersburg State Conservatory; 3 Teatral’naya Sq., St Petersburg 190000, Russian Federation;
ORCID: 0000-0001-8940-6485;
Email: zivar-g@mail.ru.

*According to ISCED 2011, a post-doctoral degree called Doctor of Sciences (D.Sc.) is given to reflect second advanced research qualifications or higher doctorates.