Educational and Methodological Support for the Training of Choristers of Parish Churches of the Kyiv Diocese in the Second Half of the 19 th Century

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the historical processes that led to increased attention to the study of church singing in the second half of the nineteenth century and the analysis of methodological support for the training of future choristers of churches in parish schools. The methodological basis of the research is formed by general historical methods (analysis and synthesis), as well as the principles of scientificity, historicism, and objectivity. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that on the basis of the analysed publications of the church press and the available research of modern authors, for the first time, the recommendations that were provided to singing teachers for the preparation of future choristers are highlighted. The teaching aids and some methodological recomndations that were provided to facilitate the learning of students are indicated. Conclusions. In the ХІХ century, a number of reforms were carried out in all eparchies of the Russian Empire, concerning various spheres of spiritual education. There was a reorganization of educational institutions and an update of educational programs. The church singing became one of the main subjects; it was introduced for compulsory study in educational institutions of all levels – from academies to parish schools. Pupils of theological educational institutions mastered its theory and practice at the divine services. The Holy Synod issued provisions that regulated the volume of educational material and even a list of chants and prayers. In addition, church singing could be studied not for one semester or a year, but for the entire period of study. The main aspect requiring improvement in the reform process is the creation of church choirs. Since most of the teachers had a low level of solfeggio knowledge, they are not able to teach singers – teaching aids and methodological recommendations were developed to solve this problem. The useful information for singing teachers was distributed for giving the lesson: easy ways to study musical notation, elementary musical theory, examples of melodies, and so on. Their popularization was carried out with the help of church publications. The article analyses publications of the church press of the ХІХ century, as well as modern researches, which contains information on teaching church singing and advice for teachers who train children-choristers.