Stravinsky's Ikons: the Influence of Seventeenth-Century Russian
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Stravinsky’s Ikons: The Influence of Seventeenth-Century Russian Polyphonic Chant on Stravinsky’s Sacred Oeuvre A Thesis Submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in the Division of Composition, Musicology, and Theory of the College-Conservatory of Music 2008 by Eric Thomas Johnson B.M. Vanderbilt University, 2005 Committee Chair: Dr. David Carson Berry ABSTRACT This study examines the influence of early seventeenth-century Russian polyphonic chant on Stravinsky’s Ave Maria, Symphony of Psalms, and Mass. While some scholars have suggested the possible influence of Russian Orthodox Church music on the composer’s Slavonic liturgical works (i.e., the three Russian Sacred Choruses) this study suggests Russian Orthodox musical influence in Stravinsky’s Latin and Catholic liturgical works. This Russian Church musical style is characterized by a unique form of polyphony that features irregularity of meter, free use of dissonance, and unusual voice leading (compared to the principles of voice leading codified by Fux). Sonorities from this style are rich in harmonic seconds, fifths, and sevenths, which generate trichords commonly found in Stravinsky’s harmonic palette. These trichords function in significant ways in Stavinsky’s sacred works, marking a differentiation between Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox influences. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. David Berry, for his guidance and crucial adjustments; he was invaluable to the success of this argument, acting both as advisor and source for theoretical information. I would also like to thank Dr. Robert Zierolf and Dr. Mary Sue Morrow for their suggestions for revisions. Though not listed at the front of this document, Dr. Catherine Losada was a tremendous source of help to refine much of the argument as well as to broaden the amount of research necessary for this topic. Finally, the most influential source of inspiration for this entire project was my wife, Amanda, who without her positive encouragement, this project would have never been completed. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One: The Dichotomy of Stravinsky’s Faith…………………………………………………14 Chapter Two: An Outline History of Russian Church Music………………………………………..25 Chapter Three: Characteristics of Early Russian Orthodox Polyphony……………………………….39 Chapter Four: Analysis of “Bogoroditse dievo” and “Ave Maria”…………………………………..53 Chapter Five: Analysis of Symphony of Psalms……………………………………………………..67 Chapter Six: Analysis of Stravinsky’s Mass………………………………………………………..78 Chapter Seven: Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………94 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..98 vi Introduction [H]is religious outlook is . ready to see the characteristic traditions of the Eastern and Western Christian Churches brought together under the banner of catholic universality.1 Roman Vlad Igor Stravinsky was one of the most prolific composers of the twentieth century, with works embracing many of the period’s major movements, including neoclassicism and serialism. Accordingly, his music has received attention in many areas of scholarship, both theoretical and musicological. However, research on the composer’s religious nature and sacred works seems to have been undertaken much less often than research on his Russian-era and neoclassical works. A few scholars have probed the former topics, but usually with the intent of demonstrating the presence and profundity of his religious devotion, rather than of exploring specific theological or musical ramifications. Stravinsky’s Mass (1944-48), for example, is a sacred work that should be explored in terms of style, influence, and liturgical practice. As a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church, the composer’s intention behind composing a piece designed for liturgical use in the Catholic Church is not immediately apparent. Comments made about the Mass by Stravinsky, as well as by his devoted assistant, Robert Craft, reveal stylistic influences from another age and practice. This is not surprising, as the piece was written near the end of Stravinsky’s neoclassical period, in which past influences were a sine qua non. One might assume that the composer’s intention would include influences from other Catholic masses from different periods; but there are aspects of the composer’s Mass that do not seem to stem from Western traditions. Turning instead to Russian musical traditions, there is a wealth of sacred material that existed before any 1 Roman Vlad, Stravinsky, trans. Frederick and Ann Fuller (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), 153. 1 Western influence. Specifically, early polyphony from the seventeenth century seems to share many things in common with Stravinsky’s own compositional practice, not only in the Mass but also—and especially—in his Russian Sacred Choruses.2 While some scholars have attempted to show certain general influences on Stravinsky, from the Catholic musical tradition, perhaps no one has attempted to find correlations between this indigenous Russian Orthodox polyphonic chant and his sacred works; indeed, I did not find such research when preparing the present argument. I propose that there were influences from seventeenth-century Russian polyphonic chant not only on the Russian Sacred Choruses (which were intended by Stravinsky to be used liturgically in the Russian Orthodox Church), but also on some of the composer’s other sacred works, especially the Mass. These influences stem from the musical activity in the Russian Orthodox Church during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During this period, a unique form of polyphony developed that is based upon chant. It is characterized primarily by irregularity of meter, free use of dissonance, and unusual voice-leading (that is, with respect to Western norms, such as those codified by Fux in his 1725 treatise, Gradus ad Parnassum). In fact, while tertian harmonies are not lacking in this stylistic period, sonorities rich in harmonic seconds, fifths, and sevenths abound in the scores. These are all characteristics that can be found in Stravinsky’s sacred works. (The same characteristics may be found in certain non-sacred works as well, but this point will be addressed later, in Chapter Seven.) 2 These consist of “Otche nash” [Our Father] (1926), “Bogoroditse dievo” [Blessed Virgin] (1934), and “Simvol verї” [Symbol of Faith] (1932); all three were revised in 1949, reset in Latin, and retitled (respectively) “Pater noster,” “Ave Maria,” and “Credo.” 2 Review of Prior Literature Research on indigenous Russian Orthodox Church music began in the late nineteenth century in Russia and gained Western appeal in the twentieth century. There were four original histories of Russian Orthodox Church music written prior to the Soviet Revolution.3 Of these, D. V. Razumovsky’s marks the earliest significant contribution to the scholarly study of early Russian church music. In addition to these four early works, the general research and scholarship of Stepan Smolenskii should not be overlooked. Some of the leading scholars in Russian chant studies post-revolution, whose work is still considered valuable today, include Alfred Swan,4 Johann von Gardner,5 and Vladimir Morosan.6 These three—and especially the latter two— helped synthesize the previous scholarship into comprehensive texts that are appropriate for contemporary theoretical uses, as they make use of contemporary terminology and notation. Morosan’s work was especially fruitful in building upon von Gardner’s research and providing resources for Westerners after the fall of the Soviet Union (as Morosan pointed out, during the period of Communism, sources on the history of Russian Orthodox music were generally unavailable to Westerners).7 Also during the Soviet era, there were three other scholars important 3 Johann von Gardner, Russian Church Singing Vol. 1: Orthodox Worship and Hymnography, translated by Vladimir Morosan (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1980), 135. The four early histories are as follows: (1) D. V. Razumovsky, Church singing in Russia, 3 vols. (Moscow: 1867-1869); (2) V. M. Metallov, Essay on the history of Orthodox church singing in Russia (Moscow: 1893); (3) A. A. Ignat’ev, The liturgical singing of the Orthodox Russian Church from the end of the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century (Kazan: 1916); and (4) D. Allemanov, A course of history of Russian church singing, Vol. 1 (Moscow: 1912) and Vol. 2 (Moscow: 1914). 4 Alfred J. Swan, Russian Music and its Sources in Chant and Folk-Song (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1973); and idem, “The Znamenny Chant of the Russian Church – Part I,” The Musical Quarterly 26, no. 2 (Apr. 1940): 232-43; “…Part II,” 26, no. 3 (Jul. 1940): 365-80; and “…Part III,” 26, no. 4 (Oct. 1940): 529-45. 5 von Gardner, vol. 1; and idem, Russian Church Singing, Vol 2: History from the Origins to the Mid- Seventeenth Century, translated and edited by Vladimir Morosan (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2000). 6 Vladimir Morosan, “One Thousand Years of Russian Church Music,” Monuments of Russian Sacred Music: One Thousand Years of Russian Church Music, Series I, Vol. 1 (Washington D.C.: Musica Russica, 1991), xliii-lvi; and idem, Choral Performance in Pre-Revolutionary Russia, (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1986). 3 to the field of Russian chant studies: Nikolai Findeisen,8 Maksim Brazhnikov,9 and Nikolai Uspensky.10 The main