Dmitry Bortniansky at 250: His Leg~cy as a Choral Symphonist by Marika C. Kuzma Woodcut by S. Hnizdovsky, 1985, after the nineteCllth-cCIltlll'Y drawing by Afanas'ev. Copy1'ight pC17nission granted. The effect of [his choral music] on sensitive people is Admittedly; Bortniansky's name3 does not come to mind (or overwhelming. Upon its unusual entrances, one feels seized roll off the tongue) as easily as that of Mozart, Beethoven, or in spasmodic, almost painful movements that one cannot Berlioz. Although American directors may be familiar with his control. ... There was an entanglement of voice-parts that Cherubic Hymn4 and several pieces occasionally found in Prot­ seemed impossible-sighs, vague murmurs as one estant hymnals (i.e., The Vespers Song), his choral legacy is not sometimes hears in dreams, and from time to time attacks nearly as well known as that of his Slavic compatriots that, in their intensity, resembled outcries, seizing the heart Grechaninov, Ralchmaninov, or Stravinsky. The reason for our all of the sudden, pressing against one's breast, and stopping lack of familiarity with Bortniansky may be largely political. all breathing. His choral music is almost exclusively sacred; during the Soviet -Hector Berlioz! era, when many churches were either closed or converted into museums, his choral music fell into relative obscurity. The above quotation from Berlioz calls to mind several Even earlier, in the nationalist era of the late nineteenth possible composers known to him: Beethoven? Cherubini? century and at the turn of the twentieth century, Slavic com­ One .of the Baroque masters? posers and music critics shunned Bortniansky's music, consid­ It might come as a surprise that in this rhapsodic commen­ ering it too Italianate, not sufficiently Russian-sounding. The tary Berlioz is referring to the Slavic composer Dmitry noted Russian music critic Alexander Serov denigrated Bortniansky, whose music he heard during a trip to Russia in Bortniansky's choral music as a mere "weak echo of the Italians the 1840s. He became so enamored of Bortniansky's music, he under the Venetian master Baldassare Galuppi in the 1770s."5 programmed some of the choral music in his Paris concertos.2 In faulting him for his style, however, they overlooked the The year 2001 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of cultural context of his music. Bortniansky studied composition Dmitry Bortniansky (1751-1825), perhaps the foremost Slavic under the Venetian master Baldassare Galuppi during the composer of his day. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth Mozartean era. In Bortniansky's day, a European international centuries he was known internationally; his music performed style dominated the aesthetic of the Russian court, and the in Vienna and Rome, as well as his native court, St. Petersburg. Russian aristocracy was most concerned about not appearing or Now at the beginning of the twenty-first century; his choral sounding Russian. Catherine the Great spoke French with her music is once again reemerging as central to the Western choral countrymen, and the musicians she hired were largely from tradition. Italy and Germany. Russian nationalism as a political, cultural, and musical movement was still decades away. Marika Kuzma, a visiting professor at the University ofVrrginia, Politics and aesthetic prejudices aside, Slavs nevertheless directs the University Chorus and Chamber Chorus at the have always recognized Bortniansky as their principal com­ University of California, Berkeley. poser of the late Classical era. At least in Eastern Europe, his has always been a household name among church musicians. AUGUST 2001 PAGE 9 The enduring value of his music lies-if Requiem. Bortniansky's music achieves not in the folksy Glinkaesqe melodies or Reportedly, Bortniansky's comparable dramatic variety of texture unusual Musorgskian harmonies we have and striking dynamic contrast strictly in come to associate with Russian music­ voice was so outstanding, an unaccompanied medium. in .its virtuosic manipulation of choral How and why did Bortniansky de­ textures and consummate melodic the Empress Elizabeth velop his colorful and dramatic ap­ vocality. proach to the unaccompanied chorus? Bortniansky grew up singing, first as a would have him sit on Bortniansky heard and composed all man­ boy soprano in the town where he was ner of concerted music (vocal-instrumen­ born, Hlukhiv, Ukraine, and later at the her lap after tal and instrumental) during his studies Imperial Court Chapel in St. Petersburg. with Galuppi in St. Petersburg and later Reportedly, Bortniansky's voice was so performances, a singular in Venice (1769-79). In addition to vo­ outstanding, the Empress Elizabeth would cal-instrumental motets, he composed have him sit on her lap after performances, privilege. symphonies, chamber music, and operas. a singular privilege. In his teen years, he His three Italian operas, Aldde, Creonte, sang leading roles in court opera produc­ and Quinto Fabio, were successfully staged tions as well. His understanding of the Bortniansky's treatment of the unaccom­ in Venice and Modena. Upon returning voice is obvious in his choral music. It panied chorus is remarkable. Western Eu­ to Russia in 1779, he composed sacred never exceeds a comfortable range, the ropean choral works usually generate stark music for Catherine and continued to voice leading is fluid, and the phrasing changes of texture and sonority through compose secular vocal-instrumental mu­ moves easily on the breath. Choirs gener­ changes in instrumental accompaniment. sic at the country estate of her son Paul. ally love to sing Bortniansky's music.6 Audiences perk up when trumpets enter In 1796, when Paul became Czar, he ap­ Although the vocal ease of his music is into the orchestra of Bach cantatas or pointed Bortniansky director of the Im­ perhaps not immediately discernible to Haydn masses. They are stunned when perial Court Chapel; Bortniansky thus the listener, his masterful manipulation Brahms removes the orchestra altogether, became the first native Slav accorded this of choral texture does catch the ear. leaving the chorus bare, in portions of his prestigious position.? In his music for the Imperial Court Chapel, however, Bortniansky had to limit himself to strictly vocal resources. No instruments are allowed in the Ortho­ dox Church. Thus, after his extensive ex­ perience with instrumental music, Bortniansky had to adapt his musical imagination to the unaccompanied cho­ ral medium when composing sacred music. Necessity was the mother of Bortniansky's choral invention. No doubt it was Bortniansky's innova­ tive, symphonic approach to the unac­ AUGUST 3! -SE~TEMBER 3, PORTLAND, OR companied choral music that so arr~sted Berliois attention. Bortniansky treated his The 2001 Leadership Conference will feature a wide range of sessions on chorus chorus as an orchestra of variable timbres management and artistic leadership. Institutes, clinics and workshops at the and sonorities. Leadership Conference are designed for professional and volunteer managers, board members, volunteers, officers and facilitators for choruses of all sizes, and budgets. In all of [Bortniansky's choral Guest Institute Presenters: Ling Jing-Tam - Artistic Directors Institute, Ann concertos], one finds ... a rare skill Meier Baker and Eve Campbell - Board Development, Kim Klein - Fund Raising in the grouping of vocal masses, a Institute, Gary Rifkin - Leadership Institute, Anne Rhodes - Diversity Institute wondrous sense of nuance, a resonance of harmony and, above Sponsored by: all, an incredible freedom in the AmericanAiriines' The Musical Source handling of the parts-a reigning disdain for the rules respected by both his predecessors and his contemporaries .... H. BerliozB The principal genre for Bortniansky's exploration was the choral concerto. His PAGE 10 CHORAL JOURNAL oeuvre includes ten concertos for eight­ the Melodiya label. 12 Though vocally voice chorus and thirty-five concertos for Bortniansky's choices of sumptuous, Poliansky's rendition reflects four-voice chorus. Sung at the moment an unfortunate twentieth-century Russian of the consecration, choral concertos are texture and dynamics practice of eliminating the solo/tutti alter­ the musical centerpiece of the orthodox nation. In singing tutti throughout, liturgy. 9 They are usually settings of Psalm often underscore the Poliansky's choir obscures the symphonic verses and are comprised of three or four nature of the concertos. Poliansky also movements of contrasting tempo often meaning ofthe text. favors rather protracted, romanticized ending with a fugal section. Manuscripts phrasing. Bortniansky, however, con­ . and editions of Bortniansky's concertos structs his vocal phrases mostly in classi­ term his concertos "na 4 golosa" [for four strate the virtuosity of the orchestra, cal four-bar phrases and sometimes voices] or "na 8 golasa" [for eight voices], Bortniansky's concertos afford the choir enforces even more ftequent punctuation but this designation is misleading. the opportunity to demonstrate the skill with eighth rests (Figure 2). Bortniansky's concertos never limit them­ of both the chorus en masse and of its Other recordings preserve the solo/tutti selves to a single voicing. Rather, the score constituent singers. 11 They also challenge alternation and classical phrasing, but are might shift from four-voice chorus to SSA, and build an ensemble's listening skills somewhat flawed by their reliance on to TBB, to SSB, etc. The opening of his and sense of interdependence. Given the faulty editions. Choirs (in the West and Concerto 6 exemplifies a dialogue of tex­ acrobatic shifts of texture and dynamic in Eastern Europe) generally perform the tures (Figure 1). the music, particularly without instru­ concertos from editions based on one pro­ Moreover, Bortniansky's scores shift mental support, the singers must keep duced by Tchaikovsky in the 1880s. Al­ not only from one combination of voice their ears very open at all times. though his edition is not careless, parts to another, but also from solo to Perhaps the most readily available re­ Tchaikovsky openly criticized tutti designations.