The TYPICON of
the Orthodox Church's Divine Services
CHAPTER FOUR
THE TRADITIONAL NOTATION OF RUSSIAN CHANT
THE EARLIEST NOTATION of Znamenny Chant was by means of the “signs” for which this ancient Chant was named, which were placed over the text of the chant without use of lines. In the 16th century this was replaced by quadratic notes placed on a scale of five lines, and this notation was used right up to the Russian Revolution in the books of notes published by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the middle of the 18th century the round (Italian) notes of the European musical notation began to be used, and they spread together with the four-part harmony which is most conveniently expressed by this notation.
Those who were working before the Revolution for the wider use of the traditional Russian chant preferred to use the quadratic system of notation, for one thing because it is the older system and was the one still officially in use for traditional chant, and again, because they considered it fitting to print the melodies of the Divine services in a special “ecclesiastical notation,” as it were, distinct from the ordinary notation of secular music (as well as of Europeanized church music). And there is yet another reason why the quadratic notation is appropriate even today: it is much simpler to follow for one who has not had much musical training. Most of those in the Orthodox parishes of today who might wish to sing the traditional chant are musical "amateurs” for whom keys and signatures are only confusing, and sharps and flats invariably cause a stumble. The quadratic notation, which has no sharps or flats (save for one flat which is rarely used) or any other musical signs, and has only one key, may be followed easily by anyone who can merely sing the major scale.
In the explanations that are given below, no attempt has been made to go into the musical theory underlying the different forms of notation; it is intended only to give the simplest possible practical explanation that will enable the reader to read and sing by the quadratic notes.<145>
The difference between quadratic and round notes is so small that anyone who knows one can learn the other with a few minutes of study.
*The position of eighth notes is determined by the upper quadrate.
All melodies in the quadratic notation are written in one "key”: the key of C (with no sharps or flats). The key “signature” is always the same, and only indicates that middle C is always placed on the middle line (as in the alto clef of the round notation). Thus, middle C in the quadratic clef, as compared with the treble clef of the round notation, is indicated as follows:
However, to read the quadratic notation there is no need to begin with any note of absolute pitch, such as middle C. The middle line of the quadratic clef is simply equal to “do” in the major scale (“do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do”), and thus “do” may be middle C or any other note that is convenient for the singers. In order to sing by the quadratic notes, one simply begins the melody on whichever note of the scale is indicated first in the notation (on "do” if the first note of the melody is on the middle line, etc.), and then merely goes up or down the major scale according to the sequence of the notes that follow. <146>
The chief difference, however, between the quadratic and round notations lies in the question of tempo: quadratic notation has no indication whatever of tempo, no “bars” or “measures,” and indeed the notes themselves are not even precise in their time-value. This is an indication of a whole different philosophy of music and musical notation, which is well set forth by the foremost contemporary scholar of Russian ecclesiastical music, I. Gardner: ["On the Synodal Divine Service Books for Singing,” in Orthodox Way for 1971. Jordanville, N.Y., pp. 110-111; in Russian.]
“A mistake often made in singing according to the quadratic notation, is ‘metronomic’ singing. That is, the length of notes is held precisely, with a strictly-measured beat. This is understandable for those who are accustomed to the usual round (Italian) notation with its symmetrical rhythm.
“However, one should not forget that the quadratic notation is used to transcribe those melodies which were originally written by signs without lines. The neumatic system (without lines) of transcribing sound was developed especially for the singing of words, while the system with lines (whether quadratic or round) is a system adapted to instrumental music. Therefore, the system with lines is incapable of giving precisely all the peculiarities in performance which the system without lines can give.
"Here is what has been written by the founder of the systematic study of Russian liturgical music, D. V. Razumovsky (1886): ‘Although the quadratic notes are here explained by the ordinary round notes, this explanation is not precise, but only approximate. The round notes signify an unchanging duration of sound... However, in the practice of the singing of the Divine services the quadratic notes have never signified, nor do they signify now, such a strictly-measured duration. Of the quadratic notes one can only say that the whole note signifies a greater, the quarter note a lesser, and the half note a medium duration of sound. The duration of sound in church singing depends on the meaning of the words in the text and on their metrical emphasis. If we adopt a strict measure of quadratic notes to the text of sacred hymns, we will immediately notice that many words under an equally-measured performance lose their metrical emphasis, their power and meaning.’
"In other words, the comparative duration of any identical notes (for example, half notes) is not always exactly the same: on one word it may be exactly equal to a half note, but in another case it can be some fraction of time either shorter or longer than the metronomically-measured half note. These variations depend on the meaning of the text in conjunction with the melody. It is these, together with the dynamic shadings, that create the expressiveness of singing. If one may say of secular music that 'rhythm is the soul of music,' then with regard to church singing it would be correct to say: ‘the word is the soul of church singing.’ And the expressiveness of this singing is lost if one performs the quadratic notes metronomically exactly, according to strict tempo, equally, and without the fine dynamic shadings which come from the meaning of the text. Such singing would be soulless and monotonous.”
So primary are the words in church singing, and so approximate is the musical notation, that whenever a number of consecutive words are to be sung at the same pitch, <147> the quadratic notation does not provide a note for each syllable, but only a sign of “arbitrary duration,” leaving it to the singers to give time-value to the separate syllables m accordance with the emphasis of the words. Thus, in the following example:
GLO-RY TO THE FATHER AND TO THE SON AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, ALLELUIA.
the only function of the half notes used above the syllables “GLO-ry” and “SPIR-it” is to indicate that these syllables are stressed, while those expressed by quarter notes are unstressed; and the singer himself must distinguish the words which are placed under the sign of “arbitrary duration” accordingly as they are stressed or unstressed. (The syllables “FATH-er” and “SON” would be held a little longer than the other, relatively unstressed syllables, but not quite as long as the syllables “GLOR-” at the beginning and “SPIR-” at the end, which receive the maximum stress in the phrase.)
Another thing to note, as Prof. Gardner points out in the same article, is that the whole note of the quadratic system is actually equal (approximately) to the half note of the Italian system; the chants in quadratic notation are performed at double the expected tempo, thus obliterating the illusion that some people have of the "heaviness” of the ancient chant.
The Western influences to which Russian church music was subjected especially in the 18th and 19th centuries led to the fashion and taste for largely Europeanized music which prevail even today in the Russian Church. However, the Church Authority in Russia always fought against this fashion; in the 19th century, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow in particular pointed out to the Holy Synod the innovations in church hymnody to be found in the printed Anthologies of Lvov, the celebrated choir master. These popular Collections of “revised” chants, arranged in four-part harmony and transcribed in the Italian notes, were allowed by the Holy Synod, as Prof. Gardner points out, but they were never prescribed. The only chants actually prescribed by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for use in the Divine services were the ancient chants, transcribed in the quadratic notation; and the books containing these chants, published with the blessing of the Synod from 1772 onward, are the only books of notes which have the authority of actual Divine-service books, which have their place right beside the Menaion and other service books containing the texts, without notes, of Divine services. The Psalmists' Companion, mentioned in the last chapter, is a compilation of the most important of the authentic ancient chants from the old Synodal books of notes.
Prof. Gardner well notes (on p.116 of his article): “In our days of the disappearance of church musical culture, the Synodal editions in quadratic notation are again acquiring a great significance.” Without making these standard books of Russian traditional chant an object of pharisaical over-zealousness (which can easily happen in our unbalanced times), we may nevertheless look to them for inspiration and guidance, as a model of true church hymnody handed down from ancient times.
