Kwestia „razdielnorieczija” i śpiewu wielogłosowego w nauczaniu staroobrzędowców rosyjskich
Razdelnorechie and Polyphonic Singing in the Teaching of Russian Old Believers

Summary/Abstract: This article discuses two very important problems concerning liturgical singing in Ruthenia. The first part of the article contains an analysis of the musical and linguistic phenomenon of razdelnorechie (also known as homonia). The author, presenting the issue from the Old Believers’ point of view, tries to prove that elements of homonia in liturgical texts, contained in Old Believers songbooks, have not only been treated as a fillers of melisma (similar to latin tropus). Supporters of ‘the old tradition’ treated homonia and polyphonic services as sacred signs. The author in the second part of the article tries to find out the reasons of the Old Believers’ negative attitude to polyphonic singing.

• Details
• Contents