Dmitrij Bortnianskij Famous Russian composer and first director of the court choir Country: Ukraine

Biography of Dmitry Bortniansky

Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky was a renowned Russian composer and the first director of the Imperial Court Choir (1751 - 1825). He was born in Glukhov, Chernigov Governorate, and was taken into the court choir as a seven-year-old boy. At that time, there was no separate choir for court theatrical performances and concerts, so the same court choir that sang in the church also participated in these events. Bortniansky not only sang in the choir but also performed the solo female role in Raupach's opera "Alceste" for eleven years. He learned stage presence, like other singers, at the Noble Cadet Corps. Upon the arrival of Balthasar Galuppi, appointed as the court opera and ballet composer and conductor, Bortniansky began serious musical training under him. When Galuppi left Russia in 1768, Bortniansky was sent abroad at the government's expense to continue his musical education in Venice. Bortniansky acquired a solid compositional technique and demonstrated his talent in Italy, composing a series of major works such as operas, cantatas, and sonatas (unpublished). Some of his operas were performed on Italian stages, including "Creonte" - a musical tragedy - at the Benedictine Theatre (1777); "Alceste" - a two-act opera - at the Venice Theatre (1778); and "Quinto Fabio" - a musical drama - at the Ducal Modena Theatre (1779). Bortniansky visited Florence, Bologna, Rome, and Naples, studying the works of Italian masters. In 1779, he received a letter from the chief director of performances and court music, Elagin, urging him to return to Russia. "If you need to continue your education in Italy for new tastes in the future," Elagin wrote, "you can count on being granted permission" (see "Russian Musical Newspaper," 1900, No. 40). In the same year, Bortniansky returned to St. Petersburg. His compositions made a great impression at the court, and he was immediately appointed as the "composer of the court choir." In 1796, with the establishment of the Imperial Court Chapel, he became its first manager and received the title of "Director of Vocal Music." He remained in this position until his death. Bortniansky's responsibilities included not only conducting the choir but also composing sacred hymns and overseeing the chapel administratively. Bortniansky improved the choir's composition, gradually increasing its size from 24 members to 60 (instead of 24), and ensured that the chapel served exclusively for church singing and was not invited to theatrical performances. For these performances, a separate choir was established in 1800. Bortniansky also improved the choir's performance by making it more strictly church-like, eliminating extravagant virtuosic embellishments and exclamations that were considered effectual. At that time, many church compositions in a semi-secular Italian style were popular, often tasteless and not in harmony with the grandeur of worship. It was Galuppi who began writing music for church texts in Russia. The court kapellmeister Giuseppe Sarti, invited by Catherine II, also composed church concerts. All these compositions brought an operatic and dramatic Italian character to the church hymns. Unknown authors' compositions with direct borrowings of operatic motifs were also used. Eight- and twelve-voice concerts were often sung from manuscripts with errors and modifications made by the performers themselves. At Bortniansky's insistence, a series of Imperial decrees were issued to preserve the purity of the church style. In 1816, it was ordered: "Everything that is sung in churches according to musical notation must be printed and consist either of the compositions of the director of the court choir, Bortniansky, or other well-known composers. However, the compositions of these last composers must be printed with the approval of Bortniansky" (see "Russian Musical Newspaper," 1900, No. 47). Bortniansky's successors continued to enjoy the exclusive right of censorship for religious hymns until the Holy Synod clarified in the 1820s that this right belonged only to the institution itself and not to an individual. Bortniansky was tasked with teaching the chanters of parish churches in St. Petersburg "simple and uniform musical singing." Under his supervision, the court chant of the liturgy for two voices was printed and distributed to the churches. However, the eradication of the concert-like Italian style was slow, partly due to resistance from the clergy themselves. In his own concerts, Bortniansky did not completely distance himself from this style, although he simplified it by avoiding flashy embellishments, such as florid ornamentations. For Bortniansky's contemporaries, his compositions, infused with religious sentiment, represented a significant step forward. However, subsequent generations, even the more immediate ones, did not consider his style fully consistent with its purpose. A.F. Lvov, in his work "On Free or Asymmetrical Rhythm," pointed out Bortniansky's too liberal treatment of church texts, including word rearrangements and even changes to the text to suit purely musical requirements. M.I. Glinka called Bortniansky "Sakhar Medovich Patokin." P.I. Tchaikovsky, when editing the "Complete Works" of Bortniansky, harshly criticized his compositions, finding in his concerts "the flattest collection of commonplaces" and only recognizing a "dozen decent pieces" among all his works (M. Tchaikovsky, "The Life of P.I. Tchaikovsky," Vol. II). "I acknowledge some merits in Bortniansky, Berezovsky, and others," he wrote to N.F. Mekk, "but to what extent their music does not harmonize well with the Byzantine style of architecture and icons, and with the whole ceremony of Orthodox worship" (ibid). Bortniansky's style of church compositions is more harmonic than contrapuntal, and their harmonies, in general, are not particularly complex. Bortniansky almost always places the main melody in the top voice and rarely gives independent significance to the other voices, which often move in parallel thirds and sixths, creating a certain monotony. Knowing human voices well, Bortniansky always wrote in a manner that was easy to perform and achieved beautiful sonority. However, the rich sonic aspect of his hymns is not the main goal and does not overshadow their prayerful mood. That is why many of Bortniansky's compositions are still sung today, moving and captivating the worshipers. His "Cherubic Hymns," imbued with mysticism that reaches a fervent religious ecstasy in the second half of the hymn, served as a prototype that subsequent Russian composers adhered to. Glinka, in his "Cherubic Hymn," did not deviate from this prototype either. Bortniansky was the first to attempt harmonizing ancient Russian church melodies, which had been written as monophonic in church singing books published by the Holy Synod in 1772. Bortniansky's harmonizations of these melodies are few in number: "Help and Protect," "Now the Powers of Heaven," "Your Chamber," "The Angel Cried," "Today the Virgin," and "Come, Let Us Glorify Joseph," among others. In these arrangements, Bortniansky only roughly preserved the character of the church melodies, giving them a uniform structure and placing them within the framework of European major and minor tonalities. This sometimes required modifying the melodies themselves and introducing chords into the harmonization that were not characteristic of so-called church modes. However, all of this does not diminish the unique beauty of his arrangements. Despite Bortniansky's European forms and Italian influences, his compositions also contain Russian elements expressed through melodic turns, and occasionally, rhythm. He is credited with a composition titled "Project for the Publication of Ancient Russian Hook Singing" (published by Prince P.P. Vyazemsky in the "Appendix to the Protocol of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing" on April 25, 1878), but its attribution to Bortniansky is disputed by V.V. Stasov ("The Composition Ascribed to Bortniansky," "Russian Musical Newspaper," 1900, No. 47). It is affirmed without sufficient conviction by S.V. Smolensky ("In Memory of D.S. Bortniansky" - "Russian Musical Newspaper," 1901, No. 39, 40) and A. Preobrazhensky ("D.S. Bortniansky" - "Russian Musical Newspaper," 1900, No. 40). According to contemporary accounts, Bortniansky was an extremely likable person, dedicated to his work, passionate about his art, and kind and lenient towards people. It is said that on the day of his death, Bortniansky summoned the court choir to him and ordered them to sing his concert "My Soul, Why Are You Disheartened," under the sounds of which he peacefully passed away. Bortniansky is buried in St. Petersburg, at the Smolensk Cemetery. In New York, a statue of Bortniansky is erected in the new Episcopal Church of St. John Bogoslov. Only a limited number of Bortniansky's compositions were published starting in 1825 under the supervision of Archpriest Turchaninov. In addition to the chapel's publication (incomplete), there is an edition by P. Jurgenson: "Complete Collection of Spiritual-Musical Compositions," edited by P. Tchaikovsky. It includes 9 three-voice compositions (including the "Liturgy"); 29 separate four-voice hymns from church services (including 7 "Cherubic Hymns"); 16 two-voiced hymns; 14 "Hymns of Praise" ("We Praise You, O God"; 4 four-voice and 10 two-voiced); 45 concerts (35 four-voice and 10 two-voiced); hymns and private prayers (including "How Glorious"); numerous compositions by Bortniansky in secular music remain unpublished. Two of these compositions exist in manuscripts in the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg: 1) Quintet in C major, composed in 1787, for piano, harp, violin, viola da gamba, and cello; 2) Symphony ("Sinfonie concertante") in B-flat major, composed in 1790, for piano, two violins, harp, viola da gamba, bassoon, and cello. In essence, this symphony differs little from the quintet in terms of form, style, and instrumentation. The list appended to the Imperial Order of April 29, 1827, which authorized the purchase of Bortniansky's compositions from his heirs, includes, among other works: "Orpheus's Sun Encounter," "March of Russia's General Mobilization," "Songs of the Warriors," "Singer in the Camp of Russian Soldiers"; 30 arias and duets with music and orchestra in Russian, French, and Italian; 16 Russian and Italian choirs with music and orchestra; 61 overtures, concerts, sonatas, marches, and various compositions for sacred music, piano, harp, and other instruments; 5 Italian operas, as well as "Ave Maria," "Salve Regina" with orchestra, "Dextera Domini," and "Messa".