Ru
EnV. Demina
The sacred works by P. Tchaikovsky in Russian musicology of the 19th–20th centuries
The article reveals the main approaches of Russian musicologists to the study of Tchaikovsky’s sacred heritage. The tasks included the study of the process of transformation of ideas about the sacred creative work of the composer, reflecting the “change of time” in the picture of the historical development of musicology. The article consists of documentary materials testifying to the contradictory perception by modern scholars of P. Tchaikovsky’s innovations in the field of church singing and the research of scientists of the 20th century who viewed the composer’s work from the standpoint of modern paradigms for that time. There is noted that the study of literature about Tchaikovsky allows us to make a number of generalizations related both to the assessment of his sacred works by his contemporaries and to the development of views on sacred creative work in subsequent times. In Soviet musicology, which had to adapt to the “social order” of the state, the music by P. Tchaikovsky. It is revealed that the information presented in this article indicates the significant role of Tchaikovsky’s “Liturgy” both in the history of the development of sacred music in Russia and in the composer’s own work. After the performance of this composition, a number of articles appeared, reflecting not only the attitude of contemporaries to this composition, but also the entire range of problems of sacred music and its performance at the turn of the century. In conclusion, it is noted that for musicology, the study of Tchaikovsky’s sacred works is an opportunity not only to understand the peculiarities of the composer’s individual style (the connection between sacred and secular works), but also to penetrate into the context of the era and discover the birth of a new school of sacred music – the Moscow School.
Key words
sacred music by P. Tchaikovsky, “Liturgy” Op. 41, Russian music scholarship of the 19th–20th centuries, Moscow School of sacred music.
For citation
Demina V. The sacred works by P. Tchaikovsky in Russian musicology of the 19th–20th centuries. In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2025. No. 3. Pp. 84–90.
