THE INFLUENCE OF CHURCH POLYPHONIC CHORAL SINGING ON UKRAINIAN CULTURAL AND NATION-BUILDING PROCESSES

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the role of church polyphonic choral singing in Ukrainian cultural and nation-building processes. The research methodology is based on historical and cultural studies, comparative and inductive methods. Scientific novelty. When considering the historical, political, religious and cultural contexts of the development of Ukrainian musical culture in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was found that church choral performance played a great consolidating role in Ukrainian society. Conclusions. The establishment of the principles of professional polyphonic choral singing at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was an important stage in the development of Ukrainian musical culture. The impetus for its emergence and spread was a number of political, religious, and cultural factors. Since the policy of Poland, which included most of the Ukrainian lands, was aimed at Catholicizing Ukrainians and leveling their national element, the Orthodox faith in these conditions served as almost the only means for the Ukrainian people to express their own originality and national identity. This was largely facilitated by the musical component of the Orthodox rite, namely polyphonic choral singing (partes), which had a high artistic value, as evidenced by the characteristics of contemporaries, including foreigners. It (choral singing) played an important role in religious conflicts, as Ukrainians used it as a kind of “weapon” in the struggle against their confessional opponents, using their own methods of drawing the population to their side, thanks to the artistic quality of choral performance. The unifying function of choral art can be clearly seen in the practice of “common singing” in Ukrainian churches, which consisted of joint performance of liturgical church songs by the laity and the choir. The consolidating potential of choral singing was enhanced by the aesthetic aspect of singing performance, musical and emotional expressiveness of partes compositions.