In 2019, it marks exactly 142 years since the birth of the great Russian composer, conductor, theorist of academic liturgical music - Pavel Chesnokov. For many years, in churches, churches and chapels throughout Russia, choirs and choirs perform chants in its arrangements. The theoretical written heritage of Pavel Grigoryevich is also invaluable, namely, a large-scale work entitled “Chorus and its management”, which includes all the nuances that a novice conductor needs to know when working with an academic church choir.
The biography of Pavel Chesnokov is a bizarre combination of ups and downs, successes and black stripes in life, and the composer himself is an example of courage, courage and selfless devotion to his homeland and its centuries-old culture. The conductor dedicated his entire creative life to the study of Russian Orthodox church chants, preservation of the material found, restoration of various types and versions of a work, as well as the creation of his own choral and solo arrangements, which have now become classics in the repertoire of any academic choir related to to the performance of spiritual chants.
Biography
Pavel Chesnokov was born on October 12, 1877 in the Zvenigorod district of Moscow province, in the family of a hereditary rural regent. Since childhood, Pasha was attracted by the profession of his father - Grigory Chesnokov conducted the church choir, composed song books, worked with musical spiritual works. Little Pasha grew up in an atmosphere of church music and prayers, sometimes himself trying to compose chants or to perform parts in some spiritual chants during church service.
Up to seven years, the boy already practically knew the whole process of worship by heart and had a lot of experience in singing, which allowed him to enter the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing.
The teachers Pavel Chesnokov was engaged in were the famous conductors V.S. Orlov and S.V. Smolensky, who immediately noticed the boy’s unique musical ear, as well as their innate talent for studying, performing and creating academic church music.
Training
During his studies at the Synodal School, Paul proved himself to be a diligent and diligent student. The young man devoted all his strength to the educational and creative process, not only studying the theoretical foundations of church singing, but also doing the basics of composition, vocals, conducting art and regency. Teachers noted the amazing persistence with which the young student studied all aspects of the chosen profession.
early years
Biography of Pavel Grigoryevich Chesnokov has retained quite a bit of information about the period of his life after completion of training.
In 1895, the young regent graduated with honors from the Synodal School and received an honorary diploma and a first-class gold medal, which gave him the right to carry out teaching activities and also work in churches throughout Russia.
With incredible zeal, Paul sets to work, trying to combine the activities of the regent, conductor and teacher.
Immediately after graduation, he settles in several major cathedrals in Moscow, takes the hours of a choral singing teacher in gymnasiums and women's institutes, leads several choral groups, and also finds free time to play music.
The young master is interested in the structure of spiritual chants and the principles of its construction, so he spends a lot of time with the professor of the Moscow Conservatory S.I. Taneev, understanding the intricacies of polyphony and experimenting with various methods of sound extraction in solo works and works for choral performance.
Teacher career
After several years of living at such a frantic pace, Pavel Chesnokov realizes that he is mentally prepared for great responsibility, and begins to conduct active teaching activities. The first place of his work was his native Moscow Synodal School, where Chesnokov for ten years taught the theory of academic music, as well as the basics of choir management. Along with this serious work, Pavel Grigoryevich takes over the leadership of the Synodal Choir, after several years agreeing to take the post of conductor in the Chapel of the Russian choral society.
Despite the monstrous workload and lack of time, Pavel Chesnokov carries out his work responsibly at all his posts. Under his strict guidance, vocal groups became stronger and reached a fundamentally different level of performance. One of the oldest regents in Moscow, Nikolai Danilov, noted that the groups that were lucky to work under the direction of Pavel Grigoryevich were so popular that many singers were willing to pay weekly for the right to work in their composition.
Soon, a short biography of Pavel Chesnokov was published in the journal “Choral and Regency”, which, in addition to describing the life of the master, gave an excellent description of the composer as a person and musician, deeply devoted to his faith, homeland and his own business.
Creative activity
The period of popularity of the composer Chesnokov falls at the beginning of the last century. Pavel Grigorievich is called the “maestro of choral singing”, “a recognized author of sacred music”, but Chesnokov himself sees this as only an additional incentive to an even more serious work schedule.
The master decides to take several tours around Russia, so that in each city along the route not only give concerts of academic music and conduct church choirs, but also try to give at least a few lessons or help with advice to small provincial academic and spiritual groups.
Along the way, the conductor actively participates in the work of various regency symposia and congresses of composers of sacred and classical music.
In 1917, the honored conductor of the Russian Empire, a brilliant musician and regent entered the Moscow Conservatory. According to the assurances of the composer himself, his knowledge of the work to which he was devoted with all his heart was imperfect and needed serious additions.
Filling in the gaps, Chesnokov ends the conservatory with an honorary diploma and a silver medal, which he personally handed to him personally M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, who became a close friend of the composer and supported him for many years.
Difficult years
1918 will begin to fill the sad pages in the biography of Pavel Grigoryevich Chesnokov. The socialist revolution threw off “the oppression of tsarism” and abandoned almost all the traditions inherent in tsarist Russia, with the prohibition of religious beliefs, the closure of churches and the dissolution of church groups, and the career of Chesnokov as a composer began to approach.
The master himself inextricably linked his life and creative concept with the Orthodox faith, and now, deprived of the opportunity to create and work in the usual way, he was forced to change his life without betraying his principles.
At first, the conductor continues to work, organizing concerts of academic music and taking part in divine services at his own risk, somehow gathering choirs from the remaining singers in Moscow, but over time, more and more people close to Pavel Grigoryevich moved to other countries, leaving him one on one with his heavy burden. In 1919, the composer's brother, Alexander Chesnokov, emigrated to Paris, but the conductor himself refused to leave his homeland with him, remaining faithful to his religious beliefs and a loyal patriot of the country.
Writing a book
In 1920, a long-time friend and mentor of the composer - M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov - invites the master to become a professor in the department of choral music, thereby saving Chesnokov from starvation. Pavel Grigoryevich finds consolation in the work on his first and, unfortunately, the only book, “The Chorus and its Management,” containing a huge amount of fundamental information, which is entirely based on the practical experience of Chesnokov himself.
The book came out with a delay of almost four years - the Soviet government still considered the composer “an enemy of the people” and “a religious element”, therefore, deliberately delayed the publication of the book.
In addition to teaching at the conservatory, Pavel Grigoryevich actively worked with groups of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR.
Beliefs
Until his death during World War II, Pavel Chesnokov remained a devoted patriot of his homeland and a true Orthodox Christian. The main thing in this life, he considered human dignity, the ability to correctly and honestly live a period measured by fate, having done as many good deeds as possible. In the memory of people, the composer believed, one must remain virtuous, or not remain at all.
Death
The biography of Pavel Chesnokov ended in the spring of 1944. The composer died in poverty and hunger, in a city where martial law was introduced. Despite the severity of the situation, a funeral service was held over him, and the conductor was buried according to the Orthodox tradition. Chesnokov’s grave is located at the Vagankovsky cemetery.
Academic work
Many authoritative critics and connoisseurs of academic church music call the works of Pavel Grigoryevich Chesnokov brilliant and put on a par with the works of such recognized masters of sacred music as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky or Sergei Vasilievich Rakhmaninov. During his creative life, Pavel Grigoryevich created about five hundred works in the genres of academic and sacred music. Despite the fact that the composer devoted himself to sacred music, he also has a lot of secular works. Chesnokov was a great lover and connoisseur of ancient Russian culture. Therefore, he carefully preserved and restored classical folk romances, wrote his own arrangements for folk songs and ballads.