D. Bortnyansky

Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (Hlukhov, Ukraine, 1751; St Petersburg, 10 Oct.1825) is the Ukrainian composer. Bortniansky is best known today for his liturgical works. He was one of the "Golden Three" of his era, along with Artemy Vedel and Maksym Berezovsky. Bortniansky composed in many different musical styles, including choral compositions in French, Italian, Latin, German, Church Slavonic and Russian. He studied with Galuppi in St. Petersburg. He wrote mainly church music, combining Russian church style and Italian style. In 1769 he was granted a scholarship to study in Italy. After producing two operas: Creonte in Venice in 1776, Quinto Fabio in Modena in 1778 in Italy; in 1779 he returned to St. Petersburg. There, in 1796, he became director of the Imperial Chapel Choir, for which he set a high standard. Also at this time he composed some sacred pieces, including an attractive setting of the Ave Maria. While occupying these posts Bortnyansky composed at least four operas for the court and, more important, a large number of sacred pieces, outstanding works of 18th-century Russian church music known for their lyricism and skilful use of contrapuntal techniques.

He also composed liturgical music for the Orthodox Church, combining the Eastern and Western European styles of sacred music, incorporating the polyphony he learned in Italy; Like his near-contemporary Berezovsky, Bortnyansky's ecclesiastical style was strongly influenced by his period of study in Italy, and, right after his death, Russian church music began to react against his polyphonic tendencies. Nevertheless, his sacred works continued to occupy a prominent place in the repertoire of the Russian Orthodox Church and in Protestant churches abroad, and were important in paving the way for the more freely imaginative church music of Grechaninov, Rakhmaninov and particularly Tchaikovsky, who in 1881 edited Bortnyansky's complete sacred works for Jurgenson. Bortnyansky also composed much chamber music, which were often incorrectly referred to the first Russian symphony. Thus, it was the last core sonatas, which Bortnyansky composed for his pupil, the Grand Duchess Mariya Fyodorovna, displays ability for graceful melody and formal symmetry. The most part of choral compositions is written for four-part structure.

Choral concert is multifunctional genre: it can be a culmination part of a liturgy or an ornament of the state ceremony.

The tune he wrote for the Latin hymn Tantum Ergo eventually became known in Slavic lands as Коль славен (Kol slaven), in which form it is still sung as a Christmas carol today. The tune was popular. Prior to the October revolution in 1917, the tune was played by the Moscow Kremlin carillon every day at midday.

In 1881, Tchaikovsky completed an edition of his church music, published in 10 volumes.

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