Church Singing and Manuscripts Notated with “Kriuki” in the Collection of the Ural Old Believer Chapel

Abstract

The article examines liturgical singing manuscripts, notated with “kriuki”, from the library of the Old Believer community of the chasovennye denomination from the north of the Chelyabinsk region (the owners of the collection asked not to indicate the exact location of the chapel). The features of the studied manuscripts are identified, their origin is investigated, the source study potential is assessed, and archaeographical descriptions are published. In addition, a brief overview of the book collection as a whole is given, and the manuscripts notated with “kriuki” are analyzed in the context of the current state of church singing art in the community. We conclude that the books are monuments of the developed church singing culture of the women’s Sungul hermitage of chasovennye, which functionated in the region in the 1890s - late 1920s. At the same time, they are currently not involved in the liturgical practice of the chapel, since knowledge of “kriuki” has not been preserved there. It is noted that all three manuscripts came to the library from the chorister, a former pupil of the Sungul hermitage, who died in 2005, without having taught her fellow believers to sing from “kriuki”. The surviving manuscripts were partly composed and rewrititen by her and reflect character of her literacy, and also testify to the presence of literate singers in the late 20th century not only in the community under study, but also in Chelyabinsk, with which contacts were maintained.