Victor Stepanovich Komarov (1893-1974) - church musician, composer ; The head (regent) of the choir in the Moscow Cathedral of the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov ( 1943 - 1974 ).
| Victor Stepanovich Komarov | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date of Birth | 1893 |
| Place of Birth | Moscow |
| Date of death | December 27, 1974 |
| Place of death | Moscow |
| Citizenship |  Russian empire  the USSR |
| Occupation | church musician, homeopath |
Content
Biography
Born in 1893 in a Moscow religious family. He studied at the Moscow Commercial School. Then he graduated from the medical faculty of Moscow University and became a homeopathic doctor.
Music schools did not finish. He studied conducting with Yakov Alexandrovich Chmelev (Shmelev; 1877-1944), who in 1913 passed the exam for the title of regent at the Synodal School .
He began his regency activity in 1912 in the Znamensky church on Zatsep. Later, he regented in various Moscow churches , including the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh at the Rogozhskaya Zastava , where K. N. Shvedov worked for some time, and the Trinity Church on Gryazekh , where the choir was created by P.G. Chesnokov . When it was not possible to sing in Moscow, he worked in rural churches.
On September 3, 1943, at the invitation of the rector of the Epiphany Patriarchal Cathedral in Elokhov, Protopresbyter Nikolai Kolchitsky , he became regent of the choir of the Patriarchal Cathedral. Since that time, all the milestones in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church have been marked by the liturgical participation of the choir under the direction of V. S. Komarov: they sang the first liturgy after the enthronement of Patriarch Sergius (09/12/1943), a series of spiritual concerts dedicated to the most important events in the church life of the 20th century: the enthronement of the Patriarch Alexy I (1945), the 500th anniversary of the Autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church (07/16/1948), the 40th anniversary of the restoration of the patriarchate (1957) and the intronization of Patriarch Pimen (04/04/1971).
He taught regency at the Moscow Theological Academy and practiced as a homeopathic doctor .
He died on December 27, 1974, was buried at the Church of the Transfiguration in Peredelkino . On December 29, in the Epiphany Cathedral, his funeral was led by Patriarch Pimen.
Creativity
On the one hand, he never accepted non-church singers into his choir, no matter how rich their vocal capabilities were, on the other hand, he loved and carefully selected beautiful voices.
Komarov liked to repeat the words of the psalmist David : "Sing to God wisely." The result of this approach was the inspired sound of numerous solos of male and female voices - the sound is expressive, but not “secular”, not turning into “opera”, and this line is determined not by any rules, but by a cordial feeling. Undoubtedly, here we see the influence of the “synodals” - students and teachers of the famous Synodal School of Church Singing, which was abolished in 1918 , from which Komarov studied in his youth, and they considered him “their own”. In general, the amazingly clear, meaningful, often emphasized declamatory presentation of the word is a hallmark of the choir led by Komarov, and in this he is close to such a bright heir to the traditions of the Synodal choir, as Sergey Zharov . The repertoire of the choir V. S. Komarov was mainly composed by the classics of Russian spiritual and musical works D. S. Bortnyansky , archpriest P. I. Turchaninov , A. D. Kastalsky , A. A. Arkhangelsky , A. A. Tretyakov , priest Vasily Zinoviev and the like. It should be noted that the patriarchal choir was closely associated with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and its church and singing life. The ancient singing tradition of the Lavra, which did not manage to dry out over the years of the ruin of the Lavra shrines, certainly enriched Komarov’s work, being a touchstone on which the spiritual and musical content of the performed was verified. And this high spirit of the regent and singers is always heard, at divine services, concerts and, even, when voicing the film " Ivan the Terrible ."
Literature
- "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate." M., 1962., No. 12
- "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate." M., 1974., No. 9
- "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate." M., 1975., No. 3
- Kovskaya M. A., Zhuravlev N. V., “Sing to God wisely ...”: Viktor Stepanovich Komarov in the memoirs of his contemporaries (1893–1974) // Transactions of the Moscow Regency Singing Seminary. 2000-2001. The science. Story. Education.
- The practice of musical registration of worship: A collection of articles, memoirs, archival documents. - M., 2002 .-- 496 p., 33 p. notes. ISBN 5-902097-01-1