Church music of Kyivan Rus in the formation of religious-aesthetic ideals and mental-ideological attitudes of Orthodoxy

Abstract

In 2024, the church music of Ukrainian Orthodoxy requires a thorough analysis of its impact on cultural identity and spiritual development over the centuries. Church hymns, through the synthesis of arts and sacraments, facilitated the interaction between music and liturgical text, enriching liturgical practice and the spirituality of Kyivan Rus. In 2024, the problem of the spiritual revival of the nation, its cultural identity through the involvement of hesychast traditions in Orthodox church practice acquires new relevance and expediency. The purpose of the article is to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the religious-aesthetic, theological, and cultural ideas of hesychia, which were manifested in the church-musical practice of liturgical services and influenced the spirituality of the Orthodox person over the course of a thousand-year history. The study applies art history and cultural studies approaches, uses methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and interaction of cultural affiliation and spiritual progress of the nation. It has been scientifically proven and substantiated that the musical art of the Kyivan Rus became the personification of spiritual transformations, formed the mental and ideological constructs of Eastern Christianity in its ancient Old Rus form thanks to Orthodox liturgical music. According to the results of scientific analysis, it appears that the adoption of Eastern Christianity in Kyivan Rus became a fundamental milestone in the development of its musical culture, which was significantly influenced by the patristic doctrine and spirituality, in particular hesychast views and customs that came to Rus from Athos. It is proved that church music in Kyivan Rus was filled with God’s light, spiritual “energy”, peace-making harmony, balanced tempo-rhythm and soulful melody, it was a manifestation of “sonorous” divine silence, “singing with thoughts”. This research will be appropriate in curricula on the history of music, on the history of sacred art, on Christian ethics and aesthetics, for further scientific and educational research of church Orthodox chants and their relationship with Byzantine hesychast practice in the context of mutual influence on mentality, worldview, religious and aesthetic ideals