Dukh-i-zhiznik
Singing Compared in Russia and America
1989-1994 research by Dr. Mazo
Margarita,
Mazo. "Singing as Experience Among Russian
American Molokans Dukh-i-zhizniki."
Chapter 4 of Music in
American religious experience (Google
Books: pages
84-116, continued: pages
117-119). By Philip Vilas Bohlman, Edith L.
Blumhofer, Maria M. Chow. 2006. Pages 84-119.
Synopses
& Reviews
Dr. Mazo, Department of Ethnomusicoloy, Ohio State
University, expands upon pioneering research by Dr.
Linda O'brien-Rothe done in the 1980s. Spiritual
Christian Dukh-i-zhiznik hymns originated
from Old Russian folk songs. She shows examples of
preserved similarities after 100 years of religious
divisions among Dukh-i-zhizniki in Russia and
America, in Russian and English languages. Similar
conclusions were published in the 2017
PhD thesis by Anastasia V. Zernina, Rostov,
Russian Federation, comparing Spiritual Christian Dukhoborsty
and Molokane. Dr. Mazo was born and
educated in Russia, and collected redorded songs in
the U.S.A. and Russia.
Section numbers and links are added below to the
article. Comments are added in red. In this article, 3
different religions and 2 sub-groups were confusingly
reported using one label "Molokan" which is
mostly corrected by edits in red below.
Most of this paper is about Dukh-i-zhizniki. Dr.
Mazo only interviewed a few groups of Dukh-i-zhizniki
and Molokane, but was intrigued
by Dukh-i-zhizniki because they displayed
a more developed and large repertoire of Old Russian
folk song adaptations. She could not attend nor record
many services due to prejudice for outsiders,
non-believers, by the more zealous faiths, and notes
that her impressions are skewed by limitations imposed
by the subjects. Significant geographical and liturgy
differences exist among the various faiths, but are
not covered here. This table will help outline song
and holiday
differences among the 3 faiths. These 3 Spiritual
Christian groups are easily identified by their
characteristic liturgies used during prayer-worship
services.
1. Founded
in America. All
Maksimisty are Dukh-i-zhizniki, but
not all Dukh-i-zhizniki are Maksimisty.
2. Most adapted from
Russian folk songs and borrowed from German
Protestants.
3. Not
during service, but often during meals at weddings,
funerals, child dedication, holidays
4. Open
canon, a sacred
text that can be modified by continuous
revelation through their prophets.
5. Each
congregation has 1 or more prophets. There
have been at least 200 prophets since 1928 in
all congregations around the world.
Prophecies of only 4 prophets were published in
their Kniga solnste, dukh i
zhizn'
(1928 holy book in Los Angeles). Over 100 prophesies
are written in secret notebooks shown only to
trusted believers.
6. Reorganized in Taurida
Governorate, named in 1856 in the Caucasus.
For background on the evolution of
these faiths, see: Conovaloff, Andrei. "Taxonomy of 3
Spiritual Christian groups: Molokane, Pryguny
and Dukh-i-zhizniki — books, fellowship,
holidays, prophets and songs,"source of the table
above. Dr. Mazo did not have this Taxonomy during her
research, and though she was aware of major differences
among the faiths, she had no easy way to label them, so
reverted to a "catch-all" general term, probably derived
from malakan.
Edited original
article.
Singing as Experience among
Russian American Molokans
Dukh-i-zhizniki
Margarita Mazo
SECTIONS
- By Way of Historical Introduction
- The Role of the
Spiritual
- Support System—Zakon [the
law]
- The Role of the
Verbal
- The Communal
Worship and "Church Jobs"
- The Power of
Singing
- Transformations
of Singing during Sobranie [prayer meeting]
Molokan
Psalms: Transmission, Formal Features, and
Performance Practices
- Comparison of
American and Russian Singing
- Keeping Russian
Melody versus Russian Language
- Resettling the
Culture
- By Way of
Conclusions
- Postscript
- Notes
- Works Cited
FIGURES
- Molokan
Sobranie seating
arrangement.
- Ya skazal pri
polovni dnie moikh (I Said in the Cutting
Off of My Days.) Isaiah 38:10, Comparison of A
Russian and American versions of the psalm
recorded in 1990.
- Don
Cossack protyazhnaya
song transcribed by Alexander Listopadov in
1900 in a Don Cossack village Yermakovskaya
(Listopadov, 1906, 214).
- Novy brat'ya ne vo
t'me (But You Brethren, Are Not in
Darkness), I Thessalonians 5:4. The psalm, sung in
Russian (top staff) and English (bottom staff) by
the same singer, was recorded in 1990.
Dukh-i-zhiznichestvo Molokanism
Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan
the Dukh-i-zhiznik
faiths Molokanism
Dukh-i-zhiznik
faiths Molokan
Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans
"You do
not need to tell me who is singing. I know these are Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans!"
exclaims a younger Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan in Los Angeles.(1)
For the first time in his life he is hearing the singing
of his brothers in the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan faith from Russia on a tape that
I recorded three months earlier, in the summer of 1989.
Singing is a keystone of the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokans' self-identity. It epitomizes Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan religious
experience and social life to such an extent that most
adults in the community consider the continuity of their
singing a critical factor for their survival as Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans.(2)
Furthermore, the Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans believe that singing, as a channel of
direct communication with God, has the power of evoking
the Holy Spirit. So critical is singing for the Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokans'
faith that they call "the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan religion a singing religion" (James Samarin 1975, 6).
Understanding why singing is so crucial for the
perpetuation of the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokans' faith and culture among the Russian
American Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans may come only within a larger
framework that addresses their history and singing the phenomenon
called Molokanism. In this article, the
Dukh-i-zhiznik faiths are Molokanism
is understood as a cultural, social,
rhetorical, and cognitive continuum formed out of tightly
entwined religious concepts and worldviews; the continuum
serves as the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan conceptual universe in which
singing is an integral part and takes on specific meanings
and significance. Diversity of individual interpretations
notwithstanding. The Dukh-i-zhiznik
faiths are Molokanism
is approached here as a domain of collective
meaning and symbolic order.
Dukh-i-zhiznik faiths are Molokanism
is little known even to specialists of Russian religion,
history, or culture.(3) To present Dukh-i-zhiznik faiths Molokanism in a
comprehensive way while limiting the discrimination to a
manageable scope, I have chosen to focus on its specific
cognitive aspects, which I consider most fundamental both
to the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokans' musical practices and to
musical signification in their communities. The repertory
of Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan religious singing
consists of seven hundred [1500+] psalms(4) and
spiritual songs. A comprehensive analysis of this
repertory is not my concern here. Nor do I explore the
broader question of how Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan singing is related to other Russian musical
traditions, although these relationships are compelling.(5) Instead, by teasing out the issues
behind the salient characteristics of performance
practices of psalms and songs. I situate the collective
experience of Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan singing within their conceptual
universe. My goal, therefore, is to offer an interpretive
framework that shows their singing as a unique and
powerful collective experience, recognizable as such by
the Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans themselves and by any
outsiders.
Needless to say, the collective experience and the
experiences of the individual are completely
interdependent, if not altogether inseparable. Anyone
willing to approach a living culture as a dynamic,
complex, and) dialectic phenomenon is confronted with this
multidimensional dilemma. The dilemma emerges as he or she
strives to integrate conceptual abstractions with specific
individual experiences, to address the Bakhtinian
“self/other” relationship, and to articulate deeply
interdependent cognitive views, social constructions, and
cultural notions. During field research in various Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan communities, this
dilemma became particularly prominent. Revealing a strong
predisposition for self-reflection, most of the people who
generously spent time talking to me were mainly interested
in constructing the meaning of being a Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan
in general and contextualized ways, using an endless
number of biblical [and
Spirit
and Life] passages as the ultimate
validation of their points. As our relationship grew
closer, I realized that such abstract discourse is part of
daily life for many Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans, particularly men, and not just a
rhetorical screen to demarcate a distance from me, a
person from the outside and secular world.
One of the Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan rhetorical ideals is unanimity in
everything, from communal affairs to private family life.
Yet, Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan
everyday life is different. Their cognitive views resonate
with vividly different individual attitudes and opinions
as well as highly intense personal relationships. This
intensity expresses itself through intimacy, but also
through potent tensions, manifested in arguments and
debates that permeate Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans' communal and personal life. As
a result, separateness, in the sense of individual
interpretations of Molokanism [Jumper] is strong among the
Molokans [mostly
among Maksimists, S&L-users]. At the same
time, the inner tension created by diversity on the
personal level may have been largely responsible for the
survival of Molokanism [Jumpers]. Drawing on the individual
interpretations and concerns of valued and devoted
members, Dukh-i-zhiznik
faiths are Molokanism
is continually independently
reaffirmed and redefined through ongoing
construction of negotiated meaning (see Flower
1994). This process becomes a particularly potent
instrument of change through situated rhetoric in
structured religious or social contexts. Such negotiation
is all the more significant in view of the fact that for
individual beliefs, there can be only one truth in any
argument. It is precisely the process of constructing
negotiated meaning, in my opinion, that assures
flexibility of this single truth to new challenges and
secures its ability to bear relevance to an ever-changing
world. In brief, strong individual opinions, and concerns
of the respected members of the community create among the
Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans an inner tension
that may have largely been responsible for the community's
perpetuation and survival.
Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans
are very private people who do not seek attention from
outsiders. Not every one of them believes that their
singing, let alone their religion should be studied by the
ne nashi (those
who are not one of us,
non-believers, infidels). I am fortunate that male man
members of several Dukh-i-zhiznik
faiths the Molokan
community not only have endorsed my
intellectual inquiry about their singing, but also have
generously shared with me their gifts, knowledge, and
convictions. It is my hope that the choices I make in the
following discussion lie within the bounds of a mode of
representation that does not betray their confidence and
trust.
1. By
Way of Historical Introduction
Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans are members of a
small religious denominations of
originally called “Spiritual Christians”(6) amalgamated in
Los Angeles, California, after after 1928 upon
sanctification of a publication of writings of 4
prophets revered by several of the founding faiths.
This family of faiths is labeled
after their holy book: Kniga solntse, dukhi i zhin'
(Book of the Sun, Spirit and Life). In English
one may call them "Spirit and Lifers," but the preferred
unique Russian label Dukh-i-zhizniki is
unambiguous, though awkward to learn. The faiths were
propagated in Turkey and the Soviet Union in the 1930s
by distributing the book. As part of
grassroots protest movements in rural Russia of the
eighteenth century, Molokans dissented from the main
Orthodox Church in the 1760s. The sobriquet molokane (milk
drinkers,
plural of molokanin) was given by outsiders.(7) The
precise number of Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans living around the world is not known, and
the exact roots of their pilgrimage are not well
documented, but the largest settlements are in Russia, Armenia and the United States.
The number of non-Dukhobor
Spiritual Christians Molokans
residing in the former Soviet Union varies in different
sources from fifty thousand to two-hundred thousand. About
twenty thousand who identify ethnically
live in California, and several thousands in Oregon,
according to the latest data (Magocsi
1996, 57)
Like the Dukhobors (spirit wrestlers
fighters), a sect from which the Molokans branched
out, the Molokans sought religious freedom from the
Russian Orthodox Church and economic independence from
state-imposed poverty through establishing a
self-governing and egalitarian brotherhood. To this day,
communal energy is considered to have more spiritual power
than the spiritual energy of any individual.
Because of their resentment toward the Orthodox Church,
the Molokans [and
later Jumpers], like other Russian sectarians,
were outlawed by mainstream society and were severely
repressed throughout their history in Russia, where the
autocracy and the Orthodox Church were inseparable. In
1805, Molokans submitted a written petition to Czar
Alexander I, and three Molokan spokesmen were called to
present their case in front of the Czar and twelve
senators. They explained their beliefs, described the
hardships that they had been subjected to for their faith,
and begged for the Czar's protection.(8)
A large group of Molokans from central Russia was soon
resettled, on the Czar's order, in the area along the
river Molochnyi Vody
near Crimea, in the Tavricheskaya province, where a large
Dukhobor settlement had already existed since 1801 (Livanov 1872, 2:95-8) [Map]. The Molokans
were conscientious objectors. During the 1830s, they
accepted Czar Nicolas I's offer to receive a fifty-year
exemption from mandatory military service in exchange for
their relocation from central and southern Russia to the
Russian Empire's new frontier in the Caucasus mountains
and Transcaucasia (Moore 1973, 19; Izmail-Zade 1983, 55 [Breyfogle]).
After
the
law
allowing
exemption
from
military
services
expired,
their
further
petitions
to
be
excused
were
denied.
In
conjunction with the millenarian prophecies of impending
doom, many Molokans [and
Jumpers] migrated further south and east to
central Asia and Siberia. By the turn of the century, a
large number of [Jumpers]
Molokans, led by the prophesies, had settled beyond
Russia's borders, in Turkey, Persia, Germany, Australia,
and other parts of the world (see Livanov
1872; Klibanov 1982; Moore 1973; Izmail-Zade
1983). In the United States the first [Jumper] Molokan
settlers arrived in the Los Angeles area in 1904-05.(9)
There are currently three main Molokan groups both in
Russia and in the United Stales: Postoyannye (Steadfast), who claim not
to have changed the original doctrine and order of
worship; Pryguny (Jumpers),
who,
under
a
condition
of communal ecstasy and mystic solidarity, seek a direct
manifestation of the Spirit, whose embodiment may come in
jumping, prophesying. and speaking in tongues; Maximisty*, who branched
out from the Jumpers and revere the teachings of the late
nineteenth-century prophet Maxim Rudometkin as much as
they revere the Bible. A new branch** of Molokanism, currently
emerging in me United States, is a group of Reform Molokans, who
has yet to be mentioned in the literature. I have worked
with all four groups, although my experience with the Maximisty has been
limited, particularly in the U.S., as they are almost
entirely closed to outsiders. Each group refuses to yield
regarding separatism and independence. The differences
among them are marked by a wide variety of issues, ranging
from doctrines, liturgical practices, and ways of
interacting with the outside world to family
relationships. Internal disagreements further caused the
three main groups to split into smaller units, each
believing it strictly follows "the form prescribed by the
founders of our denomination" (Berokoff
1987, 195). In reality, forms of practicing
Molokanism [and
Jumpers] are numerous and vary from church to
church and even from individual to individual.***
[* Historically Maksimisty
are a sub-group of Jumpers who use the Book of Sun: Spirit and
Life for worship. See: “Holiday
and Song Taxonomy of Molokans and Jumpers.”
** Reformed could also be classified as an English
variety of Jumper, and not a "branch." See: "Holiday
and Song Taxonomy of Molokans and Jumpers."
Unfortunately Mazo uses the umbrella term Molokan for
all of these various groups, which have evolved into
different denominations, with different liturgy, though
some ritual and song is common to all three faiths. This
confuses the casual reader and recent scholars who have
yet to uniformly differentiate these denominations.
*** Therese Muranaka was the first American historian to
address this point. In her booklet "Spirit
Jumpers: The Russian Molokans of Baja California"
(San Diego Museum of Man, Ethnic Technology Notes No.
21, 1988) she quotes a line from S. Stepniak (The
Russian peasantry: their agrarian condition, social
life and religion, 1888, page 266): "Orthodox
peasants were wont to say that among the Rascolniks
'every moujik (peasant man) formed a sect, and every
baba (peasant woman) a persuasion'".
Extending the definition of Molokan
beyond the Reformed, the 2002 hijackers of the Church of
Spiritual Molokans of Arizona, founded as a Jumper
congregation, who keep illegally changing the name to
Church of Christian Molokans of Arizona, and call the
police to arrest trespassers at the assembly and
cemetery (3 arrests so far), falsely testify in court
and to police (felonies) to be the real
congregation. They have fooled the UMCA to list them in
the UMCA Molokan
Directory twice, 2004 and 2008. They have no
relation to Jumpers or Molokans but the genealogy of
their family or spouses, and the most aggressive (Mike
Zaremba, Pete Uraine, Jack Conovaloff) are/were members
of other faiths who were recruited to illegally take
possession of the property by one family of delusional
Tolmachoffs that knows nothing about performing Jumpers
services, in English or Russian.
A different case arose in 1977
when a California man requested no photo on his driver's
license for religious reasons. Denied, he researched
court law and found the case of John Shubin, a
Masksimist who got a photo deferment in 1980 claiming
his "Molokan" faith prohibited photos. The man requested
the same treatment claiming he was a also a Molokan in
his own church, appealed and won in 1984. See: Jumper
Exemption
=
No Photo on Driver's License?
NOT!]
2. The
Role of the Spiritual
The Dukh-i-zhiznik faiths
are Molokan is syncretic,
being an amalgamation of the two Testaments, the teachings
of their forefathers, and folk beliefs commonly found in
Russian villages. Furthermore, it exhibits an obvious bond
with Russian mysticism through its emphasis on a highly
personal relationship with God. In this connection, the Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans
are akin to some earlier Russian sectarians, who believed
in the direct indwelling of God in men and women. This
doctrine became particularly widespread in Russia during
the eighteenth century, when "contacts with the West
brought into Russia sectarian Protestant ideas along with
Western secular rationalism" (Billington
1970, 179). Molokanism [mostly Jumper-S&L-users] also
incorporates certain aspects of Jewish religious mysticism
and some elements of Jewish communal service and dietary
laws into their fundamentally Christian doctrine. [See Molokan-Subbotniki.]
Regardless of the religious and cultural integration that
it manifests, the Dukh-i-zhiznik
faiths are Molokanism
is basically a Russian movement that grew out
of cultural models of Russian peasantry but has evolved
into unique forms. The Molokan [and Jumper] conceptual universe
is deeply mystical yet thoroughly rationalistic. A
favorite Molokan [or
Jumper] expression offers valuable insight into
this duality: Live and sing “by the spirit and by the
mind.”(10)
Although Molokans [and
Jumpers] seek a high quality for their earthly
life, probably stemming from their effort to build an
independent and self-sufficient spiritual community in
preparation for Christ's kingdom on earth [mostly for the
Jumper-S&L-users],(11)
material symbols have little significance in their
religious life. Like other Russian sectarians, Molokans [and Jumpers]
completely abandoned the Russian Orthodox Church. They did
so by rejecting all ecclesiastical hierarchy, rituals, the
calendar of feasts and fasts, and all material attributes
pertaining to Russian Orthodoxy, including, the most
sacred of the sacred, the icon and the cross. They
believed only in what they consider as internal spiritual
aspects of Christianity, accepting only the symbolic
essence of religious sacraments. Salvation accrues through
faith alone, Molokans claim [original Molokans valued works and deeds],
not in the church's ritualistic celebration of sacraments
made as "objects of human artistry." "The Lord is the
Spirit." and the ultimate enlightenment of "receiving the
Spirit," the Molokans believe, comes through experiences
unfathomable by the senses and logic (Dogmas,
12-3). It is not to be sought in the material world, but
only in the spiritual world through communal worship "In
spirit and truth." Such a notion of spiritual and communal
power, which is the key issue in Molokan self-identity as
a group, is nicely summed up by their original name,
Spiritual Christians.
The functioning and perpetuation of Molokan spiritual life
transpire entirely within the community, with the
exception of using the Bible, that is, "God's word," as
their major source of spiritual nourishment. For Molokans
[and Jumpers],
not unlike for fundamentalist Christians, the Bible has
become not only the theological foundation of their
beliefs, but also a lens through which they view,
interpret, and gauge everyday life. Molokan interpretation
of the Bible is largely associative and metaphoric rather
than literal [but many S&L-users take it literally].
The Molokans use this approach to find in the Bible
guidance for practically any need, from interpretations of
doctrinal concepts to explanations of their name, song
structure, or the most pragmatic daily activity.
Interpretation through analogy and metaphor becomes a
favorable rhetorical instrument in any Molokan [or Jumper]
discourse.
3.
Support System—Zakon
[the law]
Molokans [and
Jumpers], like many other confessional groups,
have established a whole order of life to separate
themselves from ne
nashi. Living in a state of consciousness
affected by their perpetual separation from mainstream
society, whether in Russia or elsewhere, Molokans [and Jumpers] were
forced to take charge of their own lives, both spiritual
and physical, in an orderly way. As Young has pointed out,
in seeking to provide individuals with "a secure refuge
against doubts, uncertainties, and conflicts, which rage
outside the sect," their communal life has become highly
structured ([Young]1932, 273). They
call this order of life "our zakon," literally, the law. In a more
inclusive way, however, [Jumper] Molokan unwritten zakon refers to a
distinct and self-sufficient maintenance system
responsible for the stability and well-being of the
community. Through a system of privileges and obligations,
restrictions and prohibitions, this self-imposed zakon governs not
only pragmatic matters, from behavioral codes to
sociocultural institutions, but also spiritual issues,
including values, worldviews, and the relationship between
humanity and God. Molokan [and Jumpers] singing too is regulated by zakon.
Today, many young and middle-aged [Jumper-S&L-users] Molokans
consider their zakon to
be “too hard, too strict and too demanding.” Their
struggle to live by the highest standards of zakon reveals the
unbridgeable disparity between the realms of the doctrinal
ideal and earthly necessities. At the same time, to
fulfill its function as a guardian of Molokanism, zakon must be
tolerant enough lo accommodate and reconcile the
inconsistencies of individual needs and internal tensions.
Thus, a continuous dialogue of competing interpretations
is supported by zakon.
As frequent and heated as [Jumper] Molokan debates over zakon are, they are
essential venues for individuals to construct and
negotiate its new meanings. Understanding the significance
of [Jumper]
Molokan commitment to verbal discourse is important for
our purpose here, as it helps build a conceptual framework
for understanding Molokan [and Jumpers] singing. In Molokan [and Jumpers]
teachings, singing exists only in the unbreakable unity
with slovo, the word. "Music could never be an art. It
[is] a form of speech." according to one [Jumper-S&L-user]
Molokan singer (James Samarin
1975, 65).
[Jumper-S&L-users
have a characteristic of yielding to a majority of one.
If one guy gets agitated and demands his way, he can
dominate a meeting without opposition until the flock
reluctantly follows. This is a fuzzy application
of "the law" [zakon] — peer pressure
interpreted as unwritten religious norm. The common
result is a group not doing anything for fear of one
person attacking. All must look and act alike — beards on men, fancy
Russian peasant clothes, etc. Pundits say we left the
Russian Orthodox Church due to its rules and rituals but
came to America and created our own orthodox church with
new rules and rituals. Abuse of zakon
has divided
many congregations. Western Jumper-S&L-users have
less total Sunday worshipers but more congregations each
decade for 50 years.]
4. The
Role of the Verbal
While many closed communities are keen about
self-reflection through words, the Molokans [and Jumpers]
demonstrate an especially strong proclivity toward verbal
expression. In aspiring to give their inner life a
rational order, they devote great effort to constructing
their ideas and experiences through verbal language.
Molokan [and Jumper]
verbal discourse is dynamic, not reducible to specific
categories and forms. Instead, it has generated a web of
rhetorical situations corresponding to various occasions
and contexts, including communal worship, training
sessions, and private discussions. In this light, it is
not by chance that Molokans [and Jumpers] have a strong tradition and
history of practicing rhetorical discourse. They greatly
appreciate the ability to articulate and develop one's
thoughts in an orderly fashion and consider it a special
gift from God. To utilize this gift fully, and motivated
by the utmost respect for the written text. the community
has produced a profusion of books containing creed,
prayers, and songs through which they have systematized
and rationalized their thoughts and beliefs.(12)
Some Molokans [and
Jumpers] have even published their personal
discourses on spiritual matters individually. It is
significant, in the context of our discussion, that the
very first publication of dogmas had a chapter "On
singing." and the first publication of The Molokan Prayer Book
included a list of psalms to be sung at every communal
function and ritual. [Each
denomination has their own prayerbook, with versions.]
The distinct expressions and terms of Molokan [and Jumper] verbal
discourse are adopted from colloquial Russian language.
Through metaphoric use these casual expressions and words
have been either modified or refined in such ways that
their connotations can no longer be easily articulated,
but instead bear unique symbolic meanings. In a sense,
they have become semiotic symbols. One does not have to
search hard for these symbols of concepts and experiences
that the Molokans [and Jumpers] themselves have singled
out to denote their cognitive universe. It is enough to
listen to the American Molokans [and Jumpers] who do not
understand Russian. For the sake of preserving the
symbolic meanings of these Russian expressions and terms,
they use them without translation.
5. The
Communal Worship and "Church Jobs"
Sobranie,
translated here as “communal worship,” literally means
assembly of people.(13) The structure
and communal nature of Molokan [and Jumpers] sobranie determines
the ways in which singing is conducted. The service is
guided by [volunteer, unpaid] prestol,(14) a
relatively large leadership group of experts. This is an
all-male group of which each person is chosen by the
Spirit or on the basis of his gift from God to carry out a
particular function during sobranie, that is, a specific "church
job." Church jobs manifest an order, based on a
recognition of different gifts from God. The church jobs
are the presviter (presbyter,
minister),
besednik (a
discussant, commentator and interpreter), pevets (a singer), skazatel' (here, a
reader or an announcer who prompts the psalm's text to a
singer), and prophet. Only singers and prophets can be
both men and women, but even if recognized for their gift
from God, the women are not part of the prestol and sit
separately (see fig. 4.1) [In congregations lacking men (like in Rostov
oblast), the women are prestol. The role of besednik has been
performed by outspoken women in the US (Big Church,
Arizona) and Russia (Piatigorsk). In some Russian Jumper
congregations (Piatigorsk), the woman prophetess also
sits at the table.]
Figure 4.1. Molokan Sobranie seating
arrangement.
Although all church jobs are necessary for conducting a
proper service, their makeup is elaborately hierarchical,
and the hierarchy is maintained rather strictly [in large established
congregations. Small congregations, particularly
Jumper-S&L-users are flexible with roles.].
Church jobs also define the ways in which singing reflects
the social fabric of the community. Each church job, [usually] with the
exception of the prophets [only among Jumpers], is overseen by a starshiy (the head
person), whose seniority in the hierarchy can be
irrespective of age. A further ranking within each church
job is based on various factors, including age, knowledge,
skills, memory, wisdom, personal predisposition or God's
gift, professional training, and revnost' (literally "jealousy," but in
Molokan [and Jumper]
use means eagerness to acquire the expertise and to
perfect the skills for the job). [Political power of a clan or elder to
appoint positions to relatives occurs and typically
results in schisms, mostly among the
Jumper-S&L-users.]
The structure and communal nature of the Molokan [and Jumper] sobranie in part
determines the social make up of the community, and the
church job hierarchy largely defines an individual's
social status. Each job is a lifetime commitment and
requires special expertise. Transmission of professional
knowledge and skills is secured by formalized educational
institutions and teaching processes specific to each
church job. The job of pevets is considered one of the
most difficult and requires many years of training.(15)
Holders of the jobs are all volunteers; Molokans [and Jumpers] seek
direct contact with God in such a way that they reject the
idea of intercession by paid clergy. Each person is
expected to contribute [voluntarily, without pay] to the spiritual
life of the community by contributing his own energy, thus
helping build the communal spiritual power during sobranie. There are
also not paid musicians. Musical instruments are not
allowed, for they are considered objects of human
artifice.(16) As far as singing is
concerned, sobranie
comprises only a
cappella choral psalms and spiritual
songs.(17)
“The order of service is simple,” notes Pauline Young when
describing the sobranie
(Young] 1932, 32).(18) Indeed, sobranie does not contain any elaborate
liturgical acts. Stripped of the effects of bright and
solemn costumes, icons and frescoes, lighting and incense,
[Jumper]
Molokan sobranie takes
place between bare white walls with backless wooden
benches. The only props are religious books on lop of a
plain rectangular table covered with white cloth. In
rejecting all visual attributes of Orthodox religious
service, however, sobranie
has given different aural forms of verbal and
non-verbal communication crucial roles in channeling
spiritual energy among the worshiping community. As a
result, even if the service order of sobranie is
considered "simple," the ways in which its sonic aspects
are pursued and managed are immensely intricate. The sobranie's sonic
aspects, once the dynamic relationships of all aural forms
are considered, tellingly reflect rational order in
Molokan [Jumper]
spirituality. [Jumpers
singing was much more original in 1919 when Young did
her work.]
Traditionally, sobranie
consists of two parts. The first part [sitting] includes
several repetitions of a cycle consisting of a beseda (literally, a
talk or a dialogue; but here a discourse, a special
rhetorical situation and a kind of" sermon by a besednik) and singing
a posalom (old-Russian
for
psalm,
both
versions
of
the
word
are
in
current
use),
that
is,
singing
a
scriptural
passage
from the Russian version of the Bible, corresponding with
[the Douay Bible],
but not identical to the King James Version. The cycle
begins as the presviter
who leads the service signals to the starshiy besednik to
choose a besednik for
the first beseda.
The besednik's
task is to select and read a biblical passage and then
interpret it in the light of the community's current
concerns, using his specific gift and stalls of discourse.(19) There follows the singing of a
psalm. The process involves intricate interaction within
the hierarchy of the entire prestol and the congregation. In brief,
the singing can begin only after the presviter has given
a signal to the starshiy
pevets. The latter, in turn, assigns one of the pevtsy to select and
lead a psalm. The selected pevets then becomes the main figure in
the singing of this psalm. Meanwhile, the starshiy skazatel'
assigns a skazatet',
whose responsibility is to recognize instantaneously the
psalm, promptly find the text in the Bible, and call out a
short passage that will be fitted to the melody by the pevets.
How melodic is the prompting of the skazatel' depends on
the local school and personal talent, but his intoning
must never disturb the mood of singing. The visual contact
between pevets and the
skazatel' is secured by the seating order; they
are located across the prestol
(see fig. 4.1). The job
of skazatel' is
to work in perfect coordination with the pevets, timing the
reading and choosing the length of the prosaic text
exactly as the particular pevets requires. If the pevets does not know
the biblical passage from memory, a smooth performance
largely depends on the skazatel's
skills.
Note that an important characteristic of an experienced pevets is his
ability to line up the words to the melody in a meaningful
manner, so that the congregation can follow him. As the
assigned pevets sings, other pevtsy support him, building the
multivoice texture, appropriate for the local style.(20) The entire congregation participates
in heterophonic singing za
sledom (literally, "following one's footprints,"
here to follow the pevets).
Then the beseda-psalm
cycle repeats as many times as the presviter requires.
Ideally, the entire sobranie
is unified by a theme, "the golden thread,"* to use a Molokan
[and Jumper]
expression, that runs throughout the service. The
interpretive commentary on a biblical passage read by a besednik does not
stop with the end of his beseda. It continues in the succeeding
singing of a [related
or supporting] psalm. The job of the pevets, thus, is not
only to lead the singing per se but also to respond to the beseda and select an
appropriate psalm instantaneously. Specific religious
holidays or specific secular occasions certainly call for
particular topics of the beseda and for particular psalms, but
in a regular Sunday sobranie,
the choice of the topic depends, to a large degree, on the
first besednik.** Sustaining the
golden thread*
thus depends on the cooperation of all members of the
prestol and their continuous concentration throughout sobranie, as they do
not know in advance who is going to be called to officiate
the next component of the service. Clearly, all church
jobs require special expertise: all jobholders must be
extremely knowledgeable of the scriptural text and have
proficient skills in their particular duty. That is to say
that the hierarchical nature of the "church jobs," while
seemingly incongruent with an egalitarian community, is in
fact indicative of a community that reveres order and also
values equally the use of specific gifts from God to
maintain order.
[* Knowledge
and use of the “golden thread” has been lost among
American Molokans and Jumpers, mainly because it
requires Russian literacy and broad knowledge of the
Bible and songs.
** Many
congregations start with a psalm, which starts the
"golden thread". Sometimes Jumpers start the thread by a
reading a random selection of verse, a form of Bibliomancy
called okreveie,
literally "revelation".]
The climax of the sobranie
falls in the second part [standing], which consists
mainly of the communal prayer proper, formed by the
combination of various prayers. Before the second part
begins, all the benches in the service space are quickly
removed. The congregants stand throughout this part of the
service. Thus, in contrast to the first part, where the presviters, besedniki,
skazateli, pevtsy, prophets, male congregants,
and, separately, female congregants all occupy well
defined spaces, the communal prayer proper has all the
congregants gathered in a conceptually and physically
different space.*
Through their movement into this space, it is as if all
the petitioners in the prayer were stripped of their
professional and social positions to form a united body
before God.(21)
[* Not really. They
stand in approximately the same formation as they sat
with the same jobs and roles depending on how much room
they have to spread out. Often in Russia, in large
congregations with resettlers from different geographic
regions who can sing in the same style, a choir will
temporarily stand together, sometimes men and women face
to face, for their psalm, which other congregants will
not know. At the end of their psalm, they will try to
return to their previous standing location. Mazo was not
able to attend many prayer services.]
Public, communal prayers offered either by a presviter, or by a presviter assigned
individual [Russia: zamestitel',
deputy presbyter; America: pomoshnik, helper], must be perfectly
memorized and recited so that everyone is able to hear him
clearly. In contrast, other members of the congregation
intone their individual prayers privately and
spontaneously (the sonic form of the communal prayer will
be discussed later). Concluding the sobranie is a
symbolic communion ceremony accompanied by singing.(22) Subsequently, one more short prayer
is recited and one more psalm or song is sung for the
closure of the sobranie,
traditionally forming the end of the Steadfast [Molokan] service
[which probably
started at 8 am and ended at noon]. At the end,
several additional spiritual songs may be sung; these can
be started by women [usually
selected by the head singer]. In the Jumper
churches, "spiritual jumping," under the influence of the
Spirit, often occurs at this moment, although deistvie (acting in
the Spirit manifested by raised hands [often one hand in Russia, always two
hands in America and Australia], stomping feet,
or other bodily gestures) may have occurred at any moment
earlier. Prophecies may also take place at any time, with
utterances in a tense and harsh voice as well as speaking
in tongues.(23) [Glossolalia, "speaking in tongues",
is nearly lost among Molokans and Jumpers in the U.S.
and Australia. Among Molokans perhaps because they
rarely elevate emotions during worship. Among
Jumper-S&L-users perhaps because it is perceived as
out of style, and/or from the 666 false faiths warned
about in the S&L. Ironically, Dr.
William J,. Samarin (brother to James
and Edward) was a pioneer in glossolalia research.]
It should be clear from the above description that sobranie unfolds
both “by the Spirit and by the mind." While spontaneity
and flexibility of the choices made by the experts play an
important role. the sobranie
relies on the professional knowledge and skills of
the experts, who work in dynamic relationships within the
overall design predetermined by the zakon.(24)
Ordinarily, as far as I have been able to observe, any
deviation from this general structure occurs only under
special circumstances and as an exception that needs to be
justified and negotiated. The construction of negotiated
meaning thus becomes an important instrument for
introducing necessary transformations or deviations from
this order, specifically at the moments when certain
individuals or the entire community undergo some drastic
changes or stress. [Notably,
sobranie has
shortened from 4 hours to 1 hour for some small
Jumper-S&L-user congregations in the U.S. Services
vary among congregations, who often split due to
differences in ritual.]
6. The
Power of Singing
The sobranie involves
different
aural forms or sound modalities:(25)
speaking, reading, sermonizing, praying, singing, and [for
Jumpers] prophesying. Each sound modality has a distinct
paralinguistic profile marked by specific tempo, volume,
intensity, timbre, pitch contour, and duration. For
Molokans [and
Jumpers], all aural forms used in sobranie are based
on the Scripture, God's word. And "God's word is made of
sound," teaches one of the spiritual leaders of the [Jumper-S&L-user]
Fresno community. Yet the symbolic power of the different
forms of God's word is not the same. It seems that for
Molokans [and
Jumpers], the power of God's word consists not
only in the meanings or contents of the word, but also in
the sound modalities through which it is delivered. Of all
the modalities on the sound continuum of sobranie, singing is
attributed with a particularly great power. God's word,
when sung, occupies a remarkably high point in the service
in the eyes of the congregants.
Many religious communities recognize the enormous symbolic
power of singing in engendering collective experience.
Some of them in fact privilege participation in the
communal act of singing so much that they seem to show
little concern for the technical and expressive quality of
the actual singing. It is not so for the Molokans [and Jumpers], for
whom singing can either stifle or vitalize the sobranie, and "good"
singing is crucial. They even have the concept of "a
quality singer." although its precise definition is not
easy to construct. "Singing brings man to Cod." many [Jumpers] Molokans
say, and a "poor" performance during the sobranie might
prevent the congregants from reaching a spiritual state
where they could communicate directly with God.
Singing as a source of spiritual power is a common
discourse among the [Jumpers]
Molokans: "Singing is to melt the heart, and then your
heart opens itself to God's word. Singing reveals the word
of God to man." In their universe, singing thus is not
only inseparably bound to God's word, but also has the
power to make the work of the Spirit tangible and directly
accessible for people. The connection of singing and
spiritual energy is not simply an abstract theological
notion written down in the creed and used in rhetorical
situations; it is a very actual and personal experience,
one of the most valuable experiences of [Jumper] Molokan
worship today. A number of skilled [Jumper] leaders say that it is
singing, more than anything else. in which they engage
during the sobranie,
in order to communicate with the divine. In the act of
communicating with the divine, singing is indispensable:
First, the [Jumper] singers
start singing, and this will bring us the spirit, but not before the singers
start singing. God says: "If you want me to
tell you something, call the singers, and then I will
speak the word to you." We sing to praise God, and if He
wants to announce something to us. He will do this
through our singing"(emphasis added).
It appears that in the context of the [Jumper] sobranie, "God's
word" is understood as a metaphor for the "presence of the
Holy Spirit." Liturgical singing is the primary instrument
in building up the presence.(26) Thus,
sanctity does not reside in the psalms and spiritual songs
as such, but rather in the instance when the psalms and
songs are sung.(27)
Undoubtedly, singing is an act of the divine for Molokans,
whose image of heaven is impregnated with singing: "All
those who have earned their access to heaven sing. There
[in heaven], they do not work, either do they eat; they
only sing." Yet while Molokan singing is a divine act, not
least because it channels the work of the Spirit in
guiding the selection of psalms and songs in the sobranie, it is at
the same time a rational act. There is abundant evidence
that Molokans [and
Jumpers] sing as much "by the mind" as "by the
spirit" First of all, many Molokan [and Jumper] psalms are highly
complex, demanding sophisticated musical skills; they are
also impossible for the congregation to sing without the
competent leadership of the pevtsy. Second, the rationality of
Molokan [and Jumper]
singing is manifested in the thematization of their
psalms. A number of Molokan psalms are occasion-specific.
These psalms arc divided into various categories on the
basis of their message. There are psalms to console, to
beseech, and to give thanks; there are also psalms for
funerals, weddings, birthdays, and house warming. Out of
more than a thousand psalms in the community's collective
memory, however, only a few* share a common theme to make them suitable
for the same occasion. In choosing a psalm, it is
necessary to match the psalm's message with the golden
thread of the sobranie.
Choosing a psalm proper for an occasion is of great
importance; it is a task left to the pevtsy — the ones
with the greatest gift in this area of expertise among the
community.
[*Some occasions have
many possible psalms, depending on the skills of the
singers.]
All its unique Molokan [and Jumper] features notwithstanding, the
sonic in the sobranie has
a function shared by the sonic in similar ritualized
contexts in other cultures: to induce a truly communal
experience among the congregants. In the words of one [Jumper] Molokan,
"[Through] singing, the Spirit comes to other people [. .
] so everyone will be united." This function also produces
a coalescence of the emotional and the rational, a process
dearly manifested in the performance of the skillful pevtsy. In singing
during sobranie,
the pevtsy have
to be fully in control — appropriately detached — at all
times in their response to various ritualized situations,
without becoming too excited or involved (Mazo
1990, 119-20). Arguably, it is precisely the sense
of communal unity created through synergetic states of
many different individuals during singing that contributes
to the emotional intensity and potency of the worship.
7.
Transformations of Singing during Sobranie
The communal worship styles of the Steadfast and Jumpers
are not exactly the same. Accordingly, their singing also
differs in certain ways. If both psalms and spiritual
songs are essential for the Jumpers, the Steadfast
Molokans allow songs in worship only after the sobranie proper has
ended, if there is any singing at all. [Essentially Steadfast
Molokans and Jumpers are different denominations, not
varieties of one denomination.]
During the sobranie of
the Jumpers, when physical manifestations of God's
blessing are sought, appropriate singing helps the
participants achieve a religious trance-like state they
call deistvouat'
(literally, "to act." but used by [Jumpers] Molokans in a sense of
"being in the Spirit'). The works of the Spirit bring
changes in the physical behavior of the individual
congregants and induce the jumping that gives the group
its name. Although prophetic ecstasy and deistvie, the
definitive assurances of the community's spiritual
vitality in the eyes of the Jumpers, can occur any time,
they often commence during singing and cease as soon as
singing stops. [Singing
will continue if a Jumper seems to need it. Fast, loud
singing and stomping are complementary.] Moreover,
according to one [Jumper]
Molokan singer, singing has always been used for the
attainment of deistvie.
This duality of spontaneity induced by divine inspiration
and mediation controlled by one's professional singing
skills is not perceived by the Jumpers as a contradiction:
"Music has never been held in greater honor, nor
cultivated with more judgment and high artistic sense,
spiritually speaking, than at the time when a song
properly sung arouses the prophet to ecstasy." For this
singer, "To prophesy meant to sing, and there is little
doubt that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others uttered their
prophecies in song" ([American
Jumper-S&L-user]
James Samarin 1975, 68 and 65).
An experienced observer can anticipate the approach of deistvie from changes
in the singing. Musical patterns become more fixed, easier
to recognize and predict, thereby drawing less attention
to themselves; they are meant to pave and adorn the road
toward taking part in the congregants' most significant
trance-like experience. In my observations, the communal
deistvie is not connected with what a musicologist would
select as the most powerful laconic pattern repeated over
and over with accelerating tempo, swelling volume, and
growing intensity of sound. [Jumpers] Molokans call this type of
singing udaritel'noe
(from udarenie,
"emphasis," or "accent"), a term that eludes precise
definition but can be loosely rendered as percussive,
accentuated, forceful, and emphatic. Unlike psalms at the
beginning of sobranie,
udantel'noe
singing is syllabic, it is not smooth, but rather
staccato-like, with frequent and forceful breathing.(28) The character of musical prosody
also changes in udaritel'noe
singing; the accentuation of every beat-syllable becomes
more and more intense, thereby transforming the melody's
metric pattern into a throbbing one-pulse meter. The speed
and the rhythm of jumping, as far as I could observe,
concur with the pulse of the song. "We want the Holy
Spirit, that is why there is rhythm,“ says an elder woman,
“jumping and rhythm are related.” I have never observed
any significant deviation between the voices, either in
melodic contour or rhythm. The participants breathe and
sing as one, and their individual energies completely
synchronize and become one synergetic whole.
The spiritual life of the Steadfast Molokans is less
apparent to an observer, but here, too, singing
intensifies during the service through increasing the
voices' volume and intensity and gradually raising the
pitch level. In both denominations, the climax of the
service, the communal prayer, is a complex sonic
whole: a prayer recited by the presviter sounds
simultaneously with the personal prayers of all the
others. These individual petitions to God blend into a
single multivoice communal moaning, in which individual
voices are hardly perceptible. Careful listening, however,
reveals that most often the individual petitions are
expressed in a form close to Russian village lament (dirge
or keening), in which melodic recitation is mixed with
tears and sobbing, sometimes even wailing.(29)
As during other village rituals that use simultaneous
laments (e.g., funerals and weddings), all participants
employ the same melodic formula, although each renders it
in an individual way. As with village laments, these
individual prayers occupy the border of musical,
paramusical, and paralinguistic expression. The
application of laments during the communal prayer becomes
conceivably more comprehensible if one keeps in mind that
lamenting, not unlike such prayer, brings a cathartic
feeling of relief.(30)
The instability of pitch in laments is one of the
important indicators of the performer's emotional
involvement. Similarly, in Molokan [and Jumper] psalms sung during
the first part of sobranie,
before the communal prayer, the pitch level is usually
unstable and rises within each psalm.(31)
After the communal prayer, of which the prayer-lament is a
prominent component, the local pitch level becomes more
stable, or even entirely stable. The particulars of the
pitch level certainly vary from case to case, but I
observed this general tendency during many Molokan [and
Jumpers] services, both in Russia and the United States.(32) The process of “praying” or
"petitioning,'' here often with lamenting, helps to bring
out an outburst of extreme emotional intensity, and as a
result, the state of catharsis is achieved. Thereafter,
the pitch level becomes more stable.
During the first part of the ritual, [sitting] before the prayer,
each sound modality is temporally well defined and can be
isolated from the others in a sequence: reading followed
by a discussion, pronouncing, and singing. Later, at the
climactic moment of the service [standing], distinct sound
modalities become compressed in the ritual's metaphorical
time and space. This is to say that the boundaries between
separate modalities become ephemeral as the sounds of the
"public" prayer, singing, and private prayers-laments fuse
into one sonic whole. It is worth repeating that we have
already observed a consolidation of all the congregants in
the physical space of the Molokan [and Jumper] sobranie as well.
8.
Molokan [and
Jumper] Psalms: Transmission, Formal Features,
and Performance Practices
Molokan [and Jumper]
oral history preserves many legends and stories about
Molokan singing and singers. According to the legends, the
early forefathers of the Molokans devoted great attention
to seeking special forms of songs and approaches to
singing As one legend goes, Semen Uklein, the preeminent
founder of Molokanism, sent special messengers all around
Russia and to Cossack villages to listen to local songs
and collect good ideas for Molokan psalms.(33)
Indeed. Molokan singing exhibits various kinds of subtle
and obvious ties with folk song. Molokan singing of
psalms, nonetheless, has evolved into completely unique
forms.
The transmission of Molokan singing relies on a
combination of oral and written forms. Words of psalms and
songs are, as a rule, transmitted as written texts. Psalm
texts themselves comprise actual printed scriptural
passages. Texts of spiritual songs are usually written
down as soon as they are composed (or [with Jumpers] given to the
individual believer by the Spirit [, prophet]) and then
distributed as written poems. The text of a spiritual song
can be created (or given) with or without a melody, but
the melodies of both psalms and songs are always
transmitted orally. While songs are still being actively
composed, only one small group of [Jumper-S&L-user] singers in
the Stavropol' area in South Russia, as far as I know, "is
working" on psalm melodies, that is, composing new
melodies or adapting existing melodies for different
scriptural texts.*
The names of the creators of [Jumper] Molokan psalms and songs
usually are not announced and are known only to a closed
circle of people. Because the psalms and songs are both
the source and the manifestation of the communal power,
they are considered to be something belonging to the
entire [closed]
community [of
Molokans or Jumpers]**.
[* Maksimists are
more inspired to add a "new song" from the living Holy
Spirit, and to deliver fresh revelations.
** Many Jumper S&L-users, especially Maksimists are adamant in
keeping their religion a secret from the world, obeying
Rudomiotkin's order to not show these words to
non-believers. They often cite the Bible, do not "cast
your pearls before swine."
Before addressing the way in which Molokan [and Jumper] psalms
function within oral transmission, a brief examination of
their salient musical characteristics is in order. In a
1911 study, Evgeniya Linyova(34) offered
the earliest and still the most comprehensive published
discussion of the general characteristics of Molokan
psalms:
The singing is very broad
and melodious. Under the influence of the dignified,
flowing style arises a deep religious feeling, not
ascetic or gloomy, but gladsome, full of life. Very
remarkable is the form of the musical period. The text
of the psalms is not rhymed, and this necessitates a
very long musical period, quite as long as the
corresponding verse. The working-out of such broad
melody, which passes a complicated design of free-voice
pans, necessitates a very gradual crescendo and a
complete absorption of the singers in the musical and
ideal contents of the psalm. ( Linyova
1911, 188-89)
Sung directly to nonrhymed scriptural passages, psalm
melodies have to accommodate prose phrases of different
lengths and accent patterns. This results in their
exceptionally elaborate formal structures and asymmetrical
phrases, some of which can be repeated as many times as
the particular text passage requires.
Figure
4.2. Ya skazal
pri polovni dnie moikh (I Said in the Cutting
Off of My Days.) Isaiah
38:10, Comparison of A Russian and American
versions of the psalm recorded in 1990. [Russian]
Figure 4.2 presents a
comparison of two analytical transcriptions of the same
psalm, sung by two Russian and two American lead pevtsy.(35)
The visual alignment of the transcriptions reveals that
regardless of all the differences, these are two versions
of the same melody. The melody is "difficult." according
to the singers. Indeed, the intricacy of this melody is
not easy to grasp at once. Yet this makes their similarity
striking, especially considering that the melodies have
been orally transmitted separately thousands of miles
apart for almost a century. In 1990, when I recorded both
melodies, these Russian and American performers had never
heard or seen each other; there had been no contacts
between these two communities for many decades. This fact
brings up an important and fascinating question of
stability in oral transmission, though this discussion
cannot be undertaken here.
The spatial layout of the transcriptions in figure 4.2,
with the similar melodic gestures aligned vertically, also
reveals how the melody as a whole evolves through
repetition and subtle variation. The melodic building
blocks, expanded or constricted in various ways, are
almost never repeated exactly. The design of this melody
is certainly very complex, but, like other psalms, it has
its own specific logic, making the melody recognizable in
various performances and in various local styles.
Many psalm
melodies, like the one in figure 4.2, show strong links
with protyazhnaya songs
(long-drawn-out),(36) the most elaborate
and melismatic form of Russian village song, even though
Molokan [and Jumper]
psalms are different in many respects (cf. Fig. 4.3).
Figure
4.3. Don Cossack protyazhnaya
song transcribed by
Alexander Listopadov in 1900 in a Don Cossack village
Yermakovskaya (Listopadov, 1906,
214).
Like protyazhnaya,
the psalm's melody is characterized by a periodic
construction; both begin with a solo zapev (song's
opening), a melodic gesture whose tonal content and
overall shape determine the unfolding of the entire
melody. Both are sung at a slow tempo, with the melody
stretching out the text through extensive melismata. In
both, the melisma is not a mere decoration; rather it is
such an integral part of the melody that removing it will
virtually destroy the melody's musical sense and unity.
The syllables are not only lengthened, but also may be
repeated, the vowels transformed, and particles and
exclamations added, so that the sung text becomes almost
incomprehensible. Yet contrary to what one might expect,
when performed properly, the melismata. in spite of the
various kinds of "interruptions," contribute to rather
than disturb the song's artistic coherence. As in folk protyazhnaya, they
endow the psalms with “a quality that fascinates by its
freshness and power" (Lopatin 1956, 96). Protyazhnaya is
known in many local styles. The style known in many local
traditions in the South Russian and Cossack regions as
singing with a podgolos,
a solo upper voice with an elaborate melodic embellishment
(see fig. 4.3), is particularly similar to a large group
of Molokan [and
Jumper] psalms.
[Protyazhnaya
is not
prominent among Molokans in Central Russia. It was
apparently developed by sectarians, including
Doukhobors, in South Russia (Ukraine) to camouflage
their illegal religious services, rendering them not
understandable by anyone who may hear. If a passerby
could understand their non-Orthodox heresy, a
misdemeanor crime could be charged. So protyazhanaya became
a legal “loophole” to allow worship with singing.]
In spite of all the variations in performances, Molokan [and Jumper] pevtsy insist that
many "difficult” psalms, as the one in figure 4.2, require
extensive memorization: "You must learn the melody and
sing it exactly the same, every time. You cannot cut
something or add something, and if you do, you can easily
turn the melody into a different psalm, lose it
altogether, and confuse everybody." Many psalms are built
from similar melodic gestures that are varied slightly or
substantially and put together in different ways; it is
indeed easy to see how one can "lose" a psalm. In
addition, unlike in protyazhnaya,
the text alignment in psalms is not fixed, but varies in
each stanza and each performance, depending largely on
communication between the pevets and the skazatel'. The melody
has to be so familiar to the pevets that he may
concentrate on fitting the prose in a sensible way,
permitting other pevtsy
and the congregants to follow him comfortably. [In America, sometimes
Bibles are marked to show line cuts to be read. Top
American singers claim they can start at least 300
psalms and verses.]
Accordingly, oral transmission of psalm melodies is more
formalized than in folk song practices, with more
conscientious memorization and less improvisation. This is
not to say that improvisation is excluded from the
performance of the psalms and every interpretation is
"exactly the same" in the sense of written music. In
comparison with Russian folk song, however, the boundaries
of freedom in each performance appear to be closer to the
regulations of written tradition and are confined to
nonformal properties. Conforming to the rules of oral
transmission, each singer has his own version of the
melody, but my recordings of the same psalm by the same
singers show an unusual degree of stability over a period
of five years. The psalm transmission process, then,
reflects how the overall Molokan [and Jumper] zakon perpetuates
itself. If we take this parallel a step farther, one may
argue that the liturgical performance of the psalms, with
its hierarchical relationships between all participants
and its intricate design, appears as a small-scale replica
of the dynamic relationships between the components of the
sobranie and
Molokan [and Jumper]
spiritual universe at large.
9.
Comparison of American and Russian Singing
Molokans [and
Jumpers], always conscious of their own history,
are fascinated to hear the singing of their brothers
living across the ocean. I asked American Molokan [and Jumper]
singers to comment on psalms and songs recorded from their
counterparts in Russia. In response, they often connect
the differences in singing with differences in their life.
Commenting on the singing of spiritual songs (not psalms),
one prominent [Jumper]
singer said, betraying his everyday life in Los Angeles
through his reference to freeways:
We sing a song as we live
our life. We are rushing, and it is not right, because
the [Jumper]
Molokan singing is sad, sorrowful. In Russia we were in
need, and we sang sorrowfully. But we have everything
and don't need a thing. We jump on freeways, rush and
run for money. And this is how we sing.... We should
sing to melt the heart, but we sing to do the jumping.
Later, commenting specifically on a practice of singing
psalms (not spiritual songs), he added:
They lessen the kolyshki [roughly,
"swaying"; a term of American [Jumpers] Molokans to indicate
melisma],
and
here we expand the kolyshki....
We
sing
like
our
costume,
lace
on
top
of
lace
on
top
of
lace,
with
a lot of kolyshki.
Comparing the singing of the same [Jumper] psalm by pevtsy from Russia
and California in figure 4.2 may serve as a testimony to
what he said. The American melody appears to be an
extended version of the Russian one. The American version
is slower and longer. It is even more melismatic,
melodically elaborate and free ("lace on top of lace, with
a lot of kotyshki”).
Structural
augmentation comes through large- and small-scale
procedures, particularly salient in the addition of new
melodic phrases at strategic points of the melody (see an
elaborate melodic phrase as a new zapev by the
California singers in figure 4.2).(37) The similarity between the American
and Russian versions of a [Jumper] psalm is not always as
self-evident as in figure 4.2. Many, however, are
recognizable, particularly if a psalm has a unique melodic
or rhythmic gesture (e.g., the octave leap downward before
the cadential phrases in figure 4.2).
American pevtsy often
comment
on the voice quality of their Russian counterparts. Having
a nice, "beautiful" timbre is not as crucial for Russian
"quality pevets"
while an American "quality pevets" must have "a good voice." It is
not by chance that many [some] notable American Molokans [and Jumpers] have
recordings of famous singers in their homes (Chaliapin.
Lemeshev, Sobinov, Caruso, Lanza, Pavarotti). Neither is
it accidental that American pevtsy who attended music classes in
American public schools became interested in taking
professional voice lessons in order to acquire some of the
vocal techniques and vocabulary of classical musicians.
This naturally has influenced both their manner of singing
and vocal production, making them quite distant from the
"folk manner" and "harsh voices" of traditional pevtsy in Russian
villages.
[Mazo interviewed the
most skilled and open to ne nashi singers, those most likely
to study voice and music. But she did not interview many
of the majority of young Jumper-S&L-users in America
who shout instead of sing. This shouting style could be
a transfer of loud rock, and punk music from the culture
into sobranie.
The few older singers schooled by the immigrant singers
have practically no control over the young and often do
not sing with shouters. Several quality singers have
split to form family congregations, due to the
incivility of shout singing and younger prestol.]
10.
Keeping Russian Melody versus Russian Language
If we compare the way Russian and American singers handle
the verbal text, we find a picture somewhat different from
their handling of melody. While lining up the words to the
melody after the skazatel'.
Russian pevtsy exhibit
more freedom. They may change some words, omit or modify
others, repeat some syllables, and finish the melodic
stanza not necessarily at the same point as the skazatel'. American pevtsy approach the
text with more restraint than their Russian brothers. This
is understandable, since for many singers Russian is no
longer the language they know best.
For third-generation American Molokans [and Jumpers],
Russian has become only the language of the ritual, like
Latin or Hebrew in other liturgies. Young people do not
understand it and cannot participate fully in the service.
Still, until recently, maintaining the Russian language,
at least as the language of religious rites, and, on a
broader scope, of Russian culture, was an untouchable and
a highly sensitive issue. Conducting sobranie, at least
partially, in Russian has been perceived as part of the
Molokan [and Jumper]
zakon itself,
and while English has been acceptable for beseda in some
churches, prayers and psalms must be in Russian.
[Humor: God only
listens in Russian. Russian persists in America as the
liturgical or sacred language because (a) up to the 1940s the
immigrant elders insisted that all will return to
Russia*; and (b) it is related to the persistence of Old
Church Slavonic.
Old Slavonic is preserved among Old Believers and one
Molokan congregation because it is the "language of
God". Some Old Slavonic words are preserved among the
prayers and verses, particularly among the American
Jumpers-S&L-users who do not know modern Russian.
* In 1908, Berokoff reported the purchase of a cemetery
in Los Angeles was not needed because elders wanted to
leave the city, they were soon returning to Russia.
In 1918, Sokoloff reported they were soon returning to
Russia. In the 1
John K. Berokoff says he was told not to bother
translating the Book of Sun: Spirit and Life because we are soon going
back to Russia. He only began punishing after it was
obvious that no one was returning to Russian from
California.]
Today, many among the third- and fourth-generation
American Molokans [and
Jumper] identify themselves as Russians, even
though disparity between the two cultures is sharply
sensed: “The Russian mind is different from the American
one." Moreover, for the majority of American Molokans [and Jumper], the
Russian language is thought to be an essential component
of doctrine itself. Russian Baptists, Pentecostals, and
Adventists living in the United States convert their
service into English much more easily, and the loss of the
language does not necessarily cause the weakening of their
self-identity. For the [American Jumpers] Molokans, keeping the
Russian language is apparently so crucial that they refuse
to compromise even in the face of serious consequence: A
number of younger people who do not understand the service
and are not able to follow it gradually distance
themselves from the church. The issue of the
interrelations between religious, ethnic, and cultural
matters is much debated in the community, and the opinions
vary even within one family. [About 90% have left the American Jumper faith
due to language, intermarriage, and interpretations of
Christianity.]
Among several strategies that the American [Jumper] Molokans
have adopted, one is very radical and deserves mention,
especially because it has never been recorded in the [scientific]
literature as far as I know. A small group of [5] young [Jumper-S&L-user] families
in Oregon, who call themselves a Reform Molokan Church,
following the path of other religious groups in United
Stales, changed the language of the entire sobranie into
English. The Oregon group is fighting in their own way to
keep memory and culture alive, trading the language for
the spiritual survival of [Jumper] Molokanism. The rhetoric about the
significance of Russian is quite different in this church.
For its members, the inseparability of ethnic, cultural,
and religious matters is no longer an issue:
Some people think [Jumper] Molokan
is a nation; it is not. If you are a [Jumper]
Molokan, you're only a [Jumper] Molokan because of the religion.
[If] you join into this religion, into this church, then
you are a [Jumper]
Molokan. It is not a certain kind of a people or a
certain race of people. You could be a [Jumper]
Molokan. To be a [Jumper]
Molokan you, first of all, have to receive Jesus Christ.
That makes you a Christian. To be a [Jumper] Molokan, when you
join our church, you agree to abide by the by-laws. Then
you are a [Jumper]
Molokan.
Negotiating and redefining the meaning of some fundamental
concepts of [Jumper]
Molokanism by the members of the Reform church is
presently very much in progress. The rhetorical discourse
of the young leaders of this church promotes flexibility,
an inclusive and accommodating approach that allows people
with very different backgrounds to feel comfortable, thus
manifesting an important departure from traditional
rhetoric of the ne
nashi. It may be too early to reach definitive
conclusions, but as far as I know, conducting the entire sobranie only in
English has been rigorously followed. During our
conversations, the leaders would use Russian words freely
— particularly those related to spiritual and religious
matters: Presviter,
pevets, skazatel', beseda, byl' v dukhe, and so
on — just like American [Jumper] Molokans in all other churches. In
the format setting of sobranie,
however, even these have been translated as a matter of
principle.
Singing is no exception: Psalms and songs are sung in
English. At the same time, remarkably, Reform [Jumper] Molokans
use only Russian melodies. Converting the sung portions of
the [Jumper]
Molokan service into English requires that they solve some
technical difficulties. The strategies chosen for songs
and psalms have been different. The lead singers say that
the conversion of psalms to English, contrary to what one
would expect, has been a relatively easy matter. Figure
4.4 illustrates this process by overlapping transcriptions
of the same melody sung by the same singer of this church
in Russian and English.(38)
In the English version, neither the structure of the
melody nor the melodic details are changed. The singers do
subject the English text to some of the procedures
borrowed directly from a characteristic treatment of the
text in Russian psalms. One can identify at least three
such procedures. First, they extend certain syllables with
long melismata. Second, they add vowels or semivowels into
clusters of consonants, like "bre-th(e)-ren(e)" or
"da-r(e)-k(e)-ness," even if this makes the English words
sound quite awkward. Third, they inserted non-lexical
syllables — "yo," "ya," "ah," "oh," and so on — into the
text. Lining up these additional syllables with the melody
and distributing the entire text over the melody coincide
strikingly with the Russian version, in spite of the
differences of structure or meaning in the English
language. As a result, if there were a notion of a musical
accent, their English singing can be said to have a strong
Russian accent.
Figure 4.4. No vy, brat'ya ne vo t'me
(But You Brethren, Are Not in Darkness), I
Thessalonians 5:4. The psalm, sung in Russian (top
staff) and English (bottom staff) by the same singer,
was recorded in 1990. [Russian]
Handling songs has been more difficult. At the beginning,
the Reform [Jumper]
Molokans decided to keep the melodies unchanged and to
manipulate the text to fit them:
I think that when I adapt
a song [from Russian into English] I do it so that the
English words fit the melody. That's the primary
concern. I retain the biblical thought, so that I don't
deviate from that. ... When I adapt a song, I just make
it (the English text) fit the tune that has been already
established.
A year later, the same singer came to distinguish the
process of "adaptation" from that of "translation:"
My preference is no longer
to take a set of words and adapt them to the established
tunes. My preference from now on is to translate the
words exactly. . . . But if I come up with new words, I
am also to come up with a new tune as well.
The very existence of the group of [Jumper] Molokans who take issue
of translation into English to such extremes has generated
immense friction in the [American Jumper-S&L-user] community,
deepening their separatism even further. Often, the
members of the Reform church are shunned even by their [Jumper-S&L-user]
parents, who believe that converting the sung texts to
English causes their children to cease being [Jumper-S&L-user]
Molokans. In the early 1990s, when I first visited the
Reform group, there were only a few members, certainly not
enough to declare the church to be officially functioning.
Less than a year later, there were about thirty-five
people during a regular Sunday service, and they have
officially registered the church.
11.
Resettling the Culture
Regardless of their different histories and living
conditions during the twentieth century, Molokans [and Jumpers] in
both Russia and the United States arc undergoing a similar
spiritual development. In both countries, they make a
serious effort to preserve Molokanism [and Jumper] and keep the
younger generations within the tradition. In both
countries, albeit in rather contrasting ways, Molokans [and Jumpers] feel
threatened by the dynamics of contemporary life. If in
Russia and the USSR Molokanism [and Jumper] had to withstand
religious and ideological repression, in the USA the
pressure comes, above all, from the gradual loss of
language and new economic and cultural orientations.
Continuity of living space is often considered an issue of
cultural conservation. For any culture, migration — change
of living space — is like uprooting a plant into a
different soil. But for several Russian confessional
groups (Old Believers, Dukhobors [Doukhobors], and
Baptists), living in Diaspora has also been a factor that
has stimulated the preservation of culture, no matter
where the groups settle. Throughout their numerous
migrations over the last two centuries, Molokans [and Jumper] have
thus far been able to negotiate a balance between
preserving the old and creating the new. [Jumper] Molokans
welcome an opportunity to borrow a melody and make any
tune they like into their own song to praise God, at
either religious gatherings or social occasions. Hit songs
of all kinds, including songs from Soviet films and
popular American songs, have landed in their repertory:
"Amazing Grace." "It's the Last Rose of Summer,"
"Clementine," and "Red River Valley," just as “Korobochka.” "Kogda b imel zlatye gory,”
and “Na zakate khodit
paren''' have provided melodies for favorite
spiritual [Jumper]
songs. Émigré culture is often characterized as operating
between two poles: memory on the one side and adaptation
on the other. Among Molokans [and Jumpers] it is usually
singing that fills in the continuum: A traditional psalm
melody ensures continuity with the past,while composing
and learning new songs link the past with the present.
Any small cultural enclave is unique, and often a single
factor can change its practices drastically. A critical
mass of people and the sufficiency of their singing
repertory, for example, may be crucial for the survival of
the Reform [Jumper]
Molokan group. Most recently, one major change has
affected the American Molokan community at large. As a
result of new politics in Russia, the Americans were able
to reestablish connections with their historical brethren.
Singing together is always a high point of their meetings,
and a cassette with recorded psalms and songs is one of
the most precious gifts.
Molokans [and
Jumpers] and village communities in Russia, no
doubt, share many historical links. Many outer signs may
serve as an example: An American [Jumper] Molokan man who wears a
specially tailored shirt with a rope-like belt (granted,
made from silk threads); a woman whose head must be always
covered with a shawl (granted, made from lace); or one who
speaks in a distinctly rural South Russian dialect and
keeps in the closet a handwritten notebook with charms,
almost identical with charms circulating all over rural
Russia (granted, written down in Latin characters).
Perhaps even more important, the spiritual life of Russian
peasants prior to World War II, unlike that of the
city-dwellers, was not a separate sphere of their daily
life. Faith for these peasants was a way of living,
permeating every aspect of daily life. Molokans, through
their understanding of religion as a syncretic entity with
no compartmentalization between life and faith, are
closely tied to other peasant communities in Russia. The
modem world leaves less and less space to such
non-compartmentalized living for Russian Molokans [and Jumpers], and
even less so for their American brothers and sisters.
The Molokans [and
Jumpers], however, have always been distinct from
other peasant communities in Russia. There is evidence
that many Russian peasants had a rather limited knowledge
about Christianity as a religious doctrine and often were
not particularly interested in learning this side of
religion (Mazo, 1991). The icons
and dukhovnye stikhi (spiritual
verses, songs with religious subjects sung outside the
church) were often the peasants' most typical sources for
knowledge of Christian creed.(39) In
contrast to the Russian peasantry, perhaps because of
their status as outcastes and oppositionists, practically
all Molokan [and
Jumper] men and many women have knowledge,
sometimes in-depth knowledge, of the Molokan [and Jumper]
doctrine and the Bible. This is one of the requirements of
the unwritten zakon.
12. By
Way of Conclusions
Obviously, in order for Molokanism [and Jumpers] to survive, the zakon has to be open
for interpretation and allow some flexible readjustments
to keep a balance not only with the needs of the
individuals and their ever-changing physical environment,
but also, in view of their pilgrimage, with the
socio-cultural environment. Most Molokans prefer not to
discuss the issue of change and modem adjustment with
outsiders. Instead, they emphasize that the zakon, carefully
guarded by the elders, is still strongly observed in the
community,(40) even though many complain
that "it is getting harder and harder to comply with."
Opinions, however, vary. Those who consider a strict
observance of the zakon
to be necessary for the survival of Molokanism [and Jumpers] are
opposed by some younger voices saying that without
adequate flexibility Molokanism [and Jumpers] cannot compete
with the advances in modem society.
No doubt, the inner dynamics of Molokanism [and Jumpers]
contain opposing tendencies. In Molokan [and Jumper] ideal
reality, the community's life is oriented toward history
and tradition; historical events that took place in a
distant past are recounted continuously and what happened
to Molokan [especially
Jumper-S&L-user] forefathers is relevant
directly to the present, at least rhetorically: "We live
and pray exactly as our forefathers did.” New features are
introduced slowly and seemingly imperceptibly through the
process of constructing the negotiated meaning. Some [Jumper-S&L-users] Molokans
in Russian villages, for example, still refuse and forbid
their children to watch television while many are among
the first to use cars, tape recorders, and other modern
technologies. In contrast, American [Jumper-S&L-users] Molokans
do not object to any technology on ideological grounds. [Several Russian
Jumper-S&L-user congregations shun all American
S&L-users and those who associate with them.]
On the whole, Molokan [and Jumper] communities appear to be open
to anything in the outside world that can be useful for
spiritual and economic prosperity. In Russia, it is
perhaps not by chance that the Molokans [and Jumpers] were
quick to take advantage of the new political and economic
freedoms. It is perhaps also not a coincidence that most
of the [Jumper-S&L-user]
Molokan newcomers to the United States love what they call
"the American way of living,” with its dynamic necessity
to make choices constantly and quickly, importance of
personal prosperity, and respect for professional skills.
Yet, the response to the environment in most Molokan [and Jumper]
communities can be described as one with a centric
orientation: quickly responding to modem advantages but
strictly warding off outsiders. [Many Jumper-S&L-user]
Molokans do not encourage inviting ne nashi to their
gatherings: most often, their beautiful and powerful
singing is not known even to their neighbors. Will the new
generation want — and will it be able — to continue
"living in the world without being a part of it." as an
old Molokan [and/or
Jumper] saying suggests? Experiences of other
ethnic and religious communities in the United States
offer no single answer.
I sit at the festive table with the [Jumper] Molokans gathering for
the house-warming ritual that will secure the well-being
of a young family in its new, very American, house in
Whittier, a very American town in the greater Los Angeles
area. I am overwhelmed by the feeling that I have already
seen it all just a few months ago, in a small
South-Russian village near Stavropol', at the foot of the
Caucasus Mountains. The entire order of the sobranie and the
following feast seem the same as there. The hostess brings
in a ten-inch tall, round loaf of freshly-made bread with
a salt shaker on top of it; men and women are clothed in
the same light colors and patterns as in Stavropol'; all
the men have long beards. The meal unfolds through
distinct courses, and their order is familiar as well:
Tea, borscht,
lamb stew, fruit compote,
with pieces of bread spread all over the table, not on
plates but directly on the table cloth. The room, with
long parallel rows of tables and benches, is filled with
familiar and dignified singing. The language one hears,
however, is not just Russian; women's dresses and men's
shirts are made from much more expensive fabrics than in
Russia; as far as I can see through the window, the street
is packed with American cars of all models. After a while,
the singing too appears to sound somewhat different from
what I heard in Stavropol'. I still find it astounding to
be in the heart of the most American urban setting and in
a world that at this moment appears so strikingly Russian
and [Jumper]
Molokan.
13.
Postscript
Completed in 1994, this article imparts a particular
moment in Molokan [and
Jumper] history as well as a particular moment in
the history of ethnomusicological studies. It also
reflects a certain point in my own experience as a
scholar. Certainly, the communities have changed since
that time, new issues have come forth, and much has
changed in my own interpretive thinking.(41)
Several scholars, including myself, have since published
new works on Molokan [and
Jumper] culture and music. Nevertheless, to
preserve the historical perspective of this study, no
significant revisions have been undertaken during the
final preparation of this article for print, and no
references have been added to research published since
1994.
14.
NOTES
1. Most of the people I interviewed
requested that their names not be used in print.
Throughout this article, field interviews are cited in
quotation marks but without personal attribution.
No Spiritual Christian Molokan congregation has
been in the Los Angeles area since 1905, before they
relocated to San Francisco. This paper applies mostly to
Spiritual Christian Dukh-i-zhizniki who, though
intrigued to learn from the scholar, do it in secret in
the U.S.A. because they are afraid of reprisals from
coreligionists. The first singers she met and recorded
in Russia were Maksimisty who were very
cooperative, unashamed. In later visits to Russia, she
was denied recording at Dukh-i-zhiznik sobranie
if an American Dukh-i-zhiznik was present. Note
that the only singer quoted, James J. Samarin, Downey,
California USA, is not afraid to confront critics. In
contrast, Molokane in Russia
welcome recording and cameras in sobranie. Find many
examples on the Molokan
websites
The article is based primarily on field research between
1989 and 1994 in Russia and the United States as part of a
larger research and representation project on Russian
cognate cultures. The project focuses on cultural
continuity and change under different social and cultural
conditions. I gratefully acknowledge support from the
Office of Folklife and Cultural Studies at the Smithsonian
Institution and Director Richard Kurin, Russian Research
Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage (Moscow) and
Director Yury Vedenin. Russian Ministry of Culture, and
the Center for Studies on Russian Folklore in Moscow. In
1990 I invited Dr. Seraphima Nikitina, a linguist from the
Institute of Language Studies at the Russian Academy of
Sciences, to join the project. Our collaborative work on
an article about the verbal components of Molokan culture
has mutually enriched our understanding of field data. I
thank the graduate students in my seminars on Russian
music at Ohio State University for their stimulating
responses to my research. A particular acknowledgment goes
to Margaret Bdzil. Kathy Gruber. and Vladimir Marchenkov
for translating into English some parts of my field
interviews, and Deborah Andrus, Todd Harvey, Olga
Velichkina, and Deborah Wilson for transcribing some of
the recorded melodies. Olga Velichkina also worked as my
assistant in 1989 field research in Russia. I am indebted
to Andrey Conovaloff, who introduced me to the Molokan and Dukh-i-zhizniki communities
in California and Oregon and helped throughout my first
field research there. Most of all, my deep gratitude goes
to many individual Molokans and Dukh-i-zhizniki
in the
US and Russia, who invited me to their homes, shared with
me their personal libraries and recordings of the best
Molokan and Dukh-i-zhiznik
singers, past and present, and who welcomed me to
their services.
[In the U.S. Molokans are most
prevelent near San Francisco and across Northern
California, while Dukh-i-zhizniki
are mainly clustered east of Los Angeles, and scattered
across Southern California. See
map. Today in Russia most Molokane, Pryguny
and Dukh-i-zhizniki congregations
are clustered
in over 100 villages and towns in the Northern
Caucasus, South Russia, primarily in the provinces of
Stavropol, Krasnodar and Rostov, though many thousands
work in Moscow and major citites and sobranie exist in
Central Russia, Central Asia, Siberia and Eatern
Europe. Demographics of Spiritual Christians Around
the World is in-progress.]
2. This comes forth in an overwhelming
number of field interviews both in Russia and USA. It also
echoes prominently the response from one of the most
respected Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan
elders John K. Berokoff
of the Los Angeles community interviewed by the American anthropologist Ethel
Dunn ethnomusicologist
Linda O'Brien-Rothe. When asked what a Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan
is, he responded, "A Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan is a person who sings the
psalms." He then elaborated. "When Dukh-i-zhizniki
Molokans no longer sing the psalms in
their services, they would cease to be Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans"
([O'Brien-Rothe] 1989, 1).
Berokoff's reply was far too simple.
He should have specified: ".. only in our Los Angeles
style and dress, only sung in our Southern Russian
dialect as we speak it, by men in long beards who
perform our rituals, with jumping and raising both arms
exactly as we do and when we do, who are accepted by us
as full members of our congregation(s), intermarry with
us, and meet with us often." (See: Review
of Original Book: Highgate Road Social Science
Research Station, Dukh-i-zhizniki in
America)
Ethel Dunn sent Berokoff a letter
with the question, to which he relied. That response was
used by Dr. O'Brien-Rothe in her introduction, but she
never met Berokoff who died
before she was introduced to Dukh-i-zhizniki,
however she did meet lead singer Mosei Volkoff, who
fully supported her work and opened his collection to
her, which was taken away a few days later by Volkoff's
son in a panic to prevent outsiders from knowing about
their secret music. The elder singer was angry about the
loss and apologetic.
Every observer who had visited Spiritual
Christian Molokan
communities commented on the power and importance
of their singing. However, only two works published prior
to 1994 contain specific studies of Molokan singing. In
1911. Linyova was the first to publish transcriptions of
Molokan songs and psalms. The next study, by Linda
O'Brien-Rothe, appeared only in 1989.
- Lineff, Eugene. "Psalms
and Religious Songs of Russian Sectarians in the
Caucasus." in Report of the fourth
congress of the International musical society.
London, 29th May-3rd June, 1911, Congress of
the International Musical Society (4th : 1911 :
London, England); pages 187-201. Abstract on
pages 63-64.
- Missed — 1938 recordings
posted online about 1997 at the American Folklife
Center, Library of Congress: “The
Russian
Molokan Church,” California Gold: Northern
California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected by
Sidney Robertson Cowell.
- O'Brien-Rothe,
Linda. The Origin of
[Dukh-i-zhiznik] Singing: The Molokan Heritage
Collection: Spiritual Songs of [Dukh-i-zhizniki] in
California and Their Origins in Russian Folk Music,
Volume 4, Highgate Road Social Science Research
Station, 1989.
3. For the history of Spiritual
Chrsitian Molokanism and Molokan
ways of life in the English language see Young
(1932), Dunn (1983), Klibanov (1982), Moore
(1973), and Morris (1981). The
current article does not incorporate works published after
1994. [Notably missing is Breyfogles'
1998 thesis and 2004 book, because he is also at
Ohio State University.]
4. “Molokan psalm" is sung on a scriptural passage
selected from any part of the Bible, and not necessarily
only from "The Book of Psalms." Thus, the Molokan
repertory of psalms numbers in the hundreds.
1000+ are marked by Paul John
Orloff, Dom Malitvee, La Puente CA. Among American and
Australian Dukh-i-zhizniki,
the term psalom is typically used for Bible
Book of Psalms, and stikh (verse) for any
other passage from the Bible, or Kniga solnste,
dukh i zhin' (Book of the Sun, Spirit and Life).
5. Connections between Molokan singing and
Russian village and urban songs are multifaceted and need
to be explored in a broader context of Russian musical
traditions. In this way, Linda O'Brien-Rothe's work is
pioneering (1989). Notwithstanding its limitations, which
are largely due to the overall lack of scholarly
information on Russian folk song outside Russia, she
revealingly traces some melodies of spiritual songs to
well-known popular songs and other published sources.
Dr. O'Brien-Rothe did not speak
Russian, though she is a skilled Russian folk singer and
musician with an excellent ear for music, and she did
her work before perestroika. Her project was
most enthusiastically received by the most prominent
living American Dukh-i-zhiznik singer in
Los Angeles, Moisei A. Volkoff, who cried when he heard
her precisely sing a psalm from notation after
only 3 cycles of him singing a line. He said in Russian,
with tears: “I've been waiting for you all my life.” Her
work was set back more than a year, when his son William
M. Volkoff, in a panic probably instigated by local
Maksimisty, took all the tapes from his father's
house, sabotaging their work together.
6. Many American Spiritual
Christians Molokans resent
being called a sect.
In Russian, sekta (a
sect) is any religious group that has dissented from the
mainstream Orthodox Church [heterodox].
Only starovery (Old
Believers), who also left the mainstream church, but
maintained the old order of Russian Orthodoxy, are not
considered to be part of Russian sektanstvo (the whole body of religious
dissenters).
7. Three interpretations of the origins of
the name Molokane exist
in Molokan lore, all three connected with the Russian word
moloko (milk).
According to the first, the outsiders called them molokane because
they did not observe the prohibition by the Orthodox
Church to consume milk (among other non-vegetarian
products) on Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as during
numerous longer fasts. The second dwells on a metaphorical
meaning of "drinking milk" and refers to the Molokans'
reading of the Scripture, the “spiritual
milk.” The third interpretation connects the name
with the river Molochnye Vody (Milky
Waters), along which some Molokan groups were
relocated in the early nineteenth century.
8. An account of the meeting with
Alexander I and the text of this document have been
carefully preserved in Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan self-published books. It was
first published in Livanov 1872, 1:3-14.
9. For a concise and powerful account
of Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokans' pilgrimage, see Berokoff ([1969 and] 1987), one of the
first settlers and a prominent elder of the American Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan
community. Thanks to William John Berokoff, a Klubinikinist
Dukh-i-zhiznik, for giving me his
father's book.
10. This expression was first recorded by
Seraphima Nikitina in the Stavropol' region. These
researchers did not differentiate among the
congregations or villages, labeling everyone
"Molokan."
11. The Dukh-i-zhiznik
Molokan concept of the New Millennium,
similar to that embraced by other Russian sectarians and
many prophetic Protestants of the seventeenth century. is
not equally strong among different Molokan
denominations, because some are more
Maksimist, Klubnikinist, or other.
12. The first publication of the creed
appeared as early as 1865, The Confessions of Faith
of the Spiritual Christians called Molokanye,
the second in 1905, Foundation
of the Molokan Doctrine. Since 1912, prayer
books, songbooks, and books of doctrine have been
published and reprinted in multiple editions and
translations. So far, Molokan
Songbook has been published in five editions.
Many of these publications, except the earliest ones, are
available in Molokans' private
libraries, which have also collected all available
materials on Spiritual Christian
Molokan history. Practically every Molokan
house also
has a collection of audiotapes with Molokan
singing. A full bibliography on Spiritual
Chrsitians' Molokans' own publications
and private collections has yet to be compiled. Compared
to publications by other Russian schismatics, the number
of those by the Spiritual
Chrsitians Molokans is
impressive. This fact alone is telling about the
importance of verbal expression and literary discourse in
this culture.
13. In Spiritual
Chrstian Molokan use, the word
sobranie also
refers to all congregants of a particular congegation church,
as well as the building in which the service is conducted
—
the assembly hall, prayer house.
14. Russian word prestól has two
meanings, a throne and a church altar. The Molokan, Prygun and Dukh-i-zhiznik
usage of the word prestol
refers primarily to a group of leaders, who during sobranie sit pri stole (literally,
at the table), that is, sit at the ceremonial table [altar]. (See fig.
4.1.) Other Spiritual Christian
faiths (Dukhobortsy, Baptisty, Subbotniki,
etc.) do not venerate or rank sitting position as
critically.
15. For American pevtsy (plural of pevets), the initial
selection process starts at spevka, a singing practice session [class] open to the entire
community and led by an experienced pevets. Those
who have special revnost'
to learn psalms are further trained by an expert pevets, usually on a
one-to-one basis. Once appointed, a pevets spends all
his free time practicing and learning new repertory from
whatever source he can find; he always seeks an
opportunity to listen to the pevtsy of different churches. Spevka is an
American institution; some Molokan
communities in Russia adopted it only recently.
In 2007, the Nadezhda
Dukh-i-zhiznik sobranie,
Stavropol, was conducting spevka twice a week, Mondays and
Thursdays, with up to to 100 youth attending. This
congregation of 23 families (in 2007) was built
primarily with American Dukh-i-zhiznik funds and
continued support, while nearby congregations were
ignored.
16. Such a prohibition of musical
instruments is similar to the practice of the Russian
Orthodox Church. Note that in spite of their denunciation
of the Orthodox Church. These
Spiritual Christians Molokans
have retained some other characteristics of Orthodox
singing as well: Many local congregations still use only
unison singing; professional singers are only men; only
choral music is allowed.
Musical instruments were tried and
abandoned in the past by Pryguny. Before 1865,
a drum was used in Novo-Saratovka,
Erivan governate; about the 1910s a a clarinet
was tried in Los Angeles.
- Popoff, Eli. “Why musical
instruments are not a part of traditional Doukhobor
customs." ISKRA - Voice of the Doukhobors No.1961
(2004): 35-40.
- Chapter 1, Section
8: Culture, in Doukhobors — an Overview,
published as Chapter One in Koozma J. Tarasoff Spirit
Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers’ Strategies for
Living (2002). Reprinted by permission
from The Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples
(1999) pages 422-435. Revised and updated by Koozma
J. Tarasoff February 28, 2006.
- Ewashen, Larry. Changing
Faces and Connections Of Doukhobor Culture.
Presented at the University of Ottawa, The
Doukhobor Century in Canada Conference, October
24, 1999.
17. According to zakon, adult Molokans
[particularly
Jumpers] are not supposed to sing anything else.
Before marriage, they can to some extent sing and dance
with non-Molokan [non-Jumper]
youth, but this is to stop after marriage. In reality,
however, older men and women know Russian secular songs of
various genres, including dance songs (without dancing);
some women [and men] even play musical instruments. Young
American [Jumper]
Molokans rarely know this secular repertory, but many love
and know various types of non-Molokan music. The present
article focuses only on liturgical forms of Molokan [and Jumper]
singing, that is psalms and spiritual songs, and the words
“Molokan singing" refer to these two categories only. [Mazo missed the piano in the first
floor of the San Francisco Molokan prayer house played
during Sunday school singing and social activities.
Musical instruments have been played during their
Christmas pageant for years, to showcase youth talent.]
18. Young's study of early [Jumper] Molokan
settlers in Los Angeles, including their beliefs, notions,
customs, and ways of adjustment to a new social life,
remains one of the most sensitive and perceptive.
19. Molokan besedy (plural of beseda)
are genuine examples of folk hermeneutics. They show a
great variety of local schools and individual styles in
the interpretation of the Bible, and many of them arc
conducted on me highest level of the oratory art.
20 The multivoice texture of psalms is
always heterophonic, although it varies depending on local
styles. In some, the singing is aiming at a unified sound
of unison (San Francisco [Molokan] sobranie,
for example). In other styles the texture often includes a
podgolos,
literally "a voice below other voices,” but it is usually
the highest voice, above all others [alto]. Podgolos is a single
voice that sings the most melismatic and intricate
variation of the melody (see fig. 4.2). There are still
other styles of Molokan [and Jumper] multivoice singing, but a
discussion of local schools and styles of Molokan [and Jumper]
singing is beyond the scope of this essay.
21. Such use of the ritual space is
markedly different from the practice of the Orthodox
Church, which always separates the spaces of the clergy
and the congregation.
22. This [second standing] part of sobranie is called poklonenie (from poklon — to bow) or
tselovanie (from
tslovat'= to
kiss), a symbolic act of unity in spirit and faith. The
congregants form a line that moves toward the prestol.
Passing the prestol table, they leave a small donation; [after which] they
then line up into a circle, bowing to each other [depending on the
congregation] and kissing on the mouth [1 to 3 times, depending
on the person and congregation, beginning with men then
women, until everyone has kissed everyone else, except
for those who step aside (illness) ]. Both poklonenie and tslovanie are Old
Russian words. The entire episode is accompanied by
singing [particular
verses for this part of the service].
23. For a description of the Jumpers'
service as well as other types of the sobranie see Young
(1932, 30-47).
24. The sobranie structure is so well-ordered,
that it can be represented through the following formula,
in which 'B' stands for beseda,
“PS" for performance of psalm, "PR" for a prayer by a presviter or another
officiating person, “prs” for individual prayers by the
congregants, and "S" for song: (B + PS)^x + (PR/prs + PR +
PS + {S}^y). [Many sobranie do the
reverse: start with a psalm,
then beseda —
(PS + B).]
25. The term “sound modality" here is a
modification of Crystal's "religious modality" (Crystal
1976). The term incorporates the meaning of a Russian word
zvukovóy (roughly,
"made of sound"), used by some [Jumper] Molokan leaders to
impart one of the meanings of God's word. Henceforth I
will use sound in
place of zvukóvoy and
zvukóvoye. It
will appear in italics when used as a technical term. not
to be confused with a regular meaning of the word "sound."
26. According to the doctrine, singing is
"To prepare God's people for works of service in order to
build up the body of Christ" (Dogmas 1912. 162).
27. This is why no recording is normally
allowed during the sobranie
[mainly among
American Jumpers]. Moreover, Molokans [and Jumpers]
often ascribe failure and trouble in life to fault
committed in singing during the sobranie. Once [in Russia] during the wedding
of his son, my friendly host "arrested" my tape recorder
"just in case," explaining that recording during the
ritual could have negatively influenced his son's
marriage. If his son's marriage went wrong, he would never
forgive himself for allowing a tape recorder into the
ritual. [But use of very small digital
recorders hidden in pockets is now common. Russians
are more superstitious than Americans, who may enforce
the same rule of no recording but apply a religious
reason, like not making false images. It really
depends on the congregation and which elders are in
attendance.]
28. Judging from my own attempts to
recreate udaritel'noe
singing, a brief voiced inhalation is followed by a
forceful exhalation on the ensuing note: exhalation is
accompanied by a spasm-like movement of the diaphragm. The
whole utterance appears to be similar to gasps in crying
and laughter. See Mazo (1994b), where this type of
breathing is examined as a paralinguistic characteristic
of emotional vocalization.
29. In many areas of rural Russia,
lamenting or crying with words and melody, both structured
in a certain way, is not only a necessary component of a
ritual but is also a conventional form of individual
expression of frustration, grief, unhappiness, and similar
psychological and emotional states. Each local tradition
determines the formal and idiomatic aspects of a lament's
melody and text, such as the overall form of a lament,
patterns of me structural units, melodic and rhythmic
idioms, and the use of conventional motives and verbal
formulas. The local tradition also regulates, to a large
degree, the body movements, as well as the role,
placement, and even volume of the sobbing and wailing
"acceptable" in lamenting. At the same time, each lament
is unique, a true poetic and melodic improvisation,
spontaneous and personal as well as structured within the
limits established by local tradition (Mazo 19943).
30. Such use of Russian laments has never
been previously reported in the research literature. In
Russia, there is also a strong tradition of funeral and
remembrance laments, but only a few [Jumper] women in the United
States still know them. For analysis of one lament by a
Molokan woman in Russia, see Mazo (1994b).
31. Sometimes the pitch level rises
significantly, up to the sixth [octave] or even higher.
32. I do not have contextual recordings
of the sobranie in
California. Californian [Jumper-S&L-users] Molokans have never
allowed me to record during the service, even though they
welcomed my presence among them. [Recordings were made of groups of
selected S&L-user singers gathered in houses and are
very different than what occurs in sobranie, mainly no
shouting.]
33. Only one name of early psalm
composers has survived: Gregoriy Skovoroda (1722-1794). He
was one of the celebrated Ukrainian philosophers in the
late eighteenth century, but his exact contribution to the
composition of Molokan psalms is not known (Kudrinsky
1898, 43).
34. Evgeniya Linyova was the first
Russian ethnomusicologist to make phonographic field
recordings in the 1900-1910s. Her cylinder collection
includes psalms and songs of Russian sectarians living in
Tiflis and Vladikavkaz areas. The collection is housed in
the Phonogram Archive of the Institute of Russian
Literature (Pushkinskii Dom) in St. Petersburg. So far,
her three transcriptions have been the only known
published sources on Molokan psalms.
[Dr. O'Brien-Roth found that in the late 1800s, a
talented young Molokan musician from Siberia was
sponsored to study music in Europe, sponsored by his sobranie, and
returned to notate their psalms. She never found his
musical sheets. In Los Angeles, several educated Jumper
musicians notated songs but these were never collected
for public access, nor is it public ally known if they
still exist. In Arizona, John L. Conovaloff, sang songs
to an American church pianist who notated them, but his
adult children do not know what happened to the sheets.]
35. Note that the very top staff in
figure 4.2 is the opening phrase of the Californian
version only: the phrase does not exist in the Russian
version at all. The rest of the melodies align well, as
the subsequent notational systems demonstrate. Version I
(top staff of each system) is a recording of two male [Jumper] singers
in the Stavropol' area in Russia (marked St. I), version
II (bottom staff of each system) is of male and female [Jumpers-S&L-user]
singers in the greater Los Angeles area (marked Ca. II).
Version II is transposed by a minor third down to
facilitate the comparison. Todd Harvey made the initial
skeleton transcription; Margarita Mazo made a detailed
transcription and the analytical layout presented here.
In addition to presenting the two versions in parallel,
the transcription layout shows how similar melodic phrases
and gestures arc woven into a long and complex stanza of
this psalm. The melodic stanza is constructed by combining
the melodic gestures in different ways, varying, omitting,
extending and constricting them, changing their order, and
the like. Here, the related gestures and phrases from
various segments of the stanza are aligned vertically. The
continuity of each melodic version can be restored by
following the respective staves from left to right and
sequentially from top to bottom.
36 The term is borrowed from folk
terminology. Following an interpretation of Feodosiy
Rubtsov, one of the founders of Soviet ethnomusicology,
Russian scholars began to use the term to designate a
particular form of Russian folk song. For a discussion of
this issue in English, see Zemisovsky
(1980); Mazo (1987, 37-43,
64-73). Like Molokan [and
Jumper] psalms, protyazhnaya exists in several
distinctly different categories. [New reference online: Taruskin,
Richard. Musorgsky:
Eight Essays and an Epilogue 1997. Chapter 1, pages 38+.]
37. While numerous small-scale
elaborations of a melodic gesture occur at any point, an
addition of a new melodic unit in American [Jumper] versions,
as in figure 4.2, usually
occurs at strategic structural points of the melody. This
bears out one of Leo Treitler's ideas about the role of
melodic beginning and ending in chant transmission.
Specifically, in support of his model of melodic formulas,
the identical distribution of the words in the cadential
phrase in both Californian and Stavropol' versions in
figure 4.2 is worth noting.
38. Deborah Wilson made the initial
skeleton transcription. Margarita Mazo made the detailed
transcription and analytical layout presented in figure 4.4.
39. Still today, Russian words khristianin, "a
Christian." and krest'yanin,
"a peasant," are phonetically almost identical and in the
past were sometimes interchangeable.
40. A comparison of field observations
with earlier accounts of Molokan life in the United States
indeed shows a great continuity (see Young
1932).
41. A remarkable event took place in the
summer of 1995 in Washington. D.C. during the American
Folklife Festival produced by the Smithsonian Institution.
As part of the program "Russian
Roots American Branches: Music in Two Worlds," a
group of Steadfast Molokans from the Stavropol' area in
Russia met with a cognate religious group residing in San
Francisco. The festival was a powerful experience for
everyone involved, first of all for the participants, but
also for the audience, including Washington tourists,
those who just passed by "the Russian" stage, and those
who came every day and listened to Molokan singing with
rapt attention.
[Mazo was inspired to suggest this
international meeting of 4 choirs from 2 religions on
2 continents because she met all 4 groups, and
American Jumper-S&L-users performed at the same
festival in 1975.
Originally Russian Jumper-Maksimisty were selected for
the 1995 festival because they had the most theatrical
singing. Despite their religious bickering and
factions, a choir of 14 of the best Maksimist singers
in Levokumskoe district, Stavropol' province, Russia,
was self-selected and practiced for the honor of
displaying their religion to the world in Washington
D.C. They all sang a similar style and resettled to
Russia from three villages north of Kars, Turkey, in
1962, where they were isolated from Soviet repression
and preserved a broad variety of old Russian song
styles similar to those sung in America. Other
enclaves existed in the Caucasus, like Armenia, but
Mazo only explored the North Caucasus. After their
visas and passports were approved, they were very
anxious to go to America, BUT the complementary choir
of American Jumper-S&L-users had not responded.
What happened?
In a panic, Mazo contacted Andrei Conovaloff for help.
It was learned that the invitation for the Festival
was mailed to only one person, presbyter John
J, Kochergen, Kerman, California. Inspection revealed
that when Kochergen received the letter, he
immediately tossed it in his desk top drawer and never
looked at it again or responded, because he did not
want to be reprimanded by American Maksimists whom he
believed would never comply. Though Kochergen was very
helpful to Mazo during her research, even hosting her
and organizing recording sessions in his home, he was
afraid to act on this request. Kochergen recalled the
grief experienced by a American Dukh-i-zhiznik
choir which performed at the same festival in 1975,
invited after a recommendation from Ethel Dunn. From
1975 to their death, many of the participants were
publicly harassed for singing to ne nashi. He
said that no one will go to Washington now because of
what happened before, so it was "no use asking."
Immediately the plan changed to selecting Molokan
choirs via the Molokan Centers in Russia
and the US — Kochubeevskoe,
Stavropol province; and San Fransisco, California. A
sample video tape of the performance donated by Mazo
is on display in the Stavropol
Regional Museum of Fine Art, Novokumskoe Branch
which shows that the starooobryadsty (Old
Ritualists) were much better suited for folk
entertainment with colorful costumes and dance.
In 1997 a very disappointed member of the original
choir in Levokumskoe wanted to know why his
once-in-a-lifetime trip to America was sabotaged by
Molokane. He was shocked to learn it was
American Dukh-i-zhizniki to blame because they
were afraid to participate. Many of the Russians could
not understand or forgive the Americans. Several years
later, Kochergen, at his own expense, invited 5 of the
rejected choir to come to California as his guests.]
15. WORKS CITED
Berokoff, John K. 1987. Dukh-i-zhizniki Molokans
in America. 2nd ed Buena Park. Calif.:
Stockton Trade. The book was
published in 1969, and republished by the U.M.C.A. in
1987. Currently being
historically revised online by Andrei Conovaloff.
Billington, James. 1970. The Icon and the Axe.
2nd ed. New York: Vintage.
Confessions
of Faith . . . 1865. Confessions of Faith of the Spiritual
Christians called Molokanye. By members of the sect.
Geneva, n.p.
Crystal, David. 1976. "Nonsegmental Phonology in Religious
Modalities." In William Samarin, ed., Language in Religious
Practice, 17-23. Rowley. Mass.: Newbury.
Dogmas
and the Prayerbook... 1912. Izlozhenie dogmatov i
molitvennik istinnykh dukhovnykh khristian Molokan (sekty imenuemoy
"staro-postoyannymi molokanami''). Compiled by N.
M. Anfimov. Izdanie Yakova Pavlovicha Burtsova I Ivana
Yakovlevicha Tomilina. Tiflis: "Trud." Published in
English as The Summary
of Dogmas and the Prayerbook with Traditional
Worshipping of the Spiritual Christians Molokan (by name
the sect) "Old-Constant Molokans." Translated by
Elders of the Church Journal Committee. 1975-1890, San
Francisco. Calif. Edited and Published by Sheridan Molokan
Church. Sheridan, Calif., 1982.
Dunn, Ethel, ed. 1983. The Molokan Heritage
Collection. Vol I of Reprints of Articles and Translations.
Berkeley: Highgate Road Social Science Research Station [Dissolved about 2005.].
Flower, Linda. 1994. The Construction of
Negotiated Meaning: A Social Cognitive Theory of Writing.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Foundations of the Molokan Doctrine.
1905. Izlozhenie
dogmatov istinnyikh dukhovnykh khristian Molokan.
1905. Astrakhanka. Russia: n.p. Repr. in English.
"Molokane" in Encyclopedia
of
Religion and Ethics. Vol. 2, 341-42. Ed. by James
Hastings. New York.
Ismail-Zade, D. 1983. "Russkie
poseleniya v Zakavkaz'e v 30kh-80kh godakh XIX veka." Voprosy Istorii
11(1976). 18-51. Trans. as "Russian Settlements in the
Transcaucasus from the 1830s to the 1880s" in Dunn 1983,
51-77.
Istoriya
dukhovnykh
khristian molokan. 1979. Istoriya dukhovnykh
khristian molokan. San Francisco: First Russian
Molokan Church.
Klibanov, Alexander. 1982. History of Religious
Sectarianism in Russia (1860's-1917). Ed. Stephen
Dunn. trans. by Ethel Dunn. Oxford: Pergamon.
Kudrinsky, V. F. 1898. "Filosof
bez sistemy." Kievskaya
Starina 60 (1898). 35-63.
Linyova, Evgeniya (Eugene). 1911. "Psalms
and Religious Songs of Russian Sectarians in the
Caucasus." International
Musical
Society Congress Reports. London, 1911:187-201.
Listopadov, Alexander. 1906.
"Narodnaya kazach'ya penya na Donu. Donskaya expeditsiya
1902-1903 gg." In Trudy
Muzykal'no-etnograficheskoy komissii. (Works by
Musical-Ethnographic Commission), vol. 1, 159-218. Izvestiya Obshchestva
Lyubiteley Estestvoznaniya, Antropologii i Etnografii,
no. 113. Moscow 159-218.
Livanov, Fedor Vasil'evich. 1872. Raskol'niki i ostrozhniki.
3 vols. St. Petersburg: n.p. 1872. Trans. as Schismatics and Convicts.
Chapters on Molokans and Dukhobors were reprinted by the
Molokans of San Francisco community in one volume as
Livanov, Fedor. Istoriia
dukhovnykh khristian molokan. San Francisco:
First Russian Molokan Church, 1979. Trans. as History of Spiritual
Christians Molokans.
Lopatin, Nikolai, and Vladimir
Prokunm. 1956. Russkie
narodnye liricheskie pesni [Russian Folk Lyric
Songs]. Ed. V. Belyaev. Moscow: Gos. Muzykal'noe izd-vo.
Magocsi, Paul. 1996. The Russian Americans.
New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
Mazo, Margarita. 1993. "Wedding
Laments in North Russian Villages." In Margaret
Kartomi and Stephen Blum, eds.. Music Cultures in Contact. 20-40. Basel:
Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.
————. 1994. "Lament Made Visible:
A Study of Paramusical Features in Russian Lament." In
Bell Yung and Joseph S. C. Lam, eds.. Theme and Variations:
Writings in
Honor of Rulan Chao Pian. 164-212. Cambridge,
Mass.. and Hong Kong: Music Departments of Harvard
University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
———. 1991." 'We Don't Summon
Spring in the Summer': Traditional Music and Beliefs of
the Contemporary Russian Village." In William C. Brumfield
and Milos M. Velimirovich, eds., Christianity and the Arts in Russia,
73-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1990. "Stravinsky's Les Noces and the
Russian Village Ritual." Joumal of the American Musicoiogical Society
43. no. 1. (Spring 1990): 99-143
———. 1987. A Collection of Russian Folk
Songs. Introduction. In Malcolm Brown, ed.. A Collection of Russian Folk
Songs. 1-82. Ann Arbor, Mich.; UM1 Research
Press.
Molokan Songbook. 1986. Sionskiy Pesennik
Stoletnyago perioda Khristianskoy Religii Molokan
Dukhovnykh Prygunov v Amerike; 5th ed. Los
Angeles: United Molokan Christian Association ([UMCA] YMCA). (The
date of the first edition is not known; 2nd ed. 1950; 3rd
ed. 1958; 4th ed. 1964.) [A complete list of American Jumper songbooks from
1915 appears in The Origins of Molokan Singing (O'Brien-Rothe, 1989, __).]
Moore, Williams. 1973. Molokan Oral Tradition:
Legends and Memorates of an Ethnic Sect. Folklore
Studies 28. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Morris, Richard A. 1981. "Three
Russian Groups in Oregon: Comparisons of Boundaries in a
Pluralistic Environment." Ph.D. diss., University of
Oregon.
O'Brien-Rothe, Linda. 1989. The Origins of Molokan
Singing. Vol. 4, The Molokan Heritage Collection.
Berkeley: Highgate Road Social Science Research Station.
Prokhoroff, William [William]. 1978. Maxim Gavrilovich Rudometkin
"King of Spirits," Leader of New Israel (Molokans).
Sacramento. Calif: Image Printing.
Samarin, Edward I[van]. n.d.
'Russian Spiritual Christianity (Molokanism): 'Come Ye Out
From Among Them and Become Separate.'" Unpublished
manuscript.
Samarin, James J[ohn]. 1975. The Hieroglyphics of Mystery
and Meaning. Cudahy, Calif.: n.p.
Spirit
and Life ... 1947. Dukh I Zhizn'. Kniya Solntsa. Bozhestvennye
izrecheniya nastavnikov I stradal 'tsev za Slovo Bozhie,
Veru lisusa I Dukh Svyatoi Religii Dukhovnykh Khristian
Molokan-Prygunov, 3rd ed., corrected by the
Brotherly Union of the Spiritual Jumpers and augmented by
an essay on religion. Los Angeles: Dukh I Zhizn'. 1947;
1st ed: Ivan Samarin, ed. Dukh I Zhizn', Los Angeles:
n.p.; 1915; 2nd ed. Los Angeles: n.p. 1928.
Young, Pauline. 1932. The Pilgrims of Russian-Town.
New York: Russel & Russel.
Zemtsovaky, Izaly. 1980. "Russian
Folk Music." In Stanley Sadie, ed.. The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians. Vol. 19, 388-97. London:
Macmillan.
|