Modern Sacred Musical Creativity: Vladimir Pozhidaev’s Works (1946–2009)

Abstract

The article discusses the spiritual and musical compositions of Vladimir Pozhidaev from the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries, which have yet to be explored in musicology and are significant works of modern sacred music. For the first time, the ideological and figurative content of his works, and their dramaturgy, are revealed. The idea of ​​the symphony For the Nativity of Christ can be expressed as the Christian hope of salvation. In the symphony, one can hear the opposition of the High World (heaven) and Low World (hell), the spiritual world and more material human feelings and suffering. The idea behind ​​the symphony Easter chants is purification through suffering and prayer. The work combines the features of a symphony and a cantata, as the author introduces soloists. Presenting a certain analogue to the West European passions, the Easter chants through the texts of spiritual and penitential verses reflect the popular perception of Orthodoxy in Russia. The organ concert Three Angels, created under the impression of the Trinity icon of Reverend Andrei Rublev, conveys the exalted order of internal “silent” prayer, the epic story of the Nativity of Christ and the severe drama of the passions of Christ. The musical language of the works is associated with the traditional values ​​of Russian culture: folklore and sacred music, as well as musical classics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The epic dramaturgy characteristic of the work of domestic composers is heard in these works. At the same time, the works organically include elements of the avant-garde direction of 20th century musical art. They present a combination of the folk traditions of medieval church chants and bells, Russian epic symphonies and the foreign avant-garde of the twentieth century, which fan the spark of originality in the musical style of the composer and give his compositions a unique modern sound.