CULTURAL COMMUNICATION OF THE SLAVS IN THE HISTORY OF OLD RUSSIAN CHANTING ART (ON THE ISSUE OF "SOUTH SLAVIC INFLUENCES")
In the early period of the so-called first “South Slavic influence”, the connections between Bulgarians and Russians in the field of Church chant manifested primarily in the literary translations of hymnography, as well as in the possible intermediary role of Bulgarians in the transmission of the basics of the Byzantine musical system. During the second “South Slavic influence” in Moscovite Rus' intercultural communication of Slavs again functioned on the level of words. The feeling of Slavic unity leads to the unity of the Pantheon of Slavic saints in Rus' and in Bulgaria and Serbia. The hymnographers of Bulgaria and Serbia create services for Russian saints, while the Russian hymnographers do the same for Bulgarian and Serbian saints. The composition of the Russian services is more complete, and the hymns are recorded using musical notation. Only the third period of “South Slavic influences” (second half of XVII century) actually marks the musical connection of the Slavs as such. The development of South Slavic cultures in the post-Byzantine era resulted in formation of the unique national traditions of Church chant in Bulgaria and Serbia. As a consequence of historical migrations of the southern Slavs to the East Slavic lands these national traditions were brought to Russia through Moldova and Ukraine. In Russia they were perceived as related Orthodox cultures and became part of the everyday life of the Russian Orthodox Church. The unity of Slavic cultures in the new center of Orthodoxy came to be a logical conclusion of cultural contacts of Byzantium, Southern and Eastern Slavs in the Middle Ages, contributing beneficially to the development of Church chant art.