Stepan Vasil'evich Smolensky (Russian: Сте́пан Васи́льевич Смоле́нский; 15 October 1848 – 1 August 1909) was a choir director and scholar of ancient Russian chant. Smolensky was a graduate of the Faculties of Jurisprudence and Philology of

Kazan University Kazan Federal University (; ) is a public research university located in Kazan, Russia. The university was founded in 1804 as Imperial Kazan University, which makes it the second oldest continuously existing tertiary education institution in Rus ...

; during his studies, he had also taken private lessons on violin and piano.Dunlop (2000), p. 47 From the early 1870s he made a study of ancient church chant, publishing several books on

znamenny chant Znamenny Chant () is a singing tradition used by some in the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church. Znamenny Chant is a unison, melismatic liturgical singing that has its own specific notation, called the notation. The symbols used in the notation ...

and a catalogue of the musical manuscripts held in the library of the

Solovetsky Monastery The Solovetsky Monastery (, ) is a fortified monastery located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea in northern Russia. It was one of the largest Christian citadels in northern Russia before it was converted into a Soviet Union, Soviet pris ...

. In 1889 he settled in Moscow, becoming professor of history and theory of church music at the Conservatory after the death of Dmitri Razumovsky. Simultaneously he became director of the Synod choir and the

Moscow Synodal School The Moscow Synodal School () and the associated Moscow Synodal Choir were the main centre of teaching for Russian Orthodox Church music in Russia prior to dissolution and merger with the choral faculty of Moscow Conservatory in 1919. The school or ...

, succeeding Vasily Sergeevich Orlov: his success in these posts resulted in his being appointed director of the

Saint Petersburg Court Capella The St. Petersburg State Academic Capella () (also: Glinka State Academic Capella), is the oldest active Russian professional musical institution with a history dating back to 1479. It is based in the city of Saint Petersburg. It has had various ...

on 6/19 May 1901, a post he held until 1903.Zvereva (2003), p. 320

References

Citations

Sources

* Dunlop, Carolyn C (2000). ''The Russian Court Chapel Choir 1796-1917''. Harwood Academic Publishers. *Morosan, Vladimir (1994). ''Choral Performance in Pre-Revolutionary Russia''. Musica Russica. *Zvereva, Svetlana (2003). ''Alexander Kastalsky: His Life and Music''. Ashgate. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smolensky, Stepan 1849 births 1909 deaths Russian choral conductors Russian male conductors (music) Russian musicologists Burials at Arskoe Cemetery 19th-century musicologists