18 Molokan Songs by Elena Ivanova ZvigintsevnaChebassy, UkraineRecorded 1999 by the Christian Center for Science and Apologetics, Sevastopol, CrimeaUS Sponsoring agency: Teaching Ministries International, PO Box 1483, Snellville, GA 30078 USA 6. Духовные песни молокан (60 мин) |
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 Quality enhancement by J.J. Samrain (2004 @ OT STudios, Whittier, California Reproduced and distriburted in America by J.J. Samarin (2004) |
These 18 Molokan
songs
may be 200 years old. The singer, Elena Ivanova Zviagintsevna died in
2000. She lived in Chebassy, central Ukraine, south of Kiev, and knew
only a few Molokans. She learned to sing from her elders who never
migrated south to the Milky Waters region nor on to the Caucasus. [Her Bible singing is close to the
original Molokan style in that she does not draw out her syllables as
was added later in history to camouflage psalms from the authorities.
More about this below.]
In
1999 she
shared
her Molokan heritage with a Christian organization that knew nothing
about
Molokans but were impressed with her singing knowledge and wanted to
help perserve these songs of antiquity. They digitally recorded her singing and produced a CD which I found listed for sale on a Russian web site. I ordered a copy for myself and arranged for another 100 copies to be delivered to the 3 congregations where thousands of Molokans still live today in the South Ukraine east of Melitopol — Astrakhanka, Novo-Vasilyevka. The map shows that Doukhobors were neighbors on the east, but it doesn't show that more Germans were adjacent neighbors to the north. I consulted with Elder singer J.J. Samarin who determined that 9 of these 18 songs correspond closely to text and melodies of the American Molokan Pesennik, and one is a Bible verse. Thanks to Elena Ivanova and to the Apologetics Center in Sevastopol, Crimea for their historic preservation; and to J.J. Samarin for analysis and generous reproductions. — A.J. Conovaloff
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*Apologetics -- the
explanation and defense of the Christian religion. See a full definition.
The original files (16-bit, stereo, 44100 Hz, .wma) are compressed to RealMedia and MP3 formats (16-bit, mono, 22050 Hz) — .rm (95%) and .mp3 (90%). Players for these formats are probably installed on your computer. Listen to the selections by clicking on the file-types (RM or MP3) in the column titled "Listen", below right. The file size is also shown. If the selections do not play automatically, then you probably need to download the free software from: RealMedia, and/or MPEG. In the beginning, before the first song, Elena Ivanova recites an introductory prayer: "Благослови Господи исполнять по твоёй воле" [God bless me to perform by your will]. [Notice that in contrast to this clear Ukranian-style the Caucasus-trained singers, like American Molokans, sing much more "drawn out". By stretching their vowels, the drawn-out singing was designed to prevent people nearby, on the street, from understanding the words which would get the singers into legal trouble for sharing their faith with others, especially the Orthodox. Doukhobors also sing very "drawn out" to camoflage their songs. Find more details and examples in The Molokan Heritage Collection: Volume IV: The Origin of Molokan Singing, by Dr. Linda O'Brien-Rothe.] |
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Total time: about 58 minutes
*
Words vary somewhat from the American Sionskii
Pesennik (Songbook of Zion).
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Russian Molokan Church Service recorded in San Francisco in 1938
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