Women in Church Choirs: Discussion in the Periodical Press of the Turn of the 20th Century

The purpose of the article is to consistently analyse the statements of contemporaries about the reform of church choirs in the Russian church and secular periodicals of the early 20th century, which have not been previously involved in musicological studies. At the beginning of the 20th century, the question of the role of women in society was considered in various publications, including periodicals on art. They discussed the position of women in musical professions and keenly debated the topic of women being involved in liturgical singing in the choir. Adherents of patriarchal views defended the inadmissibility of female singers in church, whereas innovators advocated their participation. The reform of church choirs in Russia was carried out gradually, under the influence of transformations in the structure of church life, the growth of social freedoms, and the spread of humanistic ideas in society related to the condemnation of child labour. Public discussion in the music and church press began in 1906. The topic of the church choir reform was raised at the All-Russian Congress of Church Singing Leaders in Moscow in 1908–1909, but the issue of women’s participation in liturgical singing in the choir was finally resolved only at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1918.