Johann von Gardner
Encyclopedia
Johann von Gardner or in Russian Ivan Alekseevich Gardner Иван Алексеевич Гарднер (22 December 1898 - 26 February 1984) was a Russian-born Slavic musicologist, best known in the English language for his published work on Russian church singing.
Von Gardner was born into a family of Scottish ancestry on the family estate near Sevastopol
, Crimea
. He graduated Orthodox Theology at the University of Belgrade
, after that he worked for a while as teacher in the Seminary of Cetinje and later on he took monastic vows and was given the name Filipp. In 1931 he was ordained priest serving in the Eastern part of Slovakia, between 1934 and 1938 he was the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. After his return he served a few years as parish priest in Berlin before he was consecrated bishop for the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile (ROCOR) in June 1942. On this occasion he was given the title "Bishop of Potsdam" thus being mainly responsible for the Russian Orthodox parishes of Berlin and Vienna. Yet in 1944 he had to leave holy orders and married shortly after - the exact circumstances how all this happened are not quite clear. After World War II he installed himself in the Bavarian spa town Bad Reichenhall situated not far from the Austrian border and became also choirmaster in one of the Russian Orthodox parishes of Salzburg which at that time were made up of refugees. In 1954 he was invited to the University of Munich as a lecturer of musicology hereby dealing especially with traditional Russian Chant, finally in 1965 he earned a doctorate and was subsequently given a professorship.
After 1917, he spent four years living in Subcarpathian Rus and was particularly amazed at the religious knowledge of the simple peasants, acquired simply by singing in church. He described the singing which he heard in the churches of the Carpathian regions: "In Subcarpathian Rus’ in all the villages both among the Uniates and also among the Orthodox, there was always practiced only congregational singing of the complete services.... The numerous chants ... were known by everyone, even the children of school age. The leader of song -- the most experienced singer from the parish -- standing at the kliros and sang the chant. As soon as the worshippers heard the beginning, they would join in the chant and the entire church sang; they sang all the stikhery
, all the troparia
, all the irmos
y -- in a word, everyone sang properly."
Von Gardner died in Munich
.
Von Gardner was born into a family of Scottish ancestry on the family estate near Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
, Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. He graduated Orthodox Theology at the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
, after that he worked for a while as teacher in the Seminary of Cetinje and later on he took monastic vows and was given the name Filipp. In 1931 he was ordained priest serving in the Eastern part of Slovakia, between 1934 and 1938 he was the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. After his return he served a few years as parish priest in Berlin before he was consecrated bishop for the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile (ROCOR) in June 1942. On this occasion he was given the title "Bishop of Potsdam" thus being mainly responsible for the Russian Orthodox parishes of Berlin and Vienna. Yet in 1944 he had to leave holy orders and married shortly after - the exact circumstances how all this happened are not quite clear. After World War II he installed himself in the Bavarian spa town Bad Reichenhall situated not far from the Austrian border and became also choirmaster in one of the Russian Orthodox parishes of Salzburg which at that time were made up of refugees. In 1954 he was invited to the University of Munich as a lecturer of musicology hereby dealing especially with traditional Russian Chant, finally in 1965 he earned a doctorate and was subsequently given a professorship.
After 1917, he spent four years living in Subcarpathian Rus and was particularly amazed at the religious knowledge of the simple peasants, acquired simply by singing in church. He described the singing which he heard in the churches of the Carpathian regions: "In Subcarpathian Rus’ in all the villages both among the Uniates and also among the Orthodox, there was always practiced only congregational singing of the complete services.... The numerous chants ... were known by everyone, even the children of school age. The leader of song -- the most experienced singer from the parish -- standing at the kliros and sang the chant. As soon as the worshippers heard the beginning, they would join in the chant and the entire church sang; they sang all the stikhery
Sticheron
A sticheron is a particular kind of hymn used in the Divine Liturgy, acolouthia or other services of the Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite....
, all the troparia
Troparion
A troparion in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos...
, all the irmos
Irmos
The irmos is the initial troparion of each individual ode in a canon as chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which use the Byzantine Rite...
y -- in a word, everyone sang properly."
Von Gardner died in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.