Church Services for the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Description of Handwritten Sources, Catalogue of Incipits, Source Tables

These materials are the result of a study of the manuscripts of His Majesty’s singers in the Archive of the Armory Chamber in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, containing the notation of chants sung during three of the Twelve Great Feasts: the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple. For the first time, 37 singing books have been described in detail, including the parts of trebles (descants), altos, tenors and basses; the titles, format, block and binding, keys used, marks, and composition features have been included into the description. The peculiarities of the manuscript collection of His Majesty’s singers are shown in source tables with page-by-page descriptions, enumeration of the titles of chants, their modes (echoi), their position in the church service, etc. For the first time, the incipits of all chants, both polyphonic and monophonic, as well as the photocopies of manuscripts are published.