The State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg is considered a major concert Russian organization. It includes the country's oldest professional choir, its own concert hall, as well as a symphony orchestra.
Historical information
The choir collective was created by decree of Tsar Ivan III in 1476, originally was the Choir of the singing sovereign clerks. The State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg included a choral school until the middle of the last century.
In 1479, young singers were added to the created Choir. In 1564, the team took an active part in laying the Nikitsky Cathedral, which became part of the monastery of the same name.
In the spring of 1703, the Choir took part in a prayer service, which was dedicated to the capture of the Swedish town of Nyenschanz by the Russian troops.
What else is famous for the state academic chapel of St. Petersburg? Her story is connected with the decrees of Peter 1. It was by his order that in 1713 they introduced the singing sovereign clerks into the Court Choir. At the end of the eighteenth century, the composer D. Bortnyansky was appointed the head of the Court Singing Chapel.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the chapel began to be located in one of the buildings on the Moika embankment, which were built by L.N. Benois at the end of the nineteenth century. At that time, the concert hall of this particular chapel was recognized by acoustics as the best in Europe.
In 1816, the director of the chapel was allowed to censor the publication and performance of sacred Russian music.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, under the chapel, regency, and a little later, instrumental classes were opened. It was on their basis that, by the middle of the last century, a choral school was created in these walls. Among the teachers who were invited to work in this educational institution, we distinguish: N. A. Rimsky-Korsak, M. I. Glinka, A. K. Lyadov.
Twentieth Century
Initially, the State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg consisted of only boys and men, and only in 1920 girls’s voices were introduced into the collective, and from that time onwards the representatives of the fair sex were accepted into the Choral School itself.
During the war, part of the chapel was evacuated to Moscow. A little later, on its basis, the Moscow Choral School was organized, which is currently the Academy of Choral Art. V.S. Popova.
In the middle of the last century, the Choir School and the chapel were awarded the name of the Russian composer M. I. Glinka.
The State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg since 1955 is considered a separate organization. It is familiar to all residents of the Northern capital, it is a favorite place for connoisseurs of real choral singing.
How to find a chapel
Where is the state academic chapel of St. Petersburg? Address: St. Petersburg, st. Workshop, d. 4.
You can get here by metro, ground transport, on foot. At the chapel from the end of the last century, there is a symphony orchestra, whose artistic director and chief director was Alexander Chernushenko.
The modern look of the building, which currently houses the chapel, was given by the legendary architect Leonty Benoit. In the mid-eighteenth century, this building housed the Anbar Comedy House, as well as the wooden mansion of the hof surgeon H. M. Paulsen.
After the sale of the house in the late eighteenth century to the architect J. M. Felten, a stone mansion appeared in its place. Benoit, working on the project, in the process of restructuring involved part of the Velten building, where he created the state academic chapel of St. Petersburg. Photos of the building are a confirmation of the talent of the architect, who managed to create a real architectural ensemble, which became the decoration of St. Petersburg.
Post-war time
The bridge, which is located near the singing chapel, began to be called the Pevsky Bridge. In 2000, the architect V.V. Voronova proposed a project for the reconstruction of the building. It was she who rebuilt the Tsar’s Pavilion, which was destroyed in 1941 during the fascist bombing.
Conclusion
Over the entire period of its existence, the chapel had several different names. At first, the choir of the sovereign singing clerks was formed, then it turned into a court choir. Further, he was renamed the Imperial Singing Court Chapel. In the twentieth century, the Petrograd choir folk academy appeared, which gradually grew into the Leningrad State Academic Chapel named after M.I. Glinka.
Locals are proud to talk about the singing chapel of St. Petersburg. It is within its walls that unique contests that are associated with choral singing are currently taking place. The chapel hall has amazing acoustics, so here you can truly enjoy the excellent polyphony. Leningraders and city guests are happy to visit this institution, admire the unique interiors of a beautiful building.