The liturgical singing tradition of the Vyatka priestless old believers during the persecution of old believers

The author of this article examines the methods and consequences of the tsarist (beginning with the reign of Nicholas I) and Soviet persecution of Old Believers. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of political persecution on the preservation and existence of the traditions of liturgical singing among the Old Believers, using, as an example, the Vyatka Region, one with the most dense population of Old Believers. Te work is based on a comprehensive analysis of various published and unpublished sources: articles of legislation, investigative cases, reports of diocesan missionaries, musical manuscripts of the Vyatka Priestless communities, diaries of archaeographical expeditions and other documents. The author finds that in pre-revolutionary Russia the liturgical singing of the Vyatka Priestless Old Believers flourished, while in the Soviet era the tradition was almost destroyed. The author comes to the conclusion that, unlike the tsarist authorities, the Bolsheviks tried to destroy religion as such: as a result, their policies led to the breaking of ties between generations, which dealt a crushing blow to tradition