Zoya P. Lodiy (1886-1957) and her contribution to the formation of the Soviet school of chamber singing

The study reveals the creative, pedagogical and organizational-managerial contribution of Zoya P. Lodiy to the development of the Soviet academic school of professional chamber vocal education. The materials are based on sources from the collections of the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg, including the minutes of the meetings of the Chamber Singing Department of the Leningrad Conservatory (1938-1939), published for the first time. A systemic-historical approach combined with musicological methods was used as a methodological basis; the analysis and publication of archival materials required the involvement of the methods of historical source studies and archeography. The main milestones in Lodiy’s biography are reflected; the features of the performing style that determined the creative individuality of the outstanding singer are considered. The relevance of creating a chamber singing course in Soviet conservatories, which arose in the second half of the 1920s, is revealed; the significance of Lodiy’s activities for making the appropriate decision is shown. The main provisions of the program of this course are revealed: requirements for training students, objectives of the program and its sections. Lodiy’s main pedagogical principles, which characterized her work with students, are identified: systematicity and consistency of the learning process, its cyclical nature, development of students’ imagination, cultivation in them of a careful attitude to the author’s text, skills of correct intonation of a vocal work, reliance on chamber literature of different countries, mastering of the experience of independently composing a concert program. Three cycles (“sketches”) of the curriculum are studied; the characteristics of each of them are considered. It is emphasized that these cycles were based on the works of certain composers, whose study by students contributed to the formation of various performing skills. The analysis of the minutes of meetings of the Chamber Singing Department of the Leningrad Conservatory for the 1938/1939 academic year made it possible to determine the main areas of pedagogical and scientific activity of its faculty. The study showed that Lodiy’s contribution to the formation of the Soviet school of chamber singing consists of (1) organizing specialized departments in leading conservatories, (2) providing them with professional personnel, (3) developinng educational and methodological materials on the basis of which vocalists were trained, (4) creating her own method of teaching chamber singers based on vocal cycles.