The “Other” Boris Ledkovsky (1894–1975) — Parts II & III — Elizabeth A. Ledkovsky and Katya Ermolaeva
Part I of this article, published in the previous edition of this journal, explores details of composer and conductor Boris Ledkovsky’s life through photos, letters, scholarship, and even Nazi archives. Presented here are Parts II and III.
Part II, co-authored by Dr. Katya Ermolaeva, addresses Boris Ledkovsky’s reputation in light of the totality of his creative output, including recently discovered unpublished manuscripts, which reveal a multifaceted and dramatic side of Ledkovsky’s musical creativity. Part III reflects on the Ledkovsky legacy, postulating a shared bequest to scholars and musicians and considering what could be done next to further the fruits of this inheritance.
Part II: Defying the Stereotype
Revisiting “A Reputation for Simplicity”
Part I of this article presents an in-depth biography of Boris M. Ledkovsky, offering
an intimate history of one of the most influential Orthodox composers of the twentieth century. The nature of that influence has been explored extensively. In fact, Ledkovsky and his effect on liturgical singing in the Orthodox Church of America (OCA) is the topic of another article in the same journal. That study discusses Ledkovsky and his creative output, describing his harmonizations as “practical and singable… ‘accessible for performance by small church choirs.’”
This description captures the widely held estimation of Ledkovsky’s oeuvre: simple (but not simplistic) chant-based harmonizations in the spirit of the Moscow School, suitable for even the humblest of ensembles. Johann von Gardner, the preeminent scholar of Russian Orthodox music in the twentieth century and a close friend of both Boris and Marina Ledkovsky, described BML’s compositions as “melodious, lyrical arrangements that are easily accessible for any small choir and for relatively inexperienced choir singers.” It probably is fair to say that the accessibility of his most basic works for the most basic parish choirs helps to explain why BML’s harmonizations have been so widely adopted, especially in the OCA.
It quickly becomes clear, however, that the stereotype of Ledkovsky as “simple,” “humble,” and even “boring” (!) is hardly accurate when one considers the fullness of his published works, especially those issued exclusively in Slavonic. <…>
