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Letters to the

Editor In Donna Arnold’s informative article “Serge Jaroff’s Don Cossack Choir: A Treasure

from the Russian Diaspora,” there are several misleading comments on the music that
influenced Jaroff’s work. Since the author footnotes me, and since many choral directors
are unfamiliar with this repertoire, I would like to clear up some details.
When describing Jarroff’s forebears, she calls the Ukrainian-born composer Dmitry
(Dmytro) Bortniansky (1751–1825) “Russia’s first great master of westernized choral mu-
sic, which he learned from study in Italy,” and she cites my article in The New Grove Dic-
tionary as her source. I have not referred to him as such, and her problematic statement
requires some untangling. First, Bortniansky’s music does not belong to Russia exclusively.
Rather, he wrote it for the Russian Empire of the time, which included Russia, Ukraine, and other lands. Second,
westernization in Eastern Slavic music began much earlier and continued during the Russian Empire when the
Romanoff Tsars and Tsarinas imported German and Italian composers to their court in St. Petersburg. Third, Bort-
niansky’s exposure to westernized choral music began when he was a choirboy for the court (singing music by those
composers) and continued in Italy.
In my articles for The New Grove Dictionary article and the Choral Journal (August 2001), I carefully refer to Bortnian-
sky as the first native Slavic composer to become chorusmaster for the Russian Imperial Court. I note that he was
influential not so much as a westernizer, but as an innovator in his approach to the a cappella medium. His flexibil-
ity—alternating solo and tutti, divisi and non-divisi writing, along with his specificity—notating detailed dynamics
and phrasing in different voice parts, continued to influence many composers who followed him. Recently, when
leading a choir in a movement from the Rachmaninoff Vespers, I noticed anew how fluidly the textures shift, how spe-
cific the dynamic and articulation markings are in each voice part. This approach can be traced back to Bortniansky.
I am grateful for Ms. Arnold’s article on Mr. Jaroff, his choir, and their repertoire. It is of course impossible to
cover every detail and nuance of any underrepresented culture and repertoire in a single article. Thus, it is even more
important to be highly careful with wording. I hope this letter clarifies some of the misleading points in her writing,
and I hope that your readers will continue to explore Eastern European choral music.

Dr. Marika Kuzma
Professor Emerita, University of California, Berkeley
Editor, Dmitry Bortniansky: 35 Sacred Choral Concertos (Carus Verlag, 2016)
Author, Carols of Birds, Bells, and Sacred Hymns from Ukraine: An Anthology and Cultural Companion
(Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024)

Editor’s Corrections:
From the March/April 2025 issue, “Serge Jaroff’s Don Cossack Choir,” page 28, column 2, paragraph 2. Origi-
nal sentence follows, with the rephrased sentence beneath. Original: Ukrainian-born composer Dmitry Bortniansky
(1751–1825), who is best remembered for his choral works, is generally recognized as Russia’s first great master of
that westernized style, which he learned from study in Italy.
Correction: The Ukrainian-born composer Dmitry (Dmytro) Bortniansky (1751–1825), who is best remembered for
his choral works and worked for the Russian Imperial Court, is generally recognized as a master of an italianate style
that was in fashion at the time.
Page 29. In the spelling of Bortniansky’s hymn “Kol’ slaven,” the correct Cyrillic script is “Коль славен” (not
“Коль рабен”).

From the May 2025 issue, “A Call to Action: Promoting and Preserving Women in the Field of Choral Conduct-
ing,” page 42, note 25: The full book title is Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and
More Life to Live), published in 2019. (The endnote cited publication as 2021, which is the date of the updated book
cover.)

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2025 Volume 65 Number 9 5