16th century manuscripts at Duke

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/earlymss_emsgk01001/

Byzantine chant was a late comer to the printing press. Up until the 19th century, it was entirely hand-copied. Some of the scores are really beautiful.

Who Is So Great A God As Our God?

A prokeimenon is a scripture verse that precedes a longer reading from the scipture.  Prokeimena come in a few different sizes. Most are fairly short, indeed the most common are just an intoned scripture verse before the epistle is read. In othros, the prokeimenon shows up right before the reading of the gospel reading (when there is a gospel reading). At liturgy, it shows up prior to the epistle reading. At vespers, it shows up after Gladsome Light. In common 'Byzantine' practice, the epistle prokeimenon is just intoned once with its verse. But all prokeimena were originally meant to be repeated after the verse is intoned. This is still commonly done in the slavic tradition, and occasionally it's still done in the psaltic tradition.

Sometimes the scripture reading that follows a prokeimenon gets misplaced (thus is vespers, which always has a prokeimenon chanted, but rarely has its old testament reading). Today's video is a vespers prokeimenon, but not one of the standard weekly prokeimena (like "The Lord is King, He is clothed with strength") but a festal vespers prokeimenon:

• This is a sticheraric piece in Grave Tone (aka Varys, sometimes called Tone 7). 
• There are different versions of Grave, this one is on the "enharmonic" scale on γα (more or less an F). That's why it sounds sweet.
• You sing this in the vespers for the day after Pascha, Thomas Sunday, Pentecost and Nativity.

Check and Check

So with that last post, we've covered the 4 rhythmic styles (eirmologic, old & new sticheraric) and papadic. And we've looked at examples of some of the kinds of things a chanter has to sing in church. Lets revisit Chrysanthos's list:

Species of psalmody are the following : Anoixantaria, Kekragaria, Doxastika, Stichera, Dochai, Troparia, Apolytikia, Anastasima, Kathismata, Hypakoai, Antiphona, Polyeleoi, Pasapnoaria, Canons, Odæ, Heirmoi, Katabasiæ, Kontakia, Oikoi, Megalynaria, Exaposteilaria, Aenoi, Prosomœa, Idiomela, Heothina, Doxologies, Asmatica, Mathemata, Typika, Makarismoi, Eisodika, Trishagia, Alleluaria, Cheroubika, Koinonika, Calophonic Heirmoi.

We've made a good start on this list but we've got a ways to go, obviously. Listening to these pieces carefully over time trains your ear and informs your chanting (when you chant). We're blessed to have such a vast selection of chanters and pieces on the internet now. 

Let's go on to the next item after Anoixantaria and Kekregaria on the list: Doxastica. There are lots of doxastica. Lots and lots. The text of these hymns can be found in the Menaion, the Triodion, the Pentecostarion and the Parakliki (aka the Octoechos). Feast days get doxastica; big feast days get multiple doxastica. Here's a vespers doxasticon for the feast of St. Sophia

• This is plagal first tone, in the new sticheraric style.
• The composer has gone just at touch beyond the classic new sticheraric doxastikon style to embellish and beautify the melody.
• Plagal First (aka Tone 5) new sticheraric pieces like to cadence on πα (D) κε (A) δι (G) and high νη᾽ (C)
• The chanter is a student of Ioannis Arvanitis, a student of the "Karas" style of chant.
• The Karas-style chant means he's singing a little bit more ornamentation than, other styles (like an Athonite style).
• There's a tone-shift at around 2:30 that's interesting.

Second Tone Papadic Bulgarian Cherubikon -Because Beginners Love Hard Things

So far I've posted recordings of an eirmologic piece, an old sticheraric piece, and new sticheraric piece, and now we have to come to the rhythmic style most unfamiliar and most challenging to aspiring American chanters: the papadic style. Learning papadic pieces can be daunting -pages of notes without a lot of lyrics, it can feel like you're moving through a musical labyrinth of sorts.

Well I felt that way, at first. But like all Byzantine chant, very long papadic pieces are made up of formulae which can be learned piece by piece. 

This is a cherbubikon -a hymn sung before and after the great entrance. It's customary now to stop in the middle and allow the priest and deacon to exclaim the petitions "All of you, the Lord God remember..." As an interesting historical foot note, those exclamations were once merely whispered to people as the priest and deacon went around the church.

The cherubikon is in tone 2. That means the scale is a soft chromatic scale that's one of the least familiar to Western ears. [I know, I know -I picked a soft chromatic papadic piece, doubling the 'foreignness" of the piece]

• It's being in Slavonic by a Bulgarian Byzantine choir.
• Since it's papadic and in the second tone, it cadences mostly on δι (G), βου (E), and High ζω (B) with a rare cadence on νη (C).
• The choir's interpretation is very nice, although they've "smoothed out" some of the trills, flutters, and ornaments.

Compare with this tone 2 cherubikon in English ( music / recording ).

Both are challenging to sing and even listen to. Try to listen to both, although it must be said this isn't music you sit back and relax to. This is music that keeps you alert. So listening to both will be work. Consider yourself challenged to make it through both!

Anoixandaria at Holy Cross Seminary

Continuing on with Chrysanthos's commentary: In the last post we had the list of all the different things you can chant. Now lets turn to the different kinds of "melos" at which things are chanted. I've mentioned the eirmologic and old sticheraric. Today I have an elaborate new sticheraric piece to share. But first more from Chrysanthos:

§.402. These species of psalmody are reduced to four genera of melos: the old Sticheraric, the new Sticheraric, the Papadic and the Heirmologic. ...                   

§.403. The new sticheraric melos is the one found in the Anastasimatarion by Petros the Peloponnesian. On this melos are chanted doxastika, stichera, anastasima, exaposteilaria, ænoi, prosomœa, idiomela, heothina, kathismata, antiphona and eisodika.

The Anastasimatarion of Petros Peloponnesios is a book containing the most common set of melodies used in 'Byzantine' Orthodox Churches for Saturday night vespers/Sunday morning orthros in the eight tones. The new sticheraric is the melos most commonly used in parish churches for 'Lord I have cried,' Doxastica, 'Let every breath', etc. These melodies came into use around the time of the American Revolutionary War. There are abridged versions (sort of) of the melodies. Here's an example of what it looked like:

Lord I have cried, First Tone

This is the old notation -which was never adapted for the printing press. All old notation sheet music are literally manuscripts.

On to the video:

I wish the whole thing had gotten recorded. But this is the anoixandaria chanted at the patronal feast of Holy Cross seminary by the seminarians (and teachers) alternating Greek and English. The anoixandaria is an adaptation of the second half of the "proemiakon" of vespers (psalm 103 that we normally read at the beginning). The bishop has already read the verses of the psalm until right before "when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things." The video is trained on the "left" choir. The Lambadarios (i.e. the leader of the left side) is Rassem el-Massih, Protopsaltis of the Antiochian Archdiocese. 

• This is the anoixandaria at the beginning of great vespers.
• They're singing in the new sticheraric melos (2-4 beats per syllable).
• The setting they're using is in Plagal Fourth Tone (sometimes called 'Tone 8').
• The setting they're using is attributed to Phokaeus (but he merely published it).
• This piece changes tones as it goes along, so beware! But, as is normal for plagal fourth tone, each verse ends on Νη (C, more or less)
• The two choirs, right and left, are chanting antiphonally. This is the authentic tradition presupposed by Orthodox liturgical books.

Goals and Slow Athonite Kekregaria

Chrysanthos of Madytos says that:

Species of psalmody are the following : Anoixantaria, Kekragaria, Doxastika, Stichera, Dochai, Troparia, Apolytikia, Anastasima, Kathismata, Hypakoai, Antiphona, Polyeleoi, Pasapnoaria, Canons, Odæ, Heirmoi, Katabasiæ, Kontakia, Oikoi, Megalynaria, Exaposteilaria, Aenoi, Prosomœa, Idiomela, Heothina, Doxologies, Asmatica, Mathemata, Typika, Makarismoi, Eisodika, Trishagia, Alleluaria, Cheroubika, Koinonika, Calophonic Heirmoi, etc.

That's every kind of sung worship in the Orthodox Church, so far as I know. I'm not sure what the "etc." would refer to. I suppose under Doxastica you could include Theotokia Doxastica, and under Exaposteilaria you could include Photogogika (but that's getting into minutiae).

It's a goal of mine to post at least one example of everything on that list.



This recording is of "Lord I have cried," in Greek at the Vespers of the feast of the Placing of the Belt of the Theotokos, chanted by the monks of Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. The recording is by a pilgrim, so the quality isn't professional, but it does capture a little bit what it's like to be there (the churches are kept dark).

• "Lord I have cried" is the first half of the kekregaria, the other half is the "Let my prayer arise"
• The monks are chanting in the First Tone.
• Instead of the Lord I have cried we normally hear in Vespers, they're singing the Old Sticheraric (more on that later) version by Iakovos Protopsaltis. That's why instead of a minute and a half, it takes six minutes to sing.
• They're singing the longer setting because this is during an all-night vigil.
• The melody cadences, as sticheraric first tone does, on γα (more-or-less an F) and ζω (more-or-less a B) for medial cadences and Πα (more or less a D) for complete cadences.
• At the beginning of the recording, one of the chanters asks the Proestos (either the abbot or a bishop) for permission to start by singing "Command, holy master: First Tone" in the tone and pitch of the rest of the hymn.

Appreciating Psalmody with UT OCF

Brothers in Christ, I was asked by the University of Texas OCF chapter to do some chant instruction with them. Doing that through a blog post seemed like a reasonable way to accommodate their pious request. If I'm on good behavior I'll update this 3 times a week, but I'm usually pretty bad about keeping up with stuff like that. Ναὶ, τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργοῦντος! May this effort and you all blessed.

I'll start with a youtube video from the Antiochian tradition of Psalmody:

This is the apolytikion (a troparion -i.e. a hymn- sung at the end of vespers and at other times) of St. George in Arabic. By odd historical accident, although most of the Antiochian churches founded in the 20th century in North America are dedicated to St. George, almost none use this melody or even an English adaptation of this melody. 

• This apolytikion is in the Fourth Tone, and that means the melody cadences on Δι (a G, more or less) and βου (an E, more or less)
• Although it is Fourth Tone, and Fourth Tone is a diatonic tone, they're singing this with soft chromatic intervals (more on that later).
• The piece is being chanted in the Eirmologic style (i.e. roughly one beat per syllable). 
• The choir singing this is the Choir of St. Romanos of Beirut Lebanon; it is a solidly traditional Antiochian style of chanting (there are other styles, such as the Ecumenical Patriarchate style, the Bulgarian style, the Athonite style, etc.)