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| Introduction | ||||
Audio Example 1.
"Pascha hieron," a historical recording of either Lakovos Nafpliotes (died †1942)
or Konstantinos Pringos (died †1964),
both protopsaltae of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
It is the stichera aposticha for Pascha (Easter), in Mode I Plagal and done in 'syntomon' style.
The sound in the background is called 'ison' or 'isokratema'; it is basically the accompaniment that holds the base note of the
tetrachord in which the melos is working (similar to Latin, 'tenor').
This is an ancient chant that is found in a book called the Pentekostarion, which contains the chants for services spanning from
the Sunday of Pascha to the Sunday of All Saints.
Text: "A sacred Pascha hath been shown forth to us today; a new and holy Pascha, a mystic Pascha ..."
{full text}.
A central idea of Eastern Orthodox chant is that humans sing in imitation of the angels; often, the singer will try to depict the meaning of a sacred text by the manner of singing.
Many people automatically associate Orthodox worship with the rich choral
traditions of music that developed in Russia and the Ukraine. Georgian,
Serbian, Romanian and Bulgarian choirs also possess an extensive repertoire
of choral liturgical music. Greek and Arabic Byzantine churches, however,
have retained a very different style of monophonic chant, a tradition which
also lives on, side by side with the Slav choral tradition in many churches
in Romania and Bulgaria, and a closely related form of chant in Serbia.
This music is known as Psalmodia: it has common roots with Latin
plainchant and with the chant of the Syrian and Armenian churches.
It originates in the ancient musical traditions, both Jewish and Pagan,
of the Eastern Mediterranean. (Melling [1], p. 4)
In some cases, one can find in Orthodox chant remnants of the metrical schemes of classical Greek poetry. The early Roman Church apparently borrowed from Byzantine chant, as for instance, the Kyrie ("Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.") consists entirely of Greek words, even though chanted in the Latin Mass. An exciting area of study, for which NEUMES transcriptions may be useful, is in tracing the connections that Orthdox chant and notation may have to ancient Hebrew practice on the one hand, and to Latin manuscripts of Western chant on the other. |
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Orthodox Spirituality | |||||
 n contrast to the Western (or, Roman Catholic) Church — which imposed a unified language of
liturgy (i.e., Latin) and highly centralized authority in the Pope (normally, the Bishop of Rome, which is believed to be the
see of Saint Peter) — the Eastern Orthodox Churches
{def.}
retained what are likely more ancient traditions: liturgy in the local language of the people; and of
a somewhat more shared or decentralized authority in the Church.
Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Catholic Church today, however, does encourage liturgy in local languages
(as was the normal practice during the first few hundred years of Christianity).
According to the Orthodox Church, the "East Romans," Glorification is the vision of God in which the equality of all men and the absolute value of each man is experienced. ... According to the Orthodox, God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment. All men have been created to see God unceasingly in His uncreated glory. Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell, reward or punishment, depends on man's response to God's love and on man's transformation from the state of selfish and self-centered love, to Godlike love which does not seek its own ends. According to the Orthodox, since all men will see God, no religion can claim for itself the power to send people either to heaven or to hell. ... [T]he authority for Christian truth is not the written words of the Bible, which cannot in themselves either express God or convey an adequate concept concerning God, but rather the individual apostle, prophet, or saint who is glorified in God. ... [T]he Franks [viz., the Western Church], following Augustine, neither understood the Patristic position on this subject, nor were they willing ... to listen to "Greeks" explain these distinctions .... The Bible is not in itself either inspired or infallible. It becomes inspired and infallible within the communion of saints because they have the experience of divine glory described in the Bible. (Romanides [2]) |
| Orthodox Church History |
| The
capital of the Roman Empire was moved in a.d. 330
by Emperor Constantine (I) [died 337] from the Latin city of Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium
(see, map).
Under Constantine, Christianity was tolerated for the first time in the Roman Empire.
Christian bishops, however, changed somewhat the Christian religion to comply with Constantine for gaining this freedom.
For example, the day of rest was changed from the Biblical Sabbath
(which is Saturday [cf., Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 16:28-29, Exodus 20:8-11, etc.])
to Sunday (under Roman time, from midnight-to-midnight).
Constantine decreed this in honor of Apollo, the god of the sun
in Roman pantheist religion.[3]
Constantine worshipped Apollo above all gods. (This is a direct violation of the Ten Commandments
that Jesus told his disciples to obey.)
The bishops rationalized that Christians had traditionally met on Sundays to
commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (which happened on a Sunday,
the first day of the week [cf., Mark 16:1-2, Luke 23:55-56, 24:1, etc.]),
and that anyone who kept the Biblical Sabbath was 'judaizing' [their word].
Furthermore, it was argued, the number eight is a symbol for eternity or rebirth according to numerology—such
numerology can be found in the Kabbalah
(or, Cabala)
and ancient mystery religions.
A (non-existent) eighth day of the week was postulated as the 'Christian Sabbath'; it was supposed
to exist mystically, somehow overlapping with Sunday. This 'Christian Sabbath' was enacted in 1350
as Church canon law at the Council of Laodicea.[4]
Just a generation later, in a.d. 380, Emperor Theodosius (I) decreed that Christianity would be the official state religion of the Roman Empire, and the old religion of the Caesars would no longer be tolerated (see, further history of Byzantium). The new status of Christianity as the state religion required that the Church 'dress up its image' to be appropriate for functions of state. Outward displays (such as clerical dress, liturgical celebrations, sacramental objects, liturgical music, etc.) had to be made more 'dignified' and majestic to reflect the Church's official role. In this role, the Church was increasingly used as a vehicle for enforcing state policy, and the 'separation of church and state' was greatly blurred. For instance, the Emperor Justinian decreed in 538 (by Imperial edict) that the bishop of Rome (viz., the Pope) was the head of all Christian churches. Confounding the distinction between religion and the state was used as an effective, inexpensive, and non-violent method for controlling the thoughts and behavior of the general population.      Images, from left: Chapel at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY
(remark the heavy use of gold leaf, and the rich decoration of the walls and ceiling). Cf., monastery
website. A great amount of gold (gold thread, gold leaf, and solid gold), precious jewels, fine art, vestments and insignia implying authority, and splendid architecture. These were used by the Church to fulfill its new, majestic function as state religion of the Roman Empire. This was rationalized as giving glory to Christ the King, who had triumphed over the world, but it contrasted greatly with the simple lifestyles of John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and early, persecuted Christians. Under an interpretation of Biblical prophesy, the Great Tribulation had passed, and Christ reigned over the world through his Church. In turn, the state depended on the Church to give it legimacy in the beliefs of most of the population (viz., the 'divine right of kings'). |
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In its turn, Constantinople fell to invasion by Turkish tribes in May of 1453, and the Greek Orthodox Church entered a long period of subjugation to Moslem rulers. Much further to the east, Russia had been a missionary outpost of the Greek Christian Church, but with the fall of Constantinople, the Russian Orthodox Church saw itself as the only remaining bastion of pure Christianity. Runciman writes as follows.
While Byzantium had been falling more and more completely under Turkish sway the Russians had been
driving back their Tartar overlords and recovering their independence. The conversion of Russia had been
one of the glories of the Byzantine Church. But now the daughter country was growing mightier than the mother.
... Now, with their record of Orthodoxy unblemished, they possessed the only potentate to survive in the Orthodox
world .... [T]he true Christian Empire had moved to Moscow. 'Constantinople has fallen', wrote the Metropolitan of
Moscow in 1458, 'because it has deserted the true Orthodox faith. ... There exists only one tru Church on earth,
the Church of Russia.' It was to be Russia's mission now to preserve Christianity.
(Runciman [5], pp. 177-1784)
|
| Byzantine Neume Notation | ||||
The writers of early manuscripts are anonymous, but manuscripts written in the past two centuries typically usually are attributable to individual scribes. Audio Example 2.
"Cherubic Hymn" by Ioannes Kladas for the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in mode 1 (excerpt).
It was performed in Hagia Sophia Cathedral at Byzantium for festive Liturgies in the presence of the Emperor.
(Sung here by the Romeiko Ensemble, directed by Yorgos Bilalis.)
The musical notation from the middle of the 12th century and later, usually
called the Round or Middle Byzantine system, can be read with certainty in
its melodic structure and with very high probability in its rhythmical and
modal character .... But the Early Byzantine systems, though partially
expored are still a controversial subject. The Cloislin Notation (c.
1100-1160) is near enough to the Round system to allow of a tentative
transcription, from which it appears that the neumes do not yet express
the exact intervals, but only give a vague indication of the course of the
melody, which the singer had to learn from his master's lips. ...
What then are we to say about the older neumes of the 10th and 11th centuries?
[Wellesz and Höeg] both incline to view that the most archaic
(or Esphigmenian) neumes had no melodic content whatever, but only showed
the rhythm of an orally transmitted series of hymns.
(Tillyard [6], p. 223)
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Types of Orthodox Sacred Song | |||
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Kontakion, Troparion, Exaposteilarion,
and Vespers Sticheron or Doxastikon The "Troparion" and "Kontakion" are short, poetic chanted hymns that present the main theme of devotion for the day or the commemorated event on particular feasts. Every day and feast throughout the year has a troparion and a kontakion. A sticherarium is a collection of the Proper Hymns for the various holy days of the Church calendar. The Proper Hymns show remarkable uniformity of text, and clearly go back to a common original (Tillyard [7]). The Apolytikion and Kontakion troparia are used in all the daily hour services:
Audio Example 3.
Grand Petition, as sung by monks of
Visoki Decani Monastery (Serbia).
|
| The Troparion | ||
| The word troparion refers to a short, poetic hymn.
It is also known as the apolytikion or "dismissal hymn," which is the main troparion of the day.
"Troparia" is the plural of "troparion," and "apolytikia" is the plural of "apolytikion." On Sundays, the troparion apolytikia have as their themes the Resurrection of the Saviour Jesus Christ on the third day. There are eight resurrectional troparia, one for each of the eight modes of the Byzantine chant system. The Sunday troparia are dedicated to the Resurrection, because Sunday is the first day of the week, that is, the day when Christ rose from the tomb. Each mode has its own hymns, including its own apolytikion, kontakion and hypakoe troparia. 
Each day of the week has a unique commemoration, as reflected in the daily apolytikia or troparia.
Monday commemorates the incorporeal powers, that is, the angels.
Tuesday commemorates St John the Baptist and Forerunner, as the last of all the Old Testament prophets that
"pointed" to Christ.
Wednesday commemorates the betrayal of Christ to the High Priests.
Thursday commemorates the Apostles and their successors, the hierarchs.
Friday commemorates the Crucifixion of Christ.
Saturday commemorates All-saints, the Mother of God who is Theotokos and the first of all saints,
and the souls of all those who have passed from this world.There are two types of feasts in the Byzantine, Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar: the movable feasts; and the immovable feasts. The movable feasts are those that depend on the date of Pascha (Easter), which is different every year. These are contained in the liturgical books known as the "Compunctional Triodion" and the "Joyful [Charmosinon] Triodion," which today is referred to as the "Pentecostarion." The word "triodion" comes from the fact that the canons (another hymnographic form) contained in these books each has three odes. Hence: "tri" (from the Greek word for "three"); and "odion" (from the term "ode," meaning "canticle"). The immovable feasts are connected to fixed dates of the year. These are contained in the book known as the "menaion," or book of months. Therefore, since every day of the year has some type of saint (martyr, hierarch, righteous, apostle, etc.) or a feast-event (the Nativitiy of Christ, the birth of St John the Baptist, the birth of Mary Theodokos, etc.), each day has its own particular troparion. Audio Example 4.
"Christos Anesti" of the daily hour service for Easter Sunday.
Two versions are given here: (a) an excerpt of the Greek-language version; and (b) the Arabic version
of this hymn as sung by Christians in Lebanon. (The singer, Sister Keyouz, is a member of the Lebanese community of
the Order of the Sisters of Basil.) Full text: "Christ is risen; in his victorious death he has given life to the dead"
[translated in the CD liner notes].
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| The Kontakion | ||
Romanus was the greatest of all Byzantine hymn-wrights, and his narrative-odes, or religious ballads,
have a fervor, simplicity, and power, of which later Greek hymnody shows little trace.
After the iconoclastic strife in the early seventh century, the liturgical books were altered by St. John of Damascus
or his followers and only the preludes of the odes of Romanus were left.
The original music consequently disappeared.
(Tillyard [7])
Today, only the 'koukoulion' and first 'oikos' are used, except for rare circumstances and in the much-beloved Akathist Hymn (which is used in the period of the Great Fast). For this reason the 'koukoulion' is now normally referred to as the kontakion hymn. |
