Now playing: Meet it is – 17 th Century Valaam Chant

The Cycle of the Eight Tones Performance Practice in the Eastern Orthodox Church

Brief History of Orthodoxy Founded at Pentecost (Acts Ch. 2) Church of the Seven Ecumenical Councils –1 st in Nicea (325 AD) – Nicene Creed –7 th in Nicea (787 AD) – Confirmation of Icons Originally governed by five patriarchs –Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria –1054 marks the Great Schism – Rome separates from Eastern Church

Brief History of Orthodoxy 988 – Baptism of Russia Moscow becomes 5 th Patriarchate in 16 th century Orthodoxy is official religion of the Byzantine and Russian Empires There are now 15 autocephalous Orthodox Churches world-wide 2 nd Largest Christian Denomination in the World

Role of Music Singing is an integral part of every service Every part of the service is chanted or sung, with the exception of the sermon –When texts are “read”, they are chanted All music is a cappella Text is most important aspect of music All participate in singing Clergy – chanter – choir – congregation

Services Orthodox Church is Liturgical Three types of services –Daily Services –Liturgies (Eucharist services) –Other offices Wedding, Baptism, Unction, Akathist, Molieben, etc.

Liturgies Divine Liturgy of St. James (c. 60 AD) Divine Liturgy of St. Basil (4 th century) Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Typica (read in place of liturgy) Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts –By St. Gregory Dialogus –Used only during Great Lent

Daily Services Nocturnes (Midnight Office) Matins (Morning Service) 1 st Hour (6am) 3 rd Hour (9am) 6 th Hour (Noon) 9 th Hour (3pm) Vespers (Evening Service) Compline

Cycle of Services Books that prescribe hymns –Horologion (Book of the Hours) –Octoechos (Book of Eight Tones) –Menaion (Daily services) –Triodion (Lenten services) –Pentecostarion (Easter and Pentecost)

Types of Hymns Troparion Kontakion Sticheron Prokeimenon Irmos

The Octoechos Book of the Eight Tones Contains Hymns for each day of the week –Sunday – Resurrection –Monday – Angels –Tuesday – John the Baptist and other Prophets –Wednesday – The Cross and Christ’s Betrayal –Thursday – Apostles –Friday – Crucifixion –Saturday – Saints and Martyrs/Commemoration of the Dead

The Octoechos Byzantine Chant –Each tone is a different mode (scale) –Troparia & Stichera tones are similar –In contemporary Greek practice, there are no tones for prokeimena, as they are read Russian Chant –Now, several tones are in the same mode –Troparia & Stichera tones are different –There are several melodies for prokeimena

Octoechos Byzantine Chant –There is only one set of Tones in all Byzantine traditions –Tones 1-4 are related to tones 5-8 Tone 5 = Plagal 1 st Tone 6 = Plagal 2 nd Tone 7 = Grave Tone Tone 8 = Plagal 4 th Russian Chant –There are several sets of Tones from Russia; Kievan, Znameny, etc. –There is no correlation between the eight tones

How does the Octoechos Work? The Eight Tones rotate on an eight week cycle, beginning with the 2 nd Sunday of Pentecost The “Tone of the Week” is used for all daily hymns in each service Hymns from other books, such as the Menaion, are also added into the daily services, depending on the time of year These hymns are also assigned a specific tone, but not necessarily the tone of the week Set hymns for each service, from the Horologion, can also be assigned a different tone

Daily Vespers: an outline Usual Beginning – set of prayers for opening most services Psalm 103 – Read by chanter Great Litany – Priest/Deacon & Choir Kathisma – Reading from Psalter Little Litany – Priest/Deacon & Choir Lord, I have cried – Psalms 140, 141, 129, 116; sung in tone of the week –Contains hymns from the octoechos and possibly the Menaion or other book, depending on the time of year

Daily Vespers (cont.) Gladsome Light – Choir Prokeimenon – Priest/Deacon & Choir Prayer read by chanter Litany of Supplication – Priest/Deacon & Choir Aposticha – Sung in tone of the week Prayer of St. Simeon – read or sung in Tone 6 Trisagion prayers read by chanter Troparia of the day – Sung in different tones Augmented Litany – Priest/Deacon & Choir Dismissal – Priest & Choir

Byzantine Chant Basis for all forms of Orthodox music Stems from chant of the synagogue Until 16 th century, Byzantine Chant was monophonic The ison, or drone, was added in the mid- sixteenth century There are two ways to chant and two centers for Byzantine Chant throughout history

Constantinople Seat of Orthodoxy during Byzantine Empire There was a distinct “Grand Cathedral” style of worship Chant was performed by “professional” chanters that also composed many of the hymns that have been passed down.

Mount Athos

Athonite Tradition There are Twenty monasteries on Mount Athos Monastic life includes all daily services Each monastery has it’s own style of chanting Monastic style of worship was different from the Constantinopolitan worship Today, the Greek Church still follows Constantinopolitan practice to some degree, while the Russian Church has mostly adopted the Athonite style of worship

Two styles of Byzantine Chant 1) One chanter sings the melody, while the others all chant the ison 2) Half of the chanters sing the melody, and the others all chant the ison Style 1 allows for more ornamentation Both styles involve two choirs singing antiphonally

Style 1 Monks of St. Anthony’s Monastery “Rich men have become poor” Grave Tone (Tone 7)

Style 2 Monks of Simonopetra Monastery “Rich men have become poor” Grave Tone (Tone 7)

Byzantine Notation Uses signs to indicate intervals, dynamics, accents, pace, ornamentation, voice inflections Cannot be accurately transferred to Western notation At first, symbols were just added to texts to show the tones, and chanters would have them memorized To conserve lost melodies, Byzantine notation was created to be as specific as possible

Two Samples Sticheron to St. Anthony at Lord, I have cried – Tone 1 Troparion to St. Anthony – Plagal 1 st Tone (Tone 8)

Russian Chant Inherited from Constantinople in 10 th Century Was mostly monophonic until 17 th Century Early chant – Znameny (neumes or signs) –Simple melodies –Evolved in 17 th Century to include parts –Demestveny Chant – used for feasts More complicated melodies

Russian Chant Reforms by Patriarch Nikon in 17 th Century caused split in the church –Western harmony was introduced –“Old Belivers” split off and use only single part Znameny melodies

Znameny Notation Similar to Byzantine notation Signs are mostly vertical, as opposed to Byzantine notation Square note notation was introduced as well, and manuscripts represent both styles

Znameny Samples Troparion of the Cross – Tone 1 –15 th Century Znameny Chant Troparion of the Cross – Tone 1 –17 th Century Znameny Chant

Other forms of Russian Chant Monastic communities in Russia compose their own chant melodies –Valaam Chant – island monastery on Lake Ladoga –Trinity-Sergius Chant – Patriarchal Monastery near Moscow –Kievan Chant – Monastery of the Kiev Caves From Kievan Chant comes Obikhod (Common)

Obikhod Chant Developed by Bakhmetev and L’vov –“court composers” –against “classical” composers writing church music in Western style 4 part harmony Sticheron tones in Obikhod chant are based on Kievan chant melodies Troparion tones are based on “Greek” Chant Prokeimena tones are based on Znameny chant Irmos Tones are combination of all three styles

Troparion – Obikhod Tone 1 Based on Greek chant Best known Russian melody Used by Tchaikovsky for 1812 Overture

Two Listening Examples Kievan Chant – Tone 6 –“Having Beheld the Resurrection of Christ” –St. Vladimir’s Seminary Male Chorus Obikhod Chant – Tone 6 –“Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior” –St. Vladimir’s Seminary Clergy

Other Russian Traditions Many feasts for saints or events are written to special melodies, or podoben Peter the Great and the Westernization of Russia –Brought in Italian architects and musicians –Italian opera was performed in the Russian court –Giuseppe Sarti become the official court music director Dmitri Bortniansky takes over and adds Italian techniques to Russian traditions Becomes one of the most prolific composers of Russian church music Develops the Sacred Concerto – non-liturgical piece sung during clergy communion

Other Russian Traditions Composers of “art” music begin to write sacred music Imperial Chapel censors much of it Settings of the Divine Liturgy and All-Night Vigil start appearing from Tchaikovsky and others –Many of these are not used in Liturgical worship –Condemned as “too Western”

“Golden Age” of Russian Choral Music From late 19 th Century until 1917 Between composers write settings of the Divine Liturgy and All-Night Vigil Pavel Chesnokov composes almost 200 pieces of Sacred music Others are Kastalsky, Archangelsky, Gretchaninoff, Rachmaninoff, Kalinnikov Ends with Bolshevik Revolution –Sacred music is practically banned

In America Due to multiple ethnic groups in the U.S., Orthodox churches now combine musical aspects of both traditions into their services A typical service might feature hymns in Byzantine, Kievan, Obikhod, Znameny, and other chant systems

Listening Examples Paschal Canon – Ode 1 –Byzantine Chant –Performed by Eikona Paschal Canon – Ode 1 –Russian “Greek” Chant –Performed by St. Vladimir’s Male Chorus

Exit Music Psalm 103 Russian “Greek” Chant Arr. by Kedrov