At the command of almighty God, the God-bearing Apostles were caught up from wherever they were, and lifted up on high by the clouds; coming to Thy all-pure and life-creating body, they venerated it with great honor. And the most exalted hosts of heaven, having arrived with their Master, accompanied the most pure body which had received God; being seized with awe, they went forth in a heavenly manner, and cried aloud invisibly to the hierarchies above, “Behold! the Queen of all, the divine Maiden, has come! Lift up your gates, and receive her above the world, who is the Mother of the everlasting Light; for through her hath come all the salvation of mortals; upon her we cannot gaze, it is impossible to pay her due honor; for her excellence surpasseth all understanding!” Wherefore, O all-pure Mother of God, ever living with the life-bearing King, Thy Son, pray without ceasing that He closely guard and save thy new people from every assault of the adversary; for we have acquired thine intercession, gloriously blessing Thee unto the ages. (The dogmatikon of Vespers of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in the Byzantine Rite.)
An icon of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, painted in the second half of the 15th century by an anonymous artist of the Cretan school. Public domainimage from Wikimedia Commons.
At Byzantine Vespers, a set of hymns called “stichera” is sung between the verses of a group of four psalms which do not change from day to day. (These are Psalms 140, 141, 129 and 116, in the traditional numeration of the Septuagint; similar sets of hymns are sung or read on many other occasions.) The last of these is almost always a “theotokion”, a hymn about the Virgin Mary, but on Her own feasts, it is known as a dogmatikon.
This particular composition is unusual in that each part of it is sung in a different chant mode, in ascending order, and concluding by returning to the first; the different parts would originally have been sung by alternating choirs. In Greek, the modes are named first through fourth, then first and second plagal, the “grave” or “heavy” mode (“βαρύς”, never “third plagal”), and fourth plagal; in the Slavic tradition, they are simply numbered in ascending order.
In the following recording, a “canonarch”, or chief cantor, sings the text out bit by bit before the choir sings it. This custom originated from the impossibility of having a book for each of the cantors (who might well number several dozen in a large monastery), given the unbelievably vast repertoire of liturgical texts used in the Byzantine Rite. (The Dormition is typical in having almost 100 proper hymns in the Divine Office.) He also announces the shifts in mode; so for example, at 4:32, he says “plagal of the first mode. ‘Coming to Thy all-pure’ ”. This extends the full recording, from the doxology at the end of the psalms to the last word of the hymn, to over 28 minutes.
The modern Slavic choral tradition, which is very heavily indebted to Western influences, and especially to the Italians, often blurs out or removes distinctions of the original Byzantine chant. In the following Slavonic version, the hymn is sung in the same melody throughout, reducing the time to just under 2½ minutes. However, partly out of respect for the older tradition of singing with a canonarch, it is still the common custom for a cantor to announce the tones of the hymns during the Office, and this recording begins with the conductor singing, ‘Glory (to the Father)’ and ‘Both now’ in the same tone” (i.e. as that of the preceding chants.)
Finally, here is splendid English version (in a different translation from my own given above), recorded at St Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting, Indiana, eight years ago.
The holy Apostles were taken up from every corner of the world, and carried upon clouds by the command of God. They gathered around your pure body, O Source of Life, and kissed it with reverence. As for the most sublime powers of heaven, they came with their own leader to escort and to pay their last respects to the most honorable body that had contained Life itself. Filled with awe, they marched together with the apostles in silent majesty, professing to the princes of heaven in a hushed voice: Lift up your gates and receive, with becoming majesty, the Mother of the Light that never fades, because, through her, salvation was made possible for our human race. She is the One upon whom no one may gaze, and to whom no one is able to render sufficient glory; for the special honor that made her sublime is beyond understanding. Therefore, O most pure Theotokos, forever alive with your Son, the Source of Life, do not cease to intercede with Him that he may guard and save your people from every trouble; for you are our intercessor. To you we sing a hymn of glory with loud and joyful voices, now and forever.
On the first three days of Holy Week, the first troparion of the Byzantine service of Orthros (the equivalent of Roman Matins and Lauds) is this very beautiful text, which has given its name to the service, Bridegroom Matins. This English version is sung with the same music as the traditional Church Slavonic version, an edifying example of how to celebrate a rite in the vernacular without destroying its musical patrimony. Before the tropar, a threefold Alleluia is sung with four verses of Isaiah 26.
“Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, oh my soul, do not be weighed down sleep, lest you be given up to death, and lest you be shut out of the kingdom; but rouse yourself, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy are Thou, o our God. * Through the Mother of God, have mercy on us!”
Matins are often anticipated to the evening of the day before, so that the first of the Bridegroom Matins, that of Holy Monday, is celebrated on the evening of Palm Sunday, the second, that of Holy Tuesday, on the evening of Holy Monday, and the third, that of Holy Wednesday, on the evening of Holy Tuesday. The troparion is sung three times, with the two parts of the doxology between them. According to a Greek Holy Week book which I have, the final words “through the Mother of God, have mercy on us!” as given above are only sung the third time. On Holy Monday, the first two times end with the words “by the protection of the Bodiless Ones”, on Holy Tuesday, “by the prayers of the Forerunner”, and on Holy Wednesday, “by the power of the Cross.” However, in the Slavic usage, the end is always “through the Mother of God...”
A similar melody, sung in Ukrainian by seminarians of the Basilian Order at their chapel outside of L’viv.
Another very beautiful version, in Arabic.
The original Greek text, sung by monks of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt Athos.
When I was preparing my recent article about the Little Vespers of the Byzantine Office, I had a chat with one of the wise men I consult about such things, and we got to talking about the length of the service known as All-night Vigil. As previously noted, the term “all” in “All-night” is something of a rhetorical exaggeration, but in large monasteries such as the great houses on Mt Athos, not by much, and this was his description of the order of services for a patronal feast which he attended at one of them.
The katholikon (main church) of the Iviron Monastery on Mt Athos, at the beginning of the All-night vigil of the Nativity of the Virgin this year.
“Ninth Hour, Small Vespers, dinner in the refectory with solemn procession from the church and then back afterwards.
Break for confessions
Beginning of All-Night Vigil proper
– Vespers with Artoklasia (4 hours; the troparia at the artoklasia took 30 minutes with the terirems, Psalm 103 took 1.5 hours)
Reading of the Saint’s Life (around midnight)
Orthros
After the Kontakion of the Sixth Ode they passed to a full Akathistos (I went to sleep at that point) (Presumably) First, Third, and Sixth Hours, Divine Liturgy
Then procession with water blessing.
Lunch”
Me: “Terirems?” (This word struck me not only because I had never heard it before, but also because it doesn’t sound Greek at all.)
The wise man explained to me that terirems are nonsense syllables added to the liturgy, which were originally spontaneous expressions of joy added to the texts when sung. Over time, they came to be completely scripted, and it is considered part of Byzantine musical formation to study the codified ones. Not at all surprisingly, theological pseudo-explanations have been created to explain them, e.g., that they are words that the angels sing in heaven, or of a lullaby which the Virgin Mary sang to Christ. There is very little information about them available on the internet, but some of the very few references I was able to find say that they were also used to cover the gaps in the music if the clergy hadn’t finished what they were doing. (The syllables te-, ri-, -rem are not the names of notes, by the way.)
Here are a few of examples. You can find more on YouTube by searching in various languages; in Greek, the word is τεριρεμ, in Slavonic and its derivatives, терирем.
When Augustus reigned alone upon earth, the many kingdoms of men came to an end, * and when Thou wast made man of the pure Virgin, the many gods of idolatry were destroyed. * The cities of the world passed under one single rule, and the nations came to believe in one sovereign Godhead. * The peoples were enrolled by the decree of Caesar, and we, the faithful, were enrolled in the Name of the Godhead, when Thou, our God, wast made man. * Great is Thy mercy: glory to Thee!
In the recording, this hymn is sung in alternation with the original Greek text, changing over at the places marked with an asterisk.
At Vespers of Christmas Eve in the Byzantine Rite, and again at Vespers on December 30th, the first service of the Leave-taking of the feast, this text is sung at the end of the stikhera, the first set of proper hymns. (In Byzantine terminology, “hymn” is the generic word for a wide variety of compositions used in many different ways, similar in form to Roman Office antiphons, but generally much longer.) It was written by one of the most famous composers of Byzantine liturgical poetry, a nun named Kassiani (or Kassia), who lived in the ninth century. Many of her hymns are extant, and still used in the Byzantine Rite to this day; she is one of the very first composers whose original scores are known and useable. I have previously described the charming legend about her most famous piece, a hymn which is sung on Great and Holy (i.e. Spy) Wednesday about the woman who anointed Christ’s feet.
An icon of Kassiani, holding a scroll on which are written the first words of her famous hymn for Holy Wednesday. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons, date and artist unknown.)
The Roman Martyrology’s entry for Christmas Eve gives several dates based in sacred history for the year of Christ’s coming “according to the flesh”: 5199 from the creation of the world, 2957 from Noah’s flood, etc. But it also gives three secular dates, one Greek (the 194th Olympiad) and two Roman: “in the 752nd year from the founding of the city of Rome; in the 42nd year of the rule of Octavian Augustus, when all the world was united in peace.” These entries reflect the idea that the achievements of Greek culture, and the peace and stability created by the Roman Empire, served in God’s providence to prepare the world for the arrival of the Savior and the preaching of the Gospel.
The same idea is expressed in Kassiani’s hymn, but there is some interesting historical context related to it to be kept in mind. In the 8th century, the Byzantine emperors had, not for the first time, invented a heresy and attempted to impose it upon their subjects, turning persecutor against their fellow Christians. The essence of this heresy, iconoclasm, was the idea that the veneration of sacred images constituted a form of idolatry. But it also rejected the honor which the Church pays to the Saints, and prayers for their intercession, claiming, just as many protestants do today, that these amount to a kind of polytheism.
The iconoclast heresy was formally condemned by the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the second to be held at Nicaea, in 787. Kassiani was born in Constantinople ca. 805/10; when she was still very young, the heresy was revived by the emperor Leo V in 814, and lasted for nearly 30 more years. Kassiani herself was once presented as a possible bride to the last iconoclast emperor, Theophilus, and later scourged for her opposition to the heresy under his rule.
In light of this, an interesting point emerges regarding the words of the hymn given above as “the many gods of idolatry were destroyed.” A strictly literal translation would be “the polytheism of the idols has been made of no effect.” The perfect tense of the verb “katērgētai” conveys the idea that the result is complete and lasting until the present. (The same is true of the word “kekharitōmenē” in the Gospel of St Luke, which we know in English as “full of grace.”) There are many other ways this could have been said, but Kassiani very cleverly chose a word which states that with the revelation of the Incarnation, idolatry was not merely defeated, but permanently deprived of its power, and therefore, the Church has nothing to fear from the use of sacred images.
An icon of the Nativity by an anonymous Cretan painter, second half of the 15th century.
The hymn in Church Slavonic.
Аѵгусту единоначальствующу на земли, многоначалїе человѣкωвъ преста; и Тебѣ вочеловѣчшусѧ ωт Чистыѧ, многобожїѧ ідωлωвъ оупразднисѧ, подъ единѣмъ царствомъ мїрскимъ гради быша, и во Едино Владычество Божества ꙗзыцы вѣроваша. Написашесѧ людїе повелѣниїмъ кесаревымъ, написахомсѧ вѣрнїи, Именемъ Божества, Тебе вочеловѣчшагосѧ Бога нашегω. Велїѧ Твоѧ милость, Господи, слава Тебѣ.
And a Greek version in traditional liturgical chant.
Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel, Princeton, New Jersey, December 5th, 8 pm: non-ticketed, entrance is free.
In what promises to be a wonderful concert, the choral group Demestvo will present “Lost Polyphonies,” a program showcasing the earliest
traditions of vocal polyphony from Europe, performed alongside contemporary compositions that
engage with these chant traditions. The concert will feature music from Russia, Georgia,
Byzantium, France, and England, including world premieres of newly transcribed chants that
have not been heard for over 300 years. Alongside these pieces, Demestvo and guest artists
will perform new works by Princeton graduate composers Justin Wright, Lucy McKnight, and
Caroline Shaw.
Named after a Slavic polyphonic chant tradition, Demestvo is a quartet founded by Princeton
University musicology PhD student and soprano Anastasia Shmytova. Conceived as part of her
dissertation research on medieval Slavic chant and early polyphony, Demestvo is committed to
bringing the unique sound world of this unheard music to contemporary audiences.
This event is co-sponsored by scalafoundation.org (for whom I am Artist-in-Residence). I hope to see you there!
At the command of almighty God, the God-bearing Apostles were caught up from wherever they were, and lifted up on high by the clouds; coming to Thy all-pure and life-creating body, they venerated it with great honor. And the most exalted hosts of heaven, having arrived with their Master, accompanied the most pure body which had received God; being seized with awe, they went forth in a heavenly manner, and cried aloud invisibly to the hierarchies above, “Behold! the Queen of all, the divine Maiden, has come! Lift up your gates, and receive her above the world, who is the Mother of the everlasting Light; for through her hath come all the salvation of mortals; upon her we cannot gaze, it is impossible to pay her due honor; for her excellence surpasseth all understanding!” Wherefore, O all-pure Mother of God, ever living with the life-bearing King, Thy Son, pray without ceasing that He closely guard and save thy new people from every assault of the adversary; for we have acquired thine intercession, gloriously blessing Thee unto the ages. (The dogmatikon of Vespers of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in the Byzantine Rite.)
An icon of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, painted in the second half of the 15th century by an anonymous artist of the Cretan school. Public domainimage from Wikimedia Commons.
At Byzantine Vespers, a set of hymns called “stichera” is sung between the verses of a group of four psalms which do not change from day to day. (These are Psalms 140, 141, 129 and 116, in the traditional numeration of the Septuagint; similar sets of hymns are sung or read on many other occasions.) The last of these is almost always a “theotokion”, a hymn about the Virgin Mary, but on Her own feasts, it is known as a dogmatikon.
This particular composition is unusual in that each part of it is sung in a different chant mode, in ascending order, and concluding by returning to the first; the different parts would originally have been sung by alternating choirs. In Greek, the modes are named first through fourth, then first and second plagal, the “grave” or “heavy” mode (“βαρύς”, never “third plagal”), and fourth plagal; in the Slavic tradition, they are simply numbered in ascending order.
In the following recording, a “canonarch”, or chief cantor, sings the text out bit by bit before the choir sings it. This custom originated from the impossibility of having a book for each of the cantors (who might well number several dozen in a large monastery), given the unbelievably vast repertoire of liturgical texts used in the Byzantine Rite. (The Dormition is typical in having almost 100 proper hymns in the Divine Office.) He also announces the shifts in mode; so for example, at 4:32, he says “plagal of the first mode. ‘Coming to Thy all-pure’ ”. This extends the full recording, from the doxology at the end of the psalms to the last word of the hymn, to over 28 minutes.
The modern Slavic choral tradition, which is very heavily indebted to Western influences, and especially to the Italians, often blurs out or removes distinctions of the original Byzantine chant. In the following Slavonic version, the hymn is sung in the same melody throughout, reducing the time to just under 2½ minutes. However, partly out of respect for the older tradition of singing with a canonarch, it is still the common custom for a cantor to announce the tones of the hymns during the Office, and this recording begins with the conductor singing, ‘Glory (to the Father)’ and ‘Both now’ in the same tone” (i.e. as that of the preceding chants.)
Finally, here is splendid English version (in a different translation from my own given above), recorded at St Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting, Indiana, five years ago.
The holy Apostles were taken up from every corner of the world, and carried upon clouds by the command of God. They gathered around your pure body, O Source of Life, and kissed it with reverence. As for the most sublime powers of heaven, they came with their own leader to escort and to pay their last respects to the most honorable body that had contained Life itself. Filled with awe, they marched together with the apostles in silent majesty, professing to the princes of heaven in a hushed voice: Lift up your gates and receive, with becoming majesty, the Mother of the Light that never fades, because, through her, salvation was made possible for our human race. She is the One upon whom no one may gaze, and to whom no one is able to render sufficient glory; for the special honor that made her sublime is beyond understanding. Therefore, O most pure Theotokos, forever alive with your Son, the Source of Life, do not cease to intercede with Him that he may guard and save your people from every trouble; for you are our intercessor. To you we sing a hymn of glory with loud and joyful voices, now and forever.
Strange as this may seem, the Roman Rite is very unusual in having as many propers for the individual Sundays of the year as it does, in both the Mass and the Divine Office. To give just one simple example: in the season after Pentecost, each Sunday Gospel has its own antiphons for the Benedictus and Magnificat which are taken from it. In the same period, the Ambrosian Rite has only four Sunday antiphons for either canticle, which are said in rotation, and whose texts are taken from the canticles themselves. In the Ambrosian Mass, there are six sets of prayers and prefaces for the Sunday Masses after Pentecost, which are also said in rotation. The Mozarabic Rite has only three Offices for all the Sundays of the same period, and only seven Masses.
St John of Damascus and his foster-brother, St Cosmas of Maiuma, from the Menologion of Basil II, ca. 1000 A.D. The Octoechos is traditionally attributed to St John, who was certainly an outstanding composer of liturgical music and poetry, but the book has undergone many evolutions since his time. Many of the attributions of authorship in Byzantine liturgical books are now regarded as historically uncertain. (Public domainimage from Wikimedia Commons.)
The Byzantine Rite is therefore more typical than not in having eight Sunday Offices of the Resurrection, which are arranged according to the eight musical tones, and said in a rotation that is very rarely interrupted. (The book in which these are set out is called the Octoechos (Ὀκτώηχος), or “book of eight tones” in Greek; in Church Slavonic, this title is either transliterated as “Октωихъ”, or translated as “Осьмогласникъ.”) [1] On a good number of Sundays (e.g. those of Fore-Lent, Lent, and the two-week Byzantine Advent), proper texts of the season are added to those of the Octoechos, but do not displace them. At the Divine Liturgy, which is in almost every way much less variable than the Roman Mass, each Sunday has its own Scriptural readings, but the chants that precede them also repeat on the eight-week cycle, and the other variable chants of the day (the tropar and the kontak) are borrowed from the Office, also on that cycle.
The first page of the 13th century Vienna Octoechos, alias Codex Hankensteinianus (ÖNB Cod. Slav. 37), copied out in the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia, a region which is now part of Ukraine; currently in the National Library of Austria in Vienna. (Image from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
There is, however, a very important exception to this arrangement, one that touches on almost every Sunday of the year. At the longest and most complicated Hour of the Byzantine Office, known as Orthros, a Gospel of the Resurrection is sung almost every Sunday. These are arranged on an eleven- week rotation, which starts on the Sunday after Pentecost, the Byzantine feast of All Saints, and runs in order until the last Sunday of the following Lent inclusive. The eleven Gospels are:
1. Matthew 28, 16-20 (Christ’s meeting with the disciples on the mountain in Galilee, and the Great Commission.)
2. Mark 16, 1-8 (The women at the empty tomb.)
3. Mark 16, 9-20 (The appearances of Christ to Mary Magdalene, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to the eleven disciples; the Ascension, and the preaching of the disciples.)
4. Luke 24, 1-12 (The women and St Peter at the empty tomb.)
5. Luke 24, 12-35 (Peter at the empty tomb, and Luke’s much more detailed account of Christ’s appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.)
6. Luke 24, 36-53 (Christ’s appearance to the disciples; the Ascension)
7. John 20, 1-10 (Mary Magdalene, Peter and John at the empty tomb.)
8. John 20, 11-18 (Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene in the garden.)
9. John 20, 19-31 (Christ’s appearance to the disciples on the day of the Resurrection, and to St Thomas eight days later, the Gospel of Low Sunday.)
10. John 21, 1-14 (Christ’s appearance at the sea of Tiberias)
11. John 21, 15-25 (Christ’s words to St Peter, and the epilogue of St John’s Gospel).
This series originated in the ancient Rite of Jerusalem, in which these Gospels were read during Bright Week, as the Eastern churches call the octave of Easter. With some variations in the arrangement, it became part of the Byzantine Rite in the tenth century. It includes all the chapters about the Resurrection from all four Evangelists, except the first 15 verses of Matthew 28, which are reserved for the Divine Liturgy of the Easter vigil.
On Palm Sunday, there is a proper Gospel (Matt. 21, 1-11; 15-17), and on Easter, there is none. After Easter, six of them are read in an order unique to the season (1, 4-7, 3), and on Pentecost, the Gospel is just the first five verses of the ninth one, in which Christ imparts the Holy Spirit to the disciples. Many of the greater feasts of Our Lord, Our Lady and other Saints have their own proper Gospel for Orthros. If a feast of the Lord falls on a Sunday, as Christmas does this year on the Gregorian calendar, its Gospel replaces that of the Resurrection.
Each of the Resurrection Gospels carries with it three hymns of Orthros. (In Byzantine terminology, “hymn” is the generic word for compositions which are like the antiphons of the Roman Rite, but tend to be rather longer. They are nothing like the Western hymns arranged in stanzas.) This makes for a total of 33 different texts, so here I give just an example, those which correspond to the fourth Gospel, which is said today, the 15th Sunday after Pentecost on the Gregorian Calendar.
After the Canon, the longest part of the service, a hymn or set of hymns called exapostilaria are sung. When Orthros is said of a Sunday, the first exapostilarion is taken from the Resurrection Gospel said earlier on, followed by “Glory be”, then repeated and followed by “Both now and forever,” after which a different one is sung in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The Gospel, Luke 24, 1-12: On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled back from the sepulcher. And going in, they found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were astonished in their mind at this, behold, two men stood by them, in shining apparel. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their countenance towards the ground, they said unto them, “Why seek you the living with the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spoke unto you, when he was in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” And they remembered his words. And going back from the sepulcher, they told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. And it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary of James, and the other women that were with them, who told these things to the Apostles. And these words seemed to them as idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter rising up, ran to the sepulcher, and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths laid by themselves; and went away wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
The Exapostilarion: Being radiant with the virtues, let us see as we stand in the life-bearing tomb the men in radiant garments, beside the Myrrh-bearing women who incline their faces towards the earth; let us be taught of the Resurrection of Him who ruleth over heaven, and run towards life in the tomb with Peter, and wondering at what has been done, let us remain to see Christ. (Glory be… Being radiant… Both now and forever…)
The Theotokion: Having spoken “Rejoice!”, Thou didst change the grief of the Forefathers, o Lord, bringing into the world in its place the joy of Thy Resurrection. Therefore, o Giver of Life, through Her who bore Thee, send forth the light that enlighteneth hearts, the light of Thy mercies, that we may cry to Thee, “Thou who lovest mankind, God and Man, glory to Thy Resurrection.”
The Greek imperative form “exaposteilon – send forth” is also a play on the name of this chant, which is called the exapostilarion because originally, two cantors were sent out of the choir into the nave to sing it. Almost all the texts of this genre make references to light, since it was also originally supposed to signal the rising of the sun during Orthros. Those which correspond to the Resurrection Gospels were composed by the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (905-59).
The exapostilaria are followed immediately by what the West calls the Laudate Psalms, 148-149-150, and the Greeks call “the praises.” During these, a series of “stikhera” (another kind of hymn) are sung between the verses. After the first part of the doxology, another hymn called a “doxastikon” is sung, which also takes its theme from the Resurrection Gospel. The doxastika of the eleven Gospels were composed by Leo VI, nicknamed “the Wise” (886-912), the father of Constantine VII. [2]
Doxastikon: It was very early in the morning, and the Women came to Thy tomb, o Christ, but the body that they yearned to see was not found; wherefore, as they were at a loss, those who stood there in radiant garments said, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is risen, as He foretold. Why do you not remember His words?” And being persuaded by them, they proclaimed the things they had seen, but the good tidings seemed like foolishness, so dull were the disciples still. But Peter ran, and on seeing, he glorified the wondrous things Thou hadst done for him.
The following video of the All-Night Vigil, a combined service of Vespers and Orthros, was taken this past July 10th at the monastery of St Michael in Kyiv, Ukraine, also known as the Golden-Domed Monastery; the celebrant is His Beatitude Epiphanius I, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Gospel ritual begins at about 1:37:00, the Gospel itself (the one given here above) at 1:41:15. At 2:16:30, a reader does the exapostilaria recto tono, skipping the middle repetition; the doxastikon begins at 2:19:40.
[1] As with all things Byzantine, exceptions abound, and a little over-simplification saves a lot of explanation. The Greeks now use the term “Octoechos” to mean a book that contains only texts for the liturgies of Sunday, and therefore also call it “Anastasimatarion”, from “anastasis - resurrection.” Another book containing the material for the weekdays is called the “Paraklitiki.” The Slavic churches have retained the older custom by which “octoechos” means all the materials for all eight tones and all seven days of the week.
[2] For more historical information, see Dr Daniel Galadza’s Liturgy and Byzantinization in Jerusalem, chapter 2, pp. 14 sqq.
In the Divine Office this past Sunday, we learned from St Augustine that God “judged it better to make good out of evil things, rather than to not permit evil things to be.” Yesterday, I discovered by happy accident that this even applies to something as awful as reality television. In India, there is a subgenre of reality programming in which people from rural areas who have had little or no experience of Western culture are exposed to it and asked for their reactions. (Judging from the number of examples on YouTube, this genre appears to be quite popular.) The introduction is just as cheesy as such things are wont to be in the West, but don’t be put off: it is truly fascinating to see how quickly these gentlemen, on hearing the Dies Irae in Gregorian chant, come to express deeply Christian sentiments about the meaning of a prayer which they do not understand. (The elderly man on the left is even moved at one point to make the Sign of the Cross.) Perhaps there is a lesson for the Church to be learned from this, that Her divinely-given mission “to make disciples of all nations” has profited nothing by abandoning “that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant”, and good music in general.
No less beautiful are their reactions to Greek Orthodox chant. One of them immediately knows without being told, “... this thing is centuries old, and has been going on since time immemorial”, and another says, “it’s pulling my heart from inside. It’s a good prayer, I want it to not end, and (I) keep listening to it forever. This thing is reaching the heart.”
This evening, the eve of Septuagesima, the Roman Rite begins its preparation for Lent by laying the “Alleluia” aside until the vigil of Easter. In the Breviary of St Pius V, which derives from the later medieval customs of the Papal court, this is done with characteristic simplicity; “alleluia” is added twice to the “Benedicamus Domino” and “Deo gratias” at the end of Vespers, and then dropped. Many medieval Uses did this more elaborately, by adding “alleluia” to all the antiphons, or replacing them with one or more of the Paschal antiphons that consist of solely the word “alleluia.” As we have written about many times, it was a common custom to make a parchment or plaque with the word “Alleluia” written on it, and at the end of Vespers, carry it in procession out of the church and bury it in the churchyard or cemetery, to be dug up and brought back on the evening of Holy Saturday or Easter morning. Of course, since this custom is not a formal part of the liturgy, it could be done in various ways.
The Alleluia processed to a side altar of the Oratory of Ss Gregory and Augustine in St Louis, Missouri, where it was “buried” under the altar-cloth. Photo by Kiera Petrick, from a photopost of last year.
The following hymn about the dismissal of the Alleluja, which was written in the 10th century, appears in a fair number of medieval manuscripts, but it was not, apparently, widely used as a formal part of the liturgy. I imagine it must have been used rather to accompany the procession. (If anyone has any more detailed information about its liturgical use or lack thereof, please be so kind as to leave a comment. The English version is by the Anglican cleric John Mason Neale, one of the great translators of hymns who did such valuable work in the 19th century.)
Alleluia, dulce carmen Vox perennis gaudii Alleluia, laus suavis
Est choris caelestibus, Quod canunt Dei manentes
In domo per saecula.
O Alleluia, song of gladness, Voice of joy that cannot die; Alleluia is the anthem ever dear to choirs on high; In the house of God abiding thus they sing eternally.
Alleluia, laeta mater Cóncinis, Jerúsalem, Allelúia, vox tuórum Civium gaudentium: Exsules nos flere cogunt Babylónis flúmina.
Alleluia thou resoundest, True Jerusalem and free; Alleluia, joyful mother, All thy children sing with thee; But by Babylon’s sad waters mourning exiles now are we.
Alleluia, non merémur Nunc perenne psállere, Allelúia nos reátus Cogit interímere; Tempus instat quo peracta Lugeámus crímina.
Alleluia we deserve not here to chant forevermore; Alleluia our transgressions make us for a while give o’er; For the holy time is coming bidding us our sins deplore.
Unde laudando precámur Te, beáta Trínitas, Ut tuum nobis vidére Pascha des in æthere Quo tibi læte canámus Allelúia pérpetim.
Amen.
Therefore in our hymns we pray Thee, grant us, blessèd Trinity, At the last to keep Thine Easter in our home beyond the sky; There to Thee forever singing Allelúia joyfully. Amen.
The reference to the rivers of Babylon is of course taken from the seventy years exile of the Israelites after the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple in 587 B.C. The Byzantine Rite contains a similar reference in the Sundays of the Triodion, its equivalent of the Roman Forelent. On the higher feasts and many Sundays, Psalms 134 and 135 are sung together as the “Polyeleos - the Great Mercy”, since the first is sung with the refrain “Alleluia”, and the second with the refrain “Alleluia, alleluia, for His mercy endureth forever, alleluja.” On the three Sundays before Lent, Psalm 136, “By the rivers of Babylon”, is added to the group. The following is a recording of the All-Night Vigil at the Sretensky Monastery last year on the last Sunday before Lent, the Polyeleos begins at 1:27:35, with Psalms 134 and 135 reduced to just a few verses; Psalm 136 begins at 1:30:10.
A reader has alerted us to the recent (July) creation of a YouTube channel especially dedicated to the liturgy of the Italo-Albanian churches of the Byzantine Rite in southern Italy and Sicily. The notes under each video give the place and time it was made, with the Greek text and a French translation. The videos come mainly from the Facebook pages of the two eparchies, Lungro in the Calabrian province of Cosenza, and Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily. This channel is a private initiative, not affiliated with the Italo-Albanian Greek-Catholic Church; here are a few of the recent posts.
The koinonikon (communion hymn) for the Conception of St John the Baptist, Sept. 23. “The just man shall be in eternal memory, he will have no fear of an evil report, alliluja.” (At the abbey of Grottaferrata.)
The megalynarion (hymn to the Virgin Mary) at the Divine Liturgy on the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross. “Thou, o Mother of God, art mystically the garden which was not cultivated, yet brought forth Christ, by Whom the life-bearing wood of the Cross was planted upon the earth, and by it, as it is now exalted, as we worship Him, we glorify Thee.” (Also Grottaferrata)
The tropar of the Conception of St John the Baptist. “Rejoice, thou who wast sterile and bore no child, for behold, thou hast conceived the light of the sun who will clearly enlighten the whole world that suffers in blindness. Dance, o Zachary, and boldly cry out, ‘He that is to be born is the Prophet of the Most high!’ ” (This text contains a very clever pun in Greek; the word “ Ἡλίου – of the sun” is also the genitive case of the name of the prophet Elijah, in whose spirit John foretold the coming of the Messiah. – From the parish of the Assumption in Palazzo Adriano, Sicily.)
The hymn Only-begotten Son, composed by the Emperor Justinian I (527-565) which is sung after the second antiphon at the beginning of every Divine Liturgy. “Only-Begotten Son and Word of God, Who, being immortal, for our salvation didst accept to be incarnate of the holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, and without change didst become man, and was crucified, Christ our God, who trampled death by death, and art one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!” (Also from Palazzo Adriano.)
The Cherubic hymn at the Procession and Great Entrance with the Holy Gifts. “Let us, who mystically represent the Cherubim, and who sing to the Life-Giving Trinity the thrice-holy hymn, now lay aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all, escorted invisibly by the angelic orders. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!” (From the church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio at Martorana, Sicily.)
In the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, after the consecration and epiclesis, there is a prayer which commemorates the Saints, which is said in silence, and reads as follows: “Again, we offer this rational worship for those who have reposed in the Faith: Forefathers, Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Ascetics, and every righteous spirit made perfect in faith.” The celebrant then sings outloud, “Especially our all-holy, immaculate, blessed-above-all and glorious Lady, the Mother of God, and ever-Virgin Mary.” To this, the choir responds with a hymn, for which there is a “default” text, so to speak, which is used on the majority of days, “Truly is it worthy to magnify Thee.” On a number of occasions, however, this hymn is replaced with part of the last Ode from the long and complex series of hymns at Orthros called the Canon. On the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin and during the Afterfeast, this hymn is sung as follows. (An Afterfeast is like a Roman octave, but varies in length; that of the Dormition is nine days long, ending on August 23rd.)
“The Angels, seeing the Dormition of the all-pure one, were astonished at how the Virgin departs from the earth on high – The bounds of nature are overcome in Thee, o immaculate Virgin; for childbirth is virginal, and death obtaineth life. O Thou who were a virgin after childbirth, and alive after death, ever save, o Mother of God, thine inheritance.”
Аггели оуспенїе Пречистыѧ видѣвше, оудивишасѧ какω Дѣваѧ восходитъ ωт земли на небо. – Побеждаются естества оуставы, въ Тебѣ, Дѣво Чистаѧ: дѣвствует бо рождество, и животъ предωбручаетъ смерть: по рождествѣ Дѣва, и по смерти жива, спасаеши приснω, Богородице, наслѣдїе Твое.
This Greek version includes only the second part (“The bounds of nature...”):
The most frequently used chants for any given feast are called the Troparion and the Kontakion (‘tropar’ and ‘kondak’ in the Slavic languages), which are sung at the Divine Liturgy, and repeated at most of the Hours. The former is also called the “dismissal hymn” (apolytikion), since it is the last proper chant of Vespers. Those of the Dormition are as follows, returning to the theme of the Ode given above, which compares the miracle of the Virgin Birth to that of Mary’s passage into the next life.
Troparion In the act of begetting, Thou didst preserve virginity; in the Dormition, Thou didst not forsake the world, o Mother of God. Thou didst change over to life, being the Mother of Life, and by Thy prayers ransoming our souls from death. Kontakion The tomb and death did not keep hold of the Mother of God, Who resteth not in prayers and intercessions, our unalterable hope. For He that dwelt in Her ever -virginal womb translated Her to life, as the Mother of Life.
Тропар Въ рождестве дѣвство сохранила еси, во оуспенїи міра не ωставила еси, Богородице, преставиласѧ еси къ животу, Мати сущи Живота, и молитвами Твоими избавлѧеши ωт смерти души наша.
Кондак Въ молитвахъ Неусыпающую Богородицу и въ предстательствахъ непреложное oупованїе гробї и oумерщвленїе не oудержаста: якоже бо Живота Матерь къ животу престави во oутробу Вселивыйсѧ приснодевственную.
The Axios Men’s Ensemble, a choir which specializes in performing both sacred and secular music of the Ukrainian tradition, has recently published on their YouTube channel a video of a concert which they gave in New York City in 2017. This was the final in a series of concerts in various places on the East coast of the United States, featuring over 50 singers from Canada, the United States, and Ukraine, from several different ensembles (listed below). It was conducted by Michael Zaugg, the principle conductor and artistic director of Pro Coro Canada; the concert also showcased a brand-new liturgical composition by an American-Ukrainian priest, Fr John Sembrat OSBM, and other liturgical music from the Ukrainian tradition. The full program is given below.
Part I: Music composed by Fr. John Sembrat OSBM
Христос Воскрес II (Christ is Risen)
Слава: Єдинородний (Glory be: Only-begotten Son)
Третій Антифон (The Third Antiphon, first verse; Volodymyr Kudovba, tenor, Vasyl Pudchenko, bass)
Херувимська Пісня (The Cherubic Hymn)
Вірую (Nicene Creed)
Милiсть Mиру (Anaphora)
Ангел Звістив (The Angel Proclaimed)
Отче Наш (The Lord’s Prayer)
Єдин Свят: Тіло Христове (One is Holy: Body of Christ)
Христос Воскрес (Christ is Risen)
Part II
– Воскресіння Твоє, Христе Спасe (Your Resurrection, O Christ, traditional Kyivan chant. Arrangement by Mykola Hobdych (b. 1961); solo: Serhiy Bortnyk)
– Христос Воскрес (Christ is Risen; Composer: Fr. John Sembrat OSBM (b. 1943); Solo: Fr. Taras Koberynko)
– Канон Пасхи, пісня 1-ша (Paschal Canon, Ode 1; Composer: Artem Vedel, 1767-1808)
– Благослови, душе моя, Господa (Bless the Lord, O My Soul; Kyivan chant)
– Be still and Know that I Am God (Composer: Roman Hurko, b. 1962)
– Плоттю (In Your Death, O King and Lord; traditional Galician chant arrangement: Boris Derow; Soloists: Evhen Zamorsky, baritone, and Vasyl Pudchenko, bass)
– Канон Пасхи: пісня 4-та (Paschal Canon, Ode 4; Composer: Artem Vedel)
– Тобою Радується (All Creation Rejoices in Thee; Composer: Fr. John Sembrat OSBM)
– Стихири Пасхи (Paschal Stichera; traditional Kyivan chant arrangement: Mykola Hobdych)
– Ангел Bопіяще (The Angel Proclaimed; Composer: Roman Hurko)
– Да Воскресне Бог (Let God Arise, Psalm 67, 2-5, 35, 36; Composer: Dmytro Bortniansky, 1751-1825)
– Христос Воскрес (Christ is Risen; Composer: Artem Vedel; Arrangement: Hryhory Kytasty. 1907-84)
– Молитва за Україну (Prayer for Ukraine; Composer: Mykola Lysenko)
Encore: Христос Воскрес (Christ is Risen; Composer: Artem Vedel; Arrangement: Hryhory Kytasty)
The members of the choir come from the following ensembles:
Boyan Ensemble of Kyiv
Chorus of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
National Philharmonic of Ukraine
Homin Municipal Choir of Lviv
Vydubychi Church Choir of Kyiv
Pro Coro Canada
Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of Detroit
Axios Men’s Ensemble
Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus of Winnipeg
Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton.
If it seems like I’ve been posting been posting a lot of Byzantine videos lately, it’s because, as in every liturgical tradition, Holy Week and Easter are the period for which much of the finest music has been written for that rite. Case in point: this extraordinary version of the Exapostilarion of Easter, here performed in a concert given in Rome in October of 2012 by the National “Dumka” Choir, which is very famous in Ukraine, conducted by Yevgeny Savchuk. This particular chant comes from the tradition of the Monastery of the Holy Dormition in Pochayiv, about 85 miles to the east of Lviv.
To all those who follow the Julian Calendar, and are now in the middle of Bright Week, a most blessed and happy Easter - Christ is risen!
Having fallen asleep in the flesh as a mortal man, o King and Lord, Thou didst rise on the third day, raising Adam from corruption, and destroying death: O Pascha of incorruption, the Salvation of the world!
Плотїю oуснув, яко мертвъ, Царю и Господи, тридневенъ воскреслъ еси, Адама воздвигъ от тли, и oупразднивъ смерть: Пасха нетлѣнїѧ, мира спасенїе.
Those who follow the Julian Calendar are now in the midst of Holy Week; here is an especially beautiful chant, the opening troparion for Matins on the first three days of the week, which has given its name to the service, Bridegroom Matins. This version in Church Slavonic is sung by the always-impressive choir of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, which has recently begun live-streaming all of its major services on YouTube.
Behold the Bridegroom cometh in the midst of the night, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again, unworthy is he whom He shall find heedless. Take care, therefore, oh my soul, lest thou be borne down with sleep, lest thou be given up to death, and be shut out of the kingdom; but rouse thyself, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy are Thou O God. * Through the Mother of God, have mercy on us!
Се Женихъ грѧдетъ въ полунощи, и блаженъ рабъ, егоже ωбрѧщетъ бдѧща: недостоинъ же паки, егоже ωбрѧщетъ оунывающа. блюди оубω душе моѧ, не сномъ ωтѧготисѧ, да не смерти предана будеши, и Царствїѧ внѣ затворишисѧ, но воспрѧни зовущи: Свѧтъ, Свѧтъ, Свѧтъ єси Боже, Богородицею помилуй нас.
Matins are traditionally anticipated to the evening of the day before, so that the first of the Bridegroom Matins, that of Holy Monday, is celebrated on the evening of Palm Sunday, the second, that of Holy Tuesday, on the evening of Holy Monday, and the third, that of Holy Wednesday, on the evening of Holy Tuesday. According to a Greek Holy Week book which I have, the troparion is sung three times in a row, but the final words “through the Mother of God, have mercy on us!” as given above are only sung the third time. On Holy Monday, the first two times end with the words “by the protection of the Bodiless Ones”, on Holy Tuesday, “by the prayers of the Forerunner”, and on Holy Wednesday, “by the power of the Cross.” (In the Russian usage, the end is always “through the Mother of God...”)
Here is another very beautiful version in Arabic.
Here is a video of the full ceremony sung earlier today at the Sretensky Monastery. A complete description of this would take longer for me to write than it would to watch the video, but there is one feature of it in particular that has an interesting connection with the chant given above. The first part of the video (up to 1:18:00) is Great Compline, the longer form of that Hour used in penitential seasons; Matins begins after a brief pause. At 1:37:45, the deacon begins a very beautiful Alleluja which is the first proper chant of Matins in penitential seasons, and is followed by three repetitions of the Bridegroom tropar.
Going forward to 2:20:30, another tropar called an exapostilarion is sung three times, with the two parts of the doxology between them; this marks the transition between the part of the Hour roughly analogous to Roman Matins, and the last part, which is roughly analogous to Roman Lauds, and includes the Laudate Psalms, 148-149-150. In the Slavic tradition, these are usually sung in a very slow and mournful way, as is the case here for the first two repetitions; the third time, however, it is taken up by the whole choir, and sung with the same music as the Bridegroom tropar, since its text is on the same theme. “Чертогъ Твой вижду, Спасе Мой, оукрашенный, и одежды не имамъ, да бниду вонь: просвѣти ωдѣѧнїе души моеѧ, Свѣтодабче, и спаси мѧ! – I see Thy bridal chamber adorned, my Savior, and I have no garment (i.e. wedding garment, Matt. 22, 1-14) that I might enter therein. Make Thou radiant the garment of my soul, o Giver of light, and save me!”
Are you getting bored with TV shows during the lockdown? Here’s an idea for something you can do instead.
These are difficult times. As I sit at home in what feels at times like a state-enforced secular penitential retreat, I have been thinking about how I can contribute to help the situation, beyond complying with the guidelines for self-distancing. I live in an old convent building in El Cerrito, California, and some of us who live there have committed, as best we can, to offer Choral Evensong from the Book of Common Prayer as it might be sung by those from the Anglican Ordinariate. This will happen every night at around 4:45 pm PDT: see the Facebook page here. If you want materials to sing along, contact me via thewayofbeauty.org, and I will give you a link to a folder containing the arrangments, including a full pointed Coverdale Psalter with psalm tones.
This is part of a broader response to this strangest of situations. First, I daily analyze my resentments and fears as I was taught in the Vision for You process, and ask God to forgive my sins, voluntary and involuntary, known and unknown. This removes the sources of all my unhappiness. Then I will be more ready to offer something positive, whatever that may be in response to anything that happens in the world around me. I don’t want to give the devil his chance to use me, which is more likely if I am anxious or prone to despair. As St Paul puts it, “Do not let resentment lead you into sin; the sunset must not find you still angry. Do not give the devil his opportunity.” (Eph. 4, 26, Knox translation)
Second, I try to cultivate gratitude. Every day I write a gratitude list in which I itemize the blessings that God gives me: for example, I woke up today and was able to draw breath, I have food, and a roof over my head. I also thank God for permitting the bad things in my life. Objectively I know that God loves me, and even the Wuhan virus is permitted by Him so that a greater good can come from it. It is not my natural reaction to think like this. My instincts are to focus on myself and to say, “Why is God doing this to me? Why is he doing it to my loved ones?” So every day, perverse though it may seem, I thank God for the Wuhan virus and ask Him to show me the good that will come from this. To these prayers of thanks and praise for blessings known, I add similar prayers for blessings unknown.
Then I try to look for opportunities to be of service to those around me, as best I can. My best is not good, I will freely admit. I am not a cheerful giver by nature, and again, I have had to do work to develop the habit of giving regardless of how I feel, through regular voluntary commitments of time in service. By this, I can move incrementally towards that ideal of one whose nature is to be generous. David, my sponsor when I was received into the Church (30 years ago now), suggested to me that I should always “give until it hurts.” I used to joke that this is easy for me because I’m so selfish, it hurts me just to give someone the time of day.
So here is part of the service that we have committed to fulfill as best we can. Each day we are going to make a “sacrifice of praise” and sing Choral Evensong as a prayer for our community and for all, as part of the mystical body of Christ. We are putting it out live on Facebook at around 4:45 pm, so that anyone who is isolated can pray with us. If anyone wants the basic materials for this, then please feel free to contact me, and I will get them to you via a link to a Google Docs folder. Although we'd be thrilled if it happened, the hope here is not primarily that lots of people listen to us (we are pretty ordinary singers as you'll find out). The thought is that it might encourage some to do this themselves, and do it even better! The very best will inspire many more than we can!
Every person in the world is in relation, in some way, to every other, directly or indirectly. By contributing positively, as best I can, to those relationships that I am aware of, then by the network of personal relationships in the Body of Christ and the whole human race, I am adding by degrees to the good of all.
Note, we are not choristers. We endeavor to pray, not to perform, but I hope we are at a basic level that we can add to the world with our efforts. If like me you work on the maxim that if you think you can do it least as badly, then you might as well do it yourself, then think about this: at the very least, join in with us at home. The music you will hear is part Gregorian chant, part Anglican chant, part Byzantine chant. The style with which we pray is influenced by Byzantine (Greek Catholic) chant - we sing at a clip and wherever possible add a drone. This means at the very least you can ummm or ahhh the ison (drone) with us. Even better still, do it in your own way and then offer that to the world!
Hope to see you in the coming weeks!
If you don’t want to do this and think you can do it at least as badly as we can, then why don’t you offer your own prayer for us, or anything else that helps. What are you doing for the Wuhan virus lockdown?
The parish of Ss Joachim and Ann in Langley, British Columbia, will host the third British Columbia Sacred Music Symposium this summer from July 17-19, 2020. (Thanks to NLM reader Ryan Bjoorgard for notice of this).
This year the keynote speaker is Dr. Aaron James, Director of Music at the Toronto Oratory of St Philip Neri, who will explore “The Church Musician as Exegete”, while a panel discussion will consider “The Church Musician as Worshiper”. You can read our review of the second Symposium in a past NLM posting, here.
The BC Sacred Music Symposium is Western Canada’s largest and most in-depth teaching conference on sacred music; the program offers opportunities for learning, singing, listening, and interacting with high-quality teachers and musicians from the Catholic world. There are practical workshops, lectures that focus on the place of music in the worship of the Church, and daily liturgies. This year for the first time there will also be sessions that focus on Byzantine (Eastern Catholic) and Anglican chant. Lectures and plenary sessions this year will be exploring the role of the Church musician.
Early registration is now open through the end of April. For more information, or to register please visit http://bcsacredmusicsymposium.com
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