Comparison: Music for the Divine Liturgy
The following tables show the parallels between the music settings for the Divine Liturgy as used in the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh:- The 1964 Divine Liturgy of St. John Chryostom, the 38-page "tan booklet"
- The 1970 Byzantine Liturgical Chant, the "black notebook":
- The Music Commission's proposed setting of the Divine Liturgy
Only Sunday hymns and shown. In each setting, weekday music parallels the Sunday music fairly closely.
Melodies which differ only in minor rhythmic details (small enough to be the same as ordinary parish-to-parish variations) are not noted. Similarly, places where the new music ONLY differs because of a change of texts, but is otherwise recognizable as the same setting, are not noted.
Comparison of the 1964 booklet
with the proposed music
The 1964 booklet was intended for congregational use. It was
quite small,
and included only one melody for most texts.| 1964 Divine Liturgy | Proposed music (2005) |
|---|---|
| Amen (short) | same |
| Lord, have mercy (single, ordinary) | intonation rhythm smoothed slightly |
| First
Antiphon - one verse and doxology Each of the 4 phrases has a different ending |
Each phrase is set with
the same ending melody (re-fa-mi), with half notes broken as needed to match the accent (this is the same melody used today when additional antiphon verses are sung). |
| First
Antiphon - one verse and doxology Each of the 4 phrases has a different ending |
Each phrase is set with
the same ending melody (re-fa-mi), with half notes broken as needed to match the accent |
| O Only Begotten - Galician melody | The text is reset to the
original festal Galician melody from which the 1964 version seems to have been derived - the Galician melody with harmonization (but a different text) can be found in the Ukrainian Anthology for Worship |
| Come, let us worship | same |
| Trisagion (1) | older melody restored; doxology set to same melody |
| Trisagion (2) | same |
| Alleluia - Tone 4 | one note added |
| Glory (at the Gospel) | same |
| Lord, have mercy (triple, Litany of Supplication) | rhythm at end restored |
| Lord. have mercy (alternate) | one note changed |
| Lord, have mercy (Requiem) | same |
| Cherubic Hymn (1) | middle phrase restored |
| The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit | same |
| Creed (1) | same (except for text) |
| Beginning of the Anaphora | same (except for text) |
| It is proper and just | text shorter, melody matches the beginnning of the Anaphora |
| Holy, holy, holy (1) | same |
| Amen (Words of Institution) | simple "Amen" melody used instead |
| We praise you, we bless you | middle repeat of "and we pray to you" removed |
| It is truly proper to glorify you | one note changed, in addition to text change ("Theotokos") |
| And remember all your people | same |
| Grant it, O Lord | text change only ("Grant this, O Lord") |
| To you, O Lord. | same |
| Our Father (melody "Udivisja Josif") | same |
| To you, O Lord | simple version used, instead of repeating "To you, O Lord" |
| Amen (long) | same |
| One is holy | same |
| Praise you the Lord (Communion hymn) | text changed; melody adjusted to match Cherubic Hymn |
| Blessed is he | 3 notes change where "God the Lord" becomes "The Lord is God and" |
| We have seen the true light | second and final phrases corrected to match samohlasen tone 2 |
| May our lips we filled | same melody, but some repeats removed |
| In the name of the Lord | same |
| Blessed be the name of the Lord (1) | same |
| Dismissal | melody of second phrase adjusted to match melody of first phrase |
So, what would someone currently using the 1964 book notice when singing from the proposed music?
- There is no need to ignore bar lines; in the new music, bar lines indicate where breaths are be taken.
- The antiphon verses are all sung to the same basic melody, instead of having a different ending for each phrase.
- The Hymn of the Incarnation, "O Only Begotten Son", is sung to the original festal Galician melody, presently used by Ukrainian Greek Catholics, and which can be more easily harmonized than our current reduction of the melody..
- The Trisagion ("Holy God") has a slightly different beginning, which distinguishes it more clearly from Trisagion (2); the new melody is the same as that taught by Cantor Professor Jerry Jumba and the Advanced Cantor's School. The doxology is sung to the same melody as "Holy God" instead of to a reciting melody.
- The middle phrase of the Cherubic Hymn is faster, as in Slavonic, and the melodic line for "and sing the thrice-holy hymn" is exactly repeated for "to the life creating Trinity."
- At the Words of Institution, the two Amens are simple rather than ornate, transferring the emphasis from the Words of Institution to the Epiclesis.
- At "We praise you, we bless you", we used to sing "and we pray to You" twice to the same melody before concluding "and we pray to you our God." Now we sing it only once.
- After the Lord's Prayer, "To you, O Lord" is sung only once, to the usual simple melody, rather than being sung twice using the ornate melody.
- The text of the Communion Hymn has changed, and the each Communion Hymn is now sung to the melody of the corresponding Cherubic Hymn (as is traditional).
- In "We have seen the true light", the second and third phrase endings has been corrected to match the proper melody for samohlasen tone 2.
- In "May our lips be filled", several repeats have been removed. The Liturgikon (and the Ordo) call for the priest to simply remove the Gifts to the table of preparation, rather than cleansing them at this point. So there is no need to keep singing "May our lips be filled" until he is done.
Comparison of all three sources
The 1970 Byzantine
Liturgical Chant was
an expansion and
correction of the 1964 book, adding missing melodies and removing the
strict metered settings of the earlier book. However, it kept
the
melodic line from 1964 in most cases where it had been changed to made
the meter. In the following table, "restored" means that the
text
has been reset to follow the original prostopinije melody,
rather
than the simplified 1964 or 1970 melody.| 1964 Divine Liturgy | 1970 Byzantine Liturgical Chant | Proposed music (2005) |
|---|---|---|
| Amen (short) | same | same |
| Lord, have mercy (single, ordinary) | same | intonation rhythm smoothed slightly |
| Lord, have mercy (Requiem) | (missing) | same, plus alternate melody |
| Lord, have mercy (alternate) | (missing) | |
| First
Antiphon - one verse and doxology Each of the 4 phrases has a different ending |
same | Each phrase is set with
the same ending melody (re-fa-mi),
with half
notes broken to match the accent (this is the same melody used today
when additional antiphon verses are sung). |
| First
Antiphon - one verse and doxology Each of the 4 phrases has a different ending |
same | Each phrase is set with the same ending melody (re-fa-mi), with half notes broken to match the accent |
| Bless the Lord (Russian) | (not given) | |
| Bless the Lord (solemn) | longer version of same melody | |
| Bless the Lord (simple) | prostopinije melody restored | |
| O Only Begotten - Galician melody | different rhythm | The text is reset to the
original festal Galician melody from
which the 1964 version seems to have been derived - the Galician melody with harmonization (but a different text) can be found in the Ukrainian Anthology for Worship |
| O Only Begotten - tone 7 | reset to troparion tone 7 melody for consistency | |
| O Only Begotten - two more melodies from Boksaj, little used | (not given) | |
| Come, let us worship | same | same |
| Come, let us worship (Requiem) | longer version; full Boksaj ending not restored | |
| Trisagion (1) | same | older melody restored; doxology set to same melody |
| Trisagion (2) | same | same |
| Trisagion (3) | (not given) | |
| Trisagion (4) | rhythm restored (many priests have objected to the 1970 rhythm) | |
| Trisagion (3 requiem melodies) | (not given; instead, another traditional requiem Trisagion) | |
| We bow to your cross (1) | restored | |
| We bow to your cross (2) | same | |
| All you who have been baptized (1) | restored | |
| All you who have been baptized (2) | same | |
| All you who have been baptized (3) | (not given) | |
| Alleluia - Tone 4 | (in Eight Tones section) | one note added |
| Glory (at the Gospel) | same | same |
| Lord, have mercy (triple, Litany of Supplication) | same | rhythm at end restored |
| Lord. have mercy (alternate) | same | one note changed |
| Lord, have mercy (Requiem) | same | same |
| Cherubic Hymn (1) | same | middle phrase restored |
| Cherubic Hymn (2) | same | |
| Cherubic Hymn (3) | slight rhythm change | |
| Cherubic Hymn (4) | "set aside" repeated to prevent bad phrase break; melody unchanged | |
| Cherubic Hymn (5) | (not given) | |
| Cherubic Hymn (6) | same | |
| The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit | same | same |
| Creed (1) | same | same (except for text) |
| Creed (2) | slight difference to final phrase | |
| Beginning of the Anaphora | same | same (except for text) |
| It is proper and just | same | text shorter, melody matches the beginnning of the Anaphora |
| Holy, holy, holy (1) | same | same |
| Holy, holy, holy (2) | same melody, but middle faster | |
| Holy, holy, holy (3) | rhythm adjusted (faster) | |
| Amen (Words of Institution) | same | simple "Amen" melody used instead |
| We praise you, we bless you (1) | same | middle repeat of "and we pray to you" removed |
| We praise you, we bless you (2-3) | replaced with settings reset to match the Cherubic Hymns | |
| It is truly proper to glorify you | same | one note changed, in addition to text change ("Theotokos") |
| And remember all your people | same | same |
| Grant it, O Lord | same | text change only ("Grant this, O Lord") |
| To you, O Lord. | same | same |
| Our Father (melody "Udivisja Josif") | same | same |
| Our Father (2) | (not given) | |
| Our Father (3) | reset to samohlasen tone 7 | |
| Our Father (4) | reset to samohlasen tone 1 | |
| Our Father (5) | reset to samohlasen tone 2 | |
| Our Father (6) | reset to samohlasen tone 3 | |
| Our Father (7) | reset to samohlasen tone 6 | |
| To you, O Lord | same | simple version used, instead of repeating "To you, O Lord" |
| Amen (long) | same | same |
| One is holy (1) | same | same |
| One is holy (2) | (not given) | |
| Praise you the Lord (Communion hymn) | text changed; melody adjusted to match Cherubic Hymn | |
| Blessed is he | same | 3 notes change where "God the Lord" becomes "The Lord is God and" |
| We have seen the true light | rhythm adjusted | second and final phrases corrected to match samohlasen tone 2 |
| May our lips we filled (1) | same | same melody, but some repeats removed |
| May our lips be filled (2) | one phrase changed, longer ending restored | |
| May our lips be filled (3) | slight change to remove repeated text | |
| In the name of the Lord | same | same |
| Blessed be the name of the Lord (1) | same | same |
| Blessed be the name of the Lord (2) | rhythm adjusted | |
| Blessed be the name of the Lord (3) | one note added to restore ending | |
| Dismissal | same | melody of second phrase adjusted to match melody of first phrase |
The 1970 book added a number of prostopinije melodies for the Divine Liturgy BACK into the repertoire after several years of English singing has passed; some of these melodies have been dropped from the proposed settings, and other have been restored to the older prostopinije forms. (There are a higher proportion of changes here than when the proposed setting are compared with the 1964 booklet, probably because the older settings were considered more 'central' to the English-language singing tradition.)
Note that the 1970 book DID make quite a number of rhythmic changes to the melodies, but the melodies are marked "same" if the changes are of the scale of ordinary parish-to-parish variation. This allows for better comparison among the three sets of music.
The 1970 book also provided music for the eight Resurrectional Tones (troparia, kontakia, prokeimena, and alleluia), and a selection of moveable and immoveable feasts. In general, the hymns in these sections are very inconsistent in setting - for example, a single troparion melody may be applied very differently on two different feastdays. (This may have been an attempt to match the rhythm of the English text closely by simply omitting troublesome notes, or it may represent differing opinions on the correct melodies to use.) In the proposed settings, the Music Commission has set the troparia, kontakia, and prokeimena in such a way that each one follows the base prostopije melody more consistently; if a melody is shortened or lengthened, this is done in most cases by finding a traditional setting of the melody that adapts the text as needed. Once these variants were selected, they were used consistently wherever the same text pattern needed to be set.
(As a result, certain hymns which are set to troparion or kontakion melodies have been adjusted so that their melodies match those of the troparia or kontakia in the same tone.)
The same procedure was followed when setting the samohlasen, bolhar and podoben melodies for Vespers and Matins; the resulting decisions "bled" back into the settings for the Divine Liturgy, wherever samohlasen tones are used. In particular, the proposed settings include the Lord's Prayer in each of the eight samohlasen tones, with the same melodies as are used in the Vespers material in the Eight Tones section of the proposed People's Book.
The proposed Music Commission settings also respect the tradition that the Cherubic Hymn, epiclesis acclamation ("We praise you, we bless you") and the Communion Hymn are all sung to the same melody in a given Divine Liturgy. As a result, each of the Cherubic Hymns in the proposed settings have corresponding epiclesis acclamations and Communion hymns, along with a "common" epiclesis acclamation to be used when a Cherubic Hymn from another source is sung. The proposed settings also include Cherubic Hymns and accompanying music for St. Nicholas and the Nativity of the Lord.