Prostopinije Melodies

The plainsong rhythm of prostopinije is a characteristic it shares with many families of liturgical chant; it is the prostopinije melodies, along with the strong tradition of congregational singing, which distinguish Carpatho-Ruthenian chant. These melodies have been inherited from the oldest layer of Slavic liturgical singing, the znammeny chant, and broadened with the incorporation of chant from other Slavic regions, and from the native Carpathion folk-song tradition.

The prostopinije is a complete chant system; that is, it provides almost all the melodies required for all the texts sung or chanted in the Byzantine Slavonic liturgy. A few melodies are missing, and in these few cases the prostopinije is supplemented from closely-related sources, such as Galician or znammeny chant.

How the melodies are organized

Each type of liturgical text has a melody (or a set of melodies) associated with it.

The melodies for the fixed parts of the services (blessings, litanies, prayers, and responses) are the simplest, and for many years were a matter of oral tradition. They are all easily learned, and used over and over throughout the services. See Ordinary melodies.

The melodies for the liturgical hymns (such as the Hymn of the Evening at Vespers, and Great Doxology at Matins, and the Cherubic Hymn of the Divine Liturgy) are usually more complicated. The hymns used most often may have several common melodies. See the entry for each liturgical hymn for the melodies associated with it.

When psalms or sections or psalms appear in the services, they are chanted using simple melodies called psalm tones.

When other parts of the Old or New Testament are read, they are chanted using reading tones.

The remaining melodies are used for texts which are assigned one of the eight tones, either the tone of the week or a specific tone appointed for that text.

When stichera are sung with psalm verses, special matching melodies are used for the psalm verse, and for the sticheron that following it. The common melodies are called Samohlasen tones; there are also bolhar (Bulgarian) melodies for use at Litija and in the funeral service, and other special melodies called pobodni. See Melodies for Stichera.

Prokeimena and alleluia are used to introduce Scriptural readings; sometimes they are sung at a point in the services where a reading once occurred. These melodies for prokeimena and alleluia are also used for certain responsorial sections of Vespers and Matins which resemble prokeimena. See Melodies for Prokeimena and Alleluia.

When troparia occur during the services, they are sung using either the common troparion melodies for Sunday, or special melodies (podobni). The melodies for kontakia and sessional hymns are also in the troparion family. See Melodies for Troparia.

The most complicated liturgical hymns in use are the canons sung at Matins. The melodies of the model verses (irmoi), in particular, are some of the oldest and most beautiful in the prostopinije collection. See Melodies for Canons.

Common characteristics of prostopinije melodies

Melodies in the prostopinije are primarily stepwise, with leaps occurring only occasionally; leaps of more than a fourth are quite rare. Although they are notated in a few common keys (primarily B flat major and G major in the Slavonic chant books), prostopiije melodies often exhibit a tonality which does not precisely match the usual major and minor scales used in most Western music. Furthermore, when sung in church, the key pitch may be adjusted upwards or downwards, to suit the cantor and singers.

Mukačevo and Prešov - two variant chant traditions

For centuries, prostopinije was largely an oral tradition, especially where the commonly used melodies were involved. Even today, the melodies may be sung with small variations from one parish to the next. Two slightly different traditions of prostopinije grew up over time around the cathedral towns of Mukačevo and Prešov. Since the traditions of Mukačevo are the ones used in almost every church of our own Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, it is this tradition which is presented throughout this website. For information about the Prešov chant, which is still widely used in the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of Johnstown, see The Prešov Tradition.

Prostopinije Melodies

How the melodies are organized

Common characteristics of prostopinije melodies

Mukačevo and Prešov - two variant chant traditions

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