ÿ=======================================================================VPR- --- From: "Jeff Mierzejewski" Date: Sat, 11 May 1996 23:23:47 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Ruthenian Chant List Message-Id: To: cineast@catinfo.cts.com (Multiple recipients of CIN Eastern Rite Conference) Reply-To: cineast@catinfo.cts.com Sender: cineast-owner@catinfo.cts.com Feast of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs In order to facilitate the preparation of music for Vespers and Matins services in the Ruthenian Catholic Church, I have set up a new mailing list named CANTOR-L. I hope that this list can be used to 1. Create a meeting place for cantors working in the liturgical traditions of Subcarpathia (both Ruthenian Catholic and Carpatho-Russian Orthodox) 2. Organize a project to collect the existing recensions of the prostopinije chant in Slavonic, and prepare new editions of this chant in English where they are lacking or incomplete 3. Prepare a frequently-asked questions list (FAQ) on Ruthenian liturgy and church music, aimed at cantors and readers Anyone interested in prostopinije chant and the Ruthenian liturgical tradition is welcome to join. Just sent the following message to listserv@wvnvm.wvnet.edu SUBSCRIBE CANTOR-L firstname lastname Feel free to write me for more information, or if you have trouble with the listserv. Yours in Christ, Jeff Mierzejewski -- | CIN (619-449-6030) Fido: (1:202/1613) http://www.cin.org/cin | St. Gabriel Gift & Book Nook: http://www.stgabriel.com/gabriel ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- OPTIONS: NOACK LOG LONG NOTEBOOK CANTOR-L Message-Id: Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 21:08:07 -0400 (EDT) From: "Jeff Mierzejewski" To: Subject: Getting started We are here! We are here! We are here! -- Dr. Seuss, "Horton Hears a Who" Welcome, Peter and Bill! Just a note to let you know what's going on at this end. 1. I talked to Father David Petras of St. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh today. As far as he knows, there are no formal guidelines in the Metropolia for priestless Vespers and Matins services; he's willing to look at the Orthodox reader services rubrics I have and give us his comments. Also, no one else he knows of is presently working on materials for Vespers and Matins in parishes, so we have an open field. 2. I have in my possession a set of books with music for Saturday evening Vespers for the whole year, as used by the Carpatho- Russian Orthodox of Johnstown. They use slightly different texts, but the chant is virtually identical. I'm taking a look at adapting the format directly for Ruthenian Vespers. 3. I'm waiting for a Matins book to arrive from Uniontown, at which point I'll start on setting the irmosy of the Canons. 4. If we prepared a FAQ (frequently asked questions) list on Ruthenian liturgy and chant, what would you like to see in it? I'm thinking of something like the following: 1. What are the public services of the Ruthenian Church? 2. What is prostopinije? 7. Where can I find Ruthenian service books? 8. Where can I find prostopinije materials? 10. What are the Eight Tones? ---Vespers--- 15. What is Vespers? 16. How does Vespers begin? 17. How is Psalm 103 sung? 18. What are stichiry? 19. What are samohlasen tones? 20. What are podobny? 21. How do I know what stichiry to use? ---Matins--- 33. What is the Canon? 34. How do I know what Canon to use? 35. How is the Canon sung? ---Divine Liturgy--- --Public Devotions--- 103. How is the Akathistos sung? You get the idea. Most of this information is _there_, just in people's heads or scattered in a lot of different places. Any suggestions on organizing it differently? Realizing that we need the framework, and the text may take some time to fill in, what else should be in it? Yours in Christ, Jeff ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 04:53:28 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Re: Getting started To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Jeff, Although I am not a Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic (I'm Ukrainian Catholic), I feel that there are a number of things that we could learn and develop together. > > 1. I talked to Father David Petras of St. Cyril and Methodius > Seminary in Pittsburgh today. As far as he knows, there are > no formal guidelines in the Metropolia for priestless Vespers > and Matins services; he's willing to look at the Orthodox > reader services rubrics I have and give us his comments. > Also, no one else he knows of is presently working on materials > for Vespers and Matins in parishes, so we have an open field. Yes. Guidelines for Reader services would be great! I got some from the Indiana Orthodox list. The "Office of Vespers" book put out by the Basilian Sisters in Uniontown do have some instructions for Reader Vespers. Finally, "The Hours of Prayer" put out by the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese of USA also has a reader service. Please let me know if you can use any of these. > > 2. I have in my possession a set of books with music for Saturday > evening Vespers for the whole year, as used by the Carpatho- > Russian Orthodox of Johnstown. They use slightly different > texts, but the chant is virtually identical. I'm taking a look > at adapting the format directly for Ruthenian Vespers. A potential point of discussion would be what music writing program are you using. If we, as a group could standardize, we could share the load of arranging the English text to the traditional chants. > > 3. I'm waiting for a Matins book to arrive from Uniontown, at which > point I'll start on setting the irmosy of the Canons. I'd be interested in seeing this. I have a xerox of an old book (about 1890's) published in Lviv using something called Kievan square notation. I think that the irmos are set to music. Let me know if you think you could use s xerox of a xerox of this book. > > 4. If we prepared a FAQ (frequently asked questions) list on Ruthenian > liturgy and chant, what would you like to see in it? I'm thinking > of something like the following: > > 1. What are the public services of the Ruthenian Church? > 2. What is prostopinije? > > 7. Where can I find Ruthenian service books? > 8. Where can I find prostopinije materials? > > 10. What are the Eight Tones? > > > ---Vespers--- > 15. What is Vespers? > 16. How does Vespers begin? > 17. How is Psalm 103 sung? > 18. What are stichiry? > 19. What are samohlasen tones? > 20. What are podobny? > 21. How do I know what stichiry to use? > > > ---Matins--- > 33. What is the Canon? > 34. How do I know what Canon to use? > 35. How is the Canon sung? > > ---Divine Liturgy--- > > > > --Public Devotions--- > 103. How is the Akathistos sung? > > > You get the idea. Most of this information is _there_, just in people's > heads or scattered in a lot of different places. Any suggestions on > organizing it differently? Realizing that we need the framework, and > the text may take some time to fill in, what else should be in it? > I think that the outline is great. Much of the information you are gathering is very general and could be very useful for not only Ruthenians, but the Ukrainians as well. Do the Ruthenians use the Bulgarian tones as well for the sycheras? I've considered starting a Cantor's handbook myself since I'm just learning the fundamentals. I would sugest that we also include information as how do we combine tropars for occassions when feastdays merge, for example when the Annunciation falls on a Sunday, or define the various classifications of holydays. A section of how should a cantor prepare himself would be useful in both spiritual and physical terms. For example, what does a cantor do when he has a cold, etc. I wouldn't mind volunteering some space on St. Michael's home page to post some of this information once it is compiled. I feel that it could be of great use out there. Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 13:46:35 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is Risen! I am almost overwhelmed with happiness! Stuck our here in the West, miles from any parish and trying to learn our chant from scratch. I was going mad. Now I feel like I'm not alone! Well, time to roll up the sleeves and get on with it. We have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us. I have only one request about the process. Could those who arrange music also make tapes at the same time and send them out, if not with every new setting, then at some kind of regular interval. They needn't be anything more than singing into a portable cassette recorder. As long as our mailing list isn't too large the expense shouldn't be too great. If it does prove impractical we may need to consider other strategies, but I do think it is important for us to try and have the music in aural as well as written form as much as possible. Another thought: see how things go for twelve months or so, and if we're getting somehere we might consider applying for some grant monies to help us along. We may have some luck with the Catholic Near East Association. Any other foundations you know of? I would be more than happy to take on the task of preparing the application. My monastery successfully obtained $25,000 from a foundation just this year, so I know money is out there. I do have a music writing program here. It is Concertware 1.5. But I do not yet have a MIDI keyboard, so It's only of limited use (and I don't know the music well enough anyway to hazard my own arragements). I guess I could act as a scribe and put handwritten scores onto disk if that would be a help. Just send me stuff! But my main contribution, I think, would be in the area of rubrics and publishing service books and pamphlets. I agree that an ideal first project would be the production of a booklet for Vespers as a reader service (shall we start there and work up to Matins?). Here is my main suggestion. I could work up a text based on the Uniontown Vespers book and incorporating Father David's suggestions. We can decide how much music and other material should be part of the book as we go along. Money will be a consideration. When we have a good draft we should submit it to the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission for approval. It would be wonderful if we could also submit it to Bishop Nicholas. We'll see what God wills in that regard. If this is acceptable to you, Jeff, Peter and Bill, let me know and I'll get to work after Pentecost. The other way I can help is by preparing answers to some of those FAQs. I'd be best off with the ones that are more to do with the history/theology of the services rather than the sepcifically musical ones. I'll await orders, Jeff! Father Nicholas, my abbot, will remember this fledgling project very specially at the Altar, and all of us here at Holy Resurrection Monastery have it in our prayers. I expect to be seeing Bishop George this week (who is also Chairman of the Liturgical Commission) and will mention this new endeavour to him. I know he will be interested. In Christ Monk Maximos HCommun871@aol.com ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 17:54:12 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L > Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen. Brother Maximos, >... They needn't be anything more than singing into a portable cassette > recorder. As long as our mailing list isn't too large the expense shouldn't > be too great. If it does prove impractical we may need to consider other > strategies, but I do think it is important for us to try and have the music > in aural as well as written form as much as possible. I have a dual cassette machine which can make copies (they won't be the best of quality, but useable). The cassette tape is a good idea. I had to do an arrangement of music for the funeral of a layman in English and had to learn to sing the music. I listened to it and sang with it on the way to work, and now I know the music in my sleep. Fortunately for my wife, I only snore and don't sing in my sleep :-) > > I do have a music writing program here. It is Concertware 1.5. But I do not > yet have a MIDI keyboard, so It's only of limited use (and I don't know the > music well enough anyway to hazard my own arragements). I guess I could act > as a scribe and put handwritten scores onto disk if that would be a help. > Just send me stuff! Could you describe Concertware 1.5? Is it DOS or Windows based? Does it have to have a time signature to work? I'm using an old version of MusicTime. It is marginally acceptable, but cheap. It does insist on a time signature, so writing out music for the tones for tropars is a bit of a challenge. If we can standardize on a music program (assuming everyone out there is PC-based), we can send music files to each other over the net! We can also share the load as far as the desktop publishing. I've done some booklets for St. Michael's with music, and it is a real chore! If you can live with an inexpensive midi keyboard, check out MusicStar by Reveal. Computer City has it for about $59 (on sale, you can get it for $49) and there is a $40 rebate if you buy it before May 31. I bought one and it is not bad. It has 37 keys & 3 octaves. The Midi-interface alone normally costs about $18. I should point out that I bought mine about two months ago and haven't received the $40 rebate. > > But my main contribution, I think, would be in the area of rubrics and > publishing service books and pamphlets. I agree that an ideal first project > would be the production of a booklet for Vespers as a reader service (shall > we start there and work up to Matins?). Here is my main suggestion. I could > work up a text based on the Uniontown Vespers book and incorporating Father > David's suggestions. We can decide how much music and other material should > be part of the book as we go along. Money will be a consideration. When we > have a good draft we should submit it to the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical > Commission for approval. It would be wonderful if we could also submit it to > Bishop Nicholas. We'll see what God wills in that regard. I'm guessing that you mean "The Office of Vespers" done by the Sisters of St. Basil's. Should we get the permission of the Sisters? I'm very interested in learning about the differences and similarites between Ruthenian and Ukrainian music. I'm guessing that a lot of the fundamentals (which chants, tones, etc. are used when) are the same. > The other way I can help is by preparing answers to some of those FAQs. I'd > be best off with the ones that are more to do with the history/theology of > the services rather than the sepcifically musical ones. I'll await orders, > Jeff! I can help out by providing fundemantal questions for the FAQ's. I know just enough to get into real trouble! If there's a mistake to be made, I'm probably the person to make it first :-) I'm hoping that all of you will help to keep me out of trouble. Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 13:13:20 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: CANTOR-L Comments: To: hrycak@the-hermes.net To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Peter wrote: >Could you describe Concertware 1.5? Is it DOS or Windows based? >Does it have to have a time signature to work? Um, um, I guess I should have fessed up: I'm on a Mac. Also I'm barely computer literate. Everything I have has been donated by other people, so I never even went through the process of comparison shopping. I feel so inadequate :-) However, the Concertware manual tells me the application runs on the Mac and Windows formats. I have only used it to write out some of our chants for a single voice. And I have had not had too much trouble doing it. You can set it so that no time signature is required. I have not tried to write any harmonizations, but you can of course. My main problems with it have been trying to copy small pieces of music into my wordprocessing program. Copying itself is no problem, but it does not seem possible to adjust the size of the music to suit the surrounding text. Some adjustment is possible, but the whole thing is very cumbersome. In short, the program seems pretty good for printing out pages of music, and for incorporating short (on line) snippets of music into text. But anything longer than that causes headaches. The appication is made by: Jump! Software, Inc. 201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 172 Mountain View, CA 94040 Tel: 800-440-5867, FAX: 800-582-8000. >I'm guessing that you mean "The Office of Vespers" done by the >Sisters of St. Basil's. Should we get the permission of the Sisters? Yes, that's what I mean. And yes, we should get permission. Would anyone like me to write, or would it be better done through Jeff (and perhaps Father David)? What would people think about proposing a publishing arrangement with the Byzantine Seminary Press or Eastern Christian Publications (Jack Figel)? It's just an idea that came to me. I suppose Jeff, or someone else "back East" would have to coordinate the effort. But having a publisher would cut down on our desk top publishing woes, and it would obviate the problems of different computer formats. I think the kind of things we are thinking about producing would sell. If the publisher would absorb the initial costs we'd be set, otherwise we'd need to locate funds, perhaps from the Metropolia or from some Foundation. I really don't think money will be a major hurdle while we stick to booklets. When it comes time to publish the whole "English Prostopenie" that will be another story! But it could perhaps be done in installments, and then put together in one collection, rather like what St. John of Kronstadt Press did with their Menaion. What do people think - is it too early to do anything about that yet? Or is it better to have in mind how we will distribute the product as we are woking on it? Seems to me we're still brainstorming here! In Christ, Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 18:45:35 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Dave Brown Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L In a message dated 96-05-14 14:03:07 EDT, Monk Maximos wrote: >What would people think about proposing a publishing arrangement with the >Byzantine Seminary Press or Eastern Christian Publications (Jack Figel)? > It's just an idea that came to me. I suppose Jeff, or someone else "back >East" would have to coordinate the effort. But having a publisher would cut >down on our desk top publishing woes, and it would obviate the problems of >different computer formats. I think the kind of things we are thinking about >producing would sell. If the publisher would absorb the initial costs we'd >be set, otherwise we'd need to locate funds, perhaps from the Metropolia or >from some Foundation. I really don't think money will be a major hurdle >while we stick to booklets. When it comes time to publish the whole "English >Prostopenie" that will be another story! But it could perhaps be done in >installments, and then put together in one collection, rather like what St. >John of Kronstadt Press did with their Menaion. Personally, I am quite excited about your idea. I will most likely lurk here since I have just a minute undertanding of Ruthenian chanting. The only thing I would like to add is that, in light of the new Liturgical Instructions, whatever is published should be designed for and usable for both Orthodox and Eastern Catholic. Problem is there is no standardized English translation. Perhaps our friend Pedro Vega (who is at the Carpatho-Russian Cathedral in Johnstown, PA) could help us get some feedback from the Carpatho-Russians? I know he is signed on to CIN EAST...don't know if he signed on here. Christ is Risen! Dave Brown Orthocath1@aol.com ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 18:46:31 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L I said: > >I'm guessing that you mean "The Office of Vespers" done by the > >Sisters of St. Basil's. Should we get the permission of the Sisters? Monk Maximos said: > > Yes, that's what I mean. And yes, we should get permission. Would anyone > like me to write, or would it be better done through Jeff (and perhaps Father > David)? Once we do get permission, let me know. I have a scanner and can scan text in. No sense typing it if we don't have to! We'll have plenty of work to do! I believe that this text is used by both Ruthenians & Ukrainians, so there is a potential of some interjurisdictional benefit to any work we do. Imagine, we might actually use the same translation! It boggles the mind:-) > What would people think about proposing a publishing arrangement with the > Byzantine Seminary Press or Eastern Christian Publications (Jack Figel)? > It's just an idea that came to me. .... I really don't think > money will be a major hurdle > while we stick to booklets. When it comes time to publish the whole "English > Prostopenie" that will be another story! But it could perhaps be done in > installments, and then put together in one collection, rather like what St. > John of Kronstadt Press did with their Menaion. > > What do people think - is it too early to do anything about that yet? Or is > it better to have in mind how we will distribute the product as we are woking > on it? Seems to me we're still brainstorming here! > I think that it is ok for the future, but I'd suggest picking a small manageable project with fixed constraints to begin with. In my opinion, doing the desktop publishing for a small startup effort shouldn't be a big deal. For example, start with Vespers and put the fixed parts to music. Once we get this done, we could then expand it to contain the changeable parts. Scope the initial project for success then build upon that success. If we start out with too big a project, we could get frustrated and discouraged and not output anything. Pick something that is needed the most, set bounds, distribute assignments with due dates. If we start out with a small project, we could do the "publishing" at the parish level or provide the disk to parishes to adapt to their own particular need. If we need outside funds to help push this through, it'll be easier to get once we have a demonstrated success under our belts. I've done some booklets for use at St. Michael's. The one that I did in English with the most amount of music is the Funeral of a Layman. I took the music that was set to Old Slavonic and wrestled with the arrangement in English. I can send copies out to list members who are interested for their critique. The music is Gallician. The booklet itself is pamphlet size (about 32 pages). Look at the format, critique it, (you won't hurt my feelings) and let's come up with a standard format. Monk Maximos is Mac based. I'm Windows based. What else are other people using out there? Can we standardize on some stuff so we can share some of the load? I believe that Word for Mac and Word for Windows can share files. Once someone has done the hard work of doing the music arrangement, making it look pretty on a computer is not a big deal for a single voice. Multiple voices is a bear. I haven't figured out a way of doing this without going nuts with MusicTime. Anyone else out there using a music program besides monk Maximos and myself? Let's also not forget about the cantor faq. I really liked Jeff's outline. Can we go forth, split it up and hand out assignments? Jeff, you're da boss. From a personal perspective, I'm very motivated in getting this set up since I'm learning how to be a cantor at St. Michael's for the English liturgy. I am not aware of any resource out there that can help. Much of the information is like folklore in that it is handed down verbally. Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 21:44:52 -0500 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Bill Metzar Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L I'm really impressed with the response so far. I am Windows based and the music program that came with my PC was manufactured by Voyetra. I've added on to what originally came with the PC and have recently picked up Music Writer (also by Voyetra) which should allow me to place notes on a staff via a mouse. It also allows me to add lyrics. I do not have a MIDI keyboard at present but I will look into the one suggested. Around 20 years ago I set the Holy Thursday Matins, Good Friday Vespers, and Resurrection services to music in both English and Old Slavonic. Then the Diocese issued official translations a year or two later. However, most of the music I've done is by pencil on staff paper so I could edit it easily later. This includes most of the feast day troparia for the church year. I began by setting the music to faithfully reflect the Prostopinia, but then altered it to reflect the official English music provided in the English Prostopinia which the Diocese published a while back. This music was highly simplified but a pastor at that time insisted that I use the new music. I think that my setting of the St. Basil's canon is very faithful to the original Prostopinia. At the Passiac Byzantine Congress there is a young cantor from the Virginia area who sets the morning prayer and vespers (abridged) to musical notation and does a pretty good job at it too. I'm wondering if he already has a good start on this project. I will try to find out who he is and perhaps contact him. Looking forward to the Ascension, Bill Metzar Metzar_W@sunybroome.edu ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 21:16:16 -0700 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Andrew Wollert Subject: Introduction To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Christ is Risen! I imagine that most of you already know (of) me, especially Dave and Br Maximos, but I wanted to send out a short note of introduction. I am *very* interested in the celebration of the services. I hope to contribute in whatever way that I can and look forward to participating. Glory be to God for all things! -Andy Andrew J. Wollert IC|XC Tempe, Arizona USA --+-- redco@xroads.com NI|KA ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 13:16:36 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: CANTOR-L Comments: To: hrycak@the-hermes.net To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Dear Peter, >I'd suggest picking a small manageable project with fixed constraints to >begin with. I agree with that. Maybe we can think about other possibilities when we have some "product". I guess it will depend on how easy or difficult it gets for us to things ourselves. Are we all agreed that the best thing to start with, booklet wise, is Vespers without a Priest? >I've done some booklets for use at St. Michael's I'd be very happy to look at the Funeral Booklet. It sounds like the kind of thing we want. If you don't have it, our mailing address is: Holy Resurrection Monastery 45704 Valley Center Road, Newberry Springs, CA 92365. >I believe that Word for Mac and Word for Windows can share files. Anyone know more about this? I'm not very happy with my wordprocessing program and I want to change it when we can afford it. So I'd like some advice on the best thing to get. Jeff, do you want me to do anything in the next few weeks? Approach the Sisters, work on some FAQs? Father Nicholas is letting me spend a few hours a week on this work in my afternoons - it's in the time budget! In Christ, Maximos, monk ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- OPTIONS: NOACK LOG LONG NOTEBOOK CANTOR-L Message-Id: Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 00:40:48 -0400 (EDT) From: "Jeff Mierzejewski" To: "Ruthenian Church Music List" Subject: Re: Getting started In-Reply-To: Message of 05/13/96 at 04:53:28 from hrycak@THE-HERMES.NET Finally back online; I had to spend two days building a small barn for our sheep. It's good to be back :-) On 05/13/96 at 04:53:28 Peter D. Hrycak said: >Yes. Guidelines for Reader services would be great! I got some from >the Indiana Orthodox list. The "Office of Vespers" book put out by >the Basilian Sisters in Uniontown do have some instructions for >Reader Vespers. Finally, "The Hours of Prayer" put out by the >Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese of USA also has a >reader service. Please let me know if you can use any of these. I'm starting with the Indiana rubrics; the Vespers book really only notes that one says "Through the prayers of our holy fathers..." at the appropriate times. I'm interested in the Hours of Prayer book, as the Carpatho-Russians are our Orthodox counterparts as Ruthenians. >A potential point of discussion would be what music writing program >are you using. If we, as a group could standardize, we could share >the load of arranging the English text to the traditional chants. I'm using MusicTime 2.0 for Windows, no Midi keyboard but I type fast. One consideration: if possible, whatever we use should allow for special fonts, so that if/when we include Slavonic text, we can use the proper diacritical marks (haceks, etc.). > I have a xerox of an old book >(about 1890's) published in Lviv using something called Kievan square >notation. I think that the irmos are set to music. Let me know if >you think you could use s xerox of a xerox of this book. I'd be interested in this as well. I've looked a little at Kievan notation with Fr. Charles Mozzomo (a Ukrainian Catholic priest who teaches chant at the Byzantien Catholic seminary in Pittsburgh) but I haven't found any sources yet. The irmoi should be quite similar. >I think that the outline is great. Much of the information you are >gathering is very general and could be very useful for not only >Ruthenians, but the Ukrainians as well. Do the Ruthenians use the >Bulgarian tones as well for the sycheras? We use the Bulgarian (Bolhar or Bolharskij) tones occasionally, particular in the funeral service. Unfortunately, these tones, like the podoben melodies, sometimes are omitted in favor of simpler melodies. I know that Bishop Nicholas of the Johnstown Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese has directed that the use of the correct (traditional) melodies is to be restored where it has lapsed. >I've considered starting a Cantor's handbook myself since I'm just >learning the fundamentals. I would sugest that we also include >information as how do we combine tropars for occassions when >feastdays merge, for example when the Annunciation falls on a Sunday, >or define the various classifications of holydays. Definitely. We normally assume that either the priest or a publisher will do this for us. This was _not_ the way cantors traditionally worked! Also, basic information on that layout of the common tones and how to apply them to a text should come first. This can eliminate a _certain_ amount of written-out music. I've never seen, for example, an explanation in print of how to chant a reading, or a psalm, or an oikos. Does anyone know if there is a standard Typicon in English? I have ordered Father David's yearly Typicon, but I'd like to find the permanent rules for the calendar, >A section of how should a cantor prepare himself would be useful in >both spiritual and physical terms. For example, what does a cantor >do when he has a cold, etc. Excellent idea! On 05/13/96 at 13:46:35 brother Maximos said: > Could those who arrange music also make tapes at the same time and send them >out, if not with every new setting, then at some kind of regular interval. > They needn't be anything more than singing into a portable cassette >recorder. As long as our mailing list isn't too large the expense shouldn't >be too great. If it does prove impractical we may need to consider other >strategies, but I do think it is important for us to try and have the music >in aural as well as written form as much as possible. I agree. This might best be done at two points: for review, when we have something mostly done. We could circulate it amongst a few clergy and cantors who _know_ the music we're doing, for comment. And we should certainly prepare a final version amongst ourselves when done, if only for archival purposes! BTW, is everyone familiar with the set of cantor training tapes put out by the Byzantine Seminary Press? Nine cassette tapes cover the Divine Liturgy for Sundays and the holy days of the year, Marian hymns, molebens, Lent, Holy Week and Pascha. It has Vespers for Theophany, and Thursday and Friday of Great Week, and Matins for Great and Holy Friday and Paschal Sunday. Also, the funeral services (probably the best place for a cantor to start learning the tones) and a section on "Learning the Vespers tones" (samohlasen and bolhar tones, setting the Our Father-- although I think there are a few problems with the tones used, and music is not provided). But it is a magnificant accomplishment, and one of the resources we can work from when necessary. >But my main contribution, I think, would be in the area of rubrics and >publishing service books and pamphlets. I agree that an ideal first project >would be the production of a booklet for Vespers as a reader service (shall >we start there and work up to Matins?). I agree. I propose the following projects for now: 1. Saturday evening Vespers as a reader service. This will give us a chance to wrestle with which texts we want to use, rubrics, etc. The music should be _mostly_ straightforward; the problems lie mostly in organization. I think we should prepare a text with music for the Ordinary of Vespers, with everything laid out in detail. An appendix should show all the sticheral tones in schematic format, with examples, to show how the stichera are sung. Once this is done, we could and should set the Octoechos for Saturday evening Vespers. 2. Sunday morning Matins as a reader service. Much of the decisions for rubrics and common tones will have been done for Vespers. The most important part will be the Canons of the Octoechos, which should be set to the prostopinije irmos melodies. Everything else can be described with examples; the Canons have to be written out. It would probably be a good start if we could simply collect the rubrics, outline directions for the singing, and the music for the Canons. An entire matins book would be too large to start with. 3. The FAQ, which will incorporate much of the decisions/findings from both the above projects. > Here is my main suggestion. I could >work up a text based on the Uniontown Vespers book and incorporating Father >David's suggestions. We can decide how much music and other material should >be part of the book as we go along. Money will be a consideration. When we >have a good draft we should submit it to the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical >Commission for approval. It would be wonderful if we could also submit it to >Bishop Nicholas. We'll see what God wills in that regard. I agree. I think we will have to look at which texts to use in a few places, particularly where we are already using a common text with the Orthodox and the Sisters have chosen a different one. >Father Nicholas, my abbot, will remember this fledgling project very >specially at the Altar, and all of us here at Holy Resurrection Monastery >have it in our prayers. I expect to be seeing Bishop George this week (who >is also Chairman of the Liturgical Commission) and will mention this new >endeavour to him. I know he will be interested. Please give Father Nicholas our thanks! Yours in Christ, Jeff ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 05:40:47 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Re: Getting started To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L > I'm interested in the Hours of Prayer book, > as the Carpatho-Russians are our Orthodox counterparts as Ruthenians. The book can be obtained from: The Orthodox Brotherhood of the Virgin Mary P.O. Box 1 Elkhorn, West Virginia 24831 (304) 862-3313 The book costs $18.95 plis $1.25 shipping & handling I bought the book in 2/95 and they were running out. They were also working on another project, but I can't remember what it was. > I'm using MusicTime 2.0 for Windows, no Midi keyboard but I type fast. > One consideration: if possible, whatever we use should allow for special > fonts, so that if/when we include Slavonic text, we can use the proper > diacritical marks (haceks, etc.). Aha! I'm using MusicTime 1.2. There are fonts available that have the Slavonic in upper ascii. However, there is no one standard on where letters are located in ASCII space. See my note to brother Maximos for a reasonable, inexpensive midi keyboard. How is MusicTime 2.0? 1.2 is a bit bugridden, but the output is very nice. Will it allow you to cut and paste music between documents? 1.2 will not allow this. > > > I have a xerox of an old book > >(about 1890's) published in Lviv using something called Kievan square > >notation. I think that the irmos are set to music. Let me know if > >you think you could use s xerox of a xerox of this book. > > I'd be interested in this as well. I've looked a little at Kievan > notation with Fr. Charles Mozzomo (a Ukrainian Catholic priest who > teaches chant at the Byzantien Catholic seminary in Pittsburgh) but > I haven't found any sources yet. The irmoi should be quite similar. > Fr. Charles sent me some info as to how to read the music. Send me you mailing address and I'll send you a copy of the book sometime next week. > Definitely. We normally assume that either the priest or a publisher > will do this for us. This was _not_ the way cantors traditionally > worked! Also, basic information on that layout of the common tones > and how to apply them to a text should come first. This can eliminate > a _certain_ amount of written-out music. I've never seen, for example, > an explanation in print of how to chant a reading, or a psalm, or an > oikos. I've seen some of this. The instructions say something like ... special beginning phrase, repeated by two phrases with a special ending phase. > > Does anyone know if there is a standard Typicon in English? I have > ordered Father David's yearly Typicon, but I'd like to find the > permanent rules for the calendar, Good question! I know that the Ukrainians have one in Ukrainian, but quite frankly, my Ukrainian stinks! If you find one in English, please let me know. Do the Ruthenian Orthodox happen to have one? > BTW, is everyone familiar with the set of cantor training tapes put out > by the Byzantine Seminary Press? Nine cassette tapes cover the Divine > Liturgy for Sundays and the holy days of the year, Marian hymns, > molebens, Lent, Holy Week and Pascha. It has Vespers for Theophany, > and Thursday and Friday of Great Week, and Matins for Great and Holy > Friday and Paschal Sunday. Also, the funeral services (probably the > best place for a cantor to start learning the tones) and a section on > "Learning the Vespers tones" (samohlasen and bolhar tones, setting > the Our Father-- although I think there are a few problems with the > tones used, and music is not provided). But it is a magnificant > accomplishment, and one of the resources we can work from when > necessary. Really! How much are they? Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:51:12 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Peter wrote: >I would humbly suggest that we can get more bang for the buck if we >do a more generalized booklet for Vespers that includes rubrics for a >service lead by a priest or presbyter. The Uniontown book has some >of these instructions. We could do that, but it would complicate the text. I realise the Sister's book makes it look easy, but they really have skimped on rubrics, especially for the reader-only service. This is even more apparent in their Matins Book. People are always asking me to fill in the gaps! Actually I think there is wisdom in the Sisters' approach. A great advantage of their books is that they are uncluttered. Once you know how to do the services they are very easy to follow. But from the requests that I receive it seems that the greatest need is for something aimed at beginners. And the more complicated the text they have the more daunted they will be - and the less likely they will be to attempt the service. On the other hand, the advantage of Peter's suggestion is that people will get a better idea of the full Vesperal service if they have it all in front of them. For example, if we instruct readers to replace the litanies with 12 "Lord, have mercies" (as we should), it may be nice if they can see what is being replaced. Besides, they will also get a sense of what certain "priest-only" parts are all about: the Vesper's procession, the Litija, blessing of bread etc. As far as I know (and I'm open to correction) none of these things would be done by a reader alone, but it seems a pity that a beginner should not be made aware of these elemental parts of the service. I'm glad Peter brought up this point as it's made me think things through a bit better. Perhaps we should just aim to produce a Vespers book and then, when we've determined exactly what rubrics are indispensible for the reader service we will be able to quantify the degree of complication and adjust our ideas accordingly. Much depends on what Father David has to say. For example, when I celebrate Vespers when Father Nicholas is absent for some reason, I have been taught to incense the Church (not the sanctuary) using a hand censer (not the priest's censer). This is standard practice in the Orthodox world, but it certainly seems to be a foreign idea within Ruthenian culture. I would like to include rubrics for lay people to use incense (especially in light of the recent "Instruction") but we will need to receive advice from our priests, esp. Father David, about sensitivities. I realise this is shifting the focus away from music, but we may as well deal with rubrical and textual issues as well. and If we decide to split the product into two books at that point it won't really add much to the total work involved. I suggest Peter (or someone) scan in the Sister's text as is, eliminate the unnecessary stuff and incorporate the music, our agreed rubrics and other amendments. Finally, I'm more and more inclined to suggest we reduce textual rubrics to a minimum (a little more than the Sisters), and include a detailed forward, (say a page to a page-and-a-half) explaining the hows and why's of the service. How does that sound? It goes without saying that we're talking about Great Vespers (ie for Sundays and feasts) and not Daily Vespers. This helps keep things simpler. There are good prayer books out there so that people can make their own adaptations of the services for home use through the week. I don't anticipate an immediate demand for public weekday vespers in our Churches (more's the pity!). At least that means we don't have to include special rubrics for Great Lent and the other fasts. >Sorry for being so nosey, but which word processing program are you >using? That's not nosey! Its Clarisworks 4.0. It was donated with the computer, so if anyone's laughing at me I can just glance down in seraphic disdain :-) Once again, it's great to be working on this project. In Christ, Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 16:49:13 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Dave Brown Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L In a message dated 96-05-16 14:51:31 EDT, Monk Maximos wrote: >On the other hand, the advantage of Peter's suggestion is that people will >get a better idea of the full Vesperal service if they have it all in front >of them. For example, if we instruct readers to replace the litanies with 12 >"Lord, have mercies" (as we should), it may be nice if they can see what is >being replaced. Besides, they will also get a sense of what certain >"priest-only" parts are all about: the Vesper's procession, the Litija, >blessing of bread etc. As far as I know (and I'm open to correction) none of >these things would be done by a reader alone, but it seems a pity that a >beginner should not be made aware of these elemental parts of the service. Perhaps a solution to this "problem" could be found in the lay-out of the service in the booklet (or book?) For example, parts that are omitted in a reader service could be plainly marked using some consistent system (text blocked with a light grey "screen" in a smaller point type if necessary). Personally I wish some sort of arrangement for pew editions of the Divine Liturgy were available for the parts of the Liturgy that are usually recited privately by the priest. For example, I did not know for months that when the priest says "through the mercies, etc." after we sing "To You, O Lord" (in response to "Bow your heads to the Lord") that he had been praying for us and this was a continuation of that prayer. Just a thought. Glory to Jesus Christ! Dave ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 17:43:55 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Vespers Rubrics To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L A suggestion .... We could use the equivalent of footnotes to give details of the rubrics without cluttering the text such as was done in Hapgood's Service Book and only include the most necessary ones within the Vespers text itself. As Brother Maximos suggested, we could include the information on the structure and flow of the service within a detailed forward (or maybe in an appendix). This is almost what Isabel Hapgood did in her book. We'd just take is a step further. We could also do as Dave suggested to differentiate the reader service parts by, let's say, using a different font or point size, or, set up two columns: column one when the service is presided by a priest, column two when it is presided by a layman. If we're clever, we could make this work quite nicely and have one booklet that is used for vespers. In the Ukrainian parishes, there is a tendency to abridge the services. Should we do a "full-up" booklet, or one which is abridged? Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 17:19:15 -0700 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Andrew Wollert Subject: Re: CANTOR-L To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Christ is Risen! Brother Maximos wrote: >Are we all agreed that the best thing to start with, booklet wise, is Vespers >without a Priest? I agree. Are we talking Sunday Vespers, daily Vespers or both? Peter wrote: >I believe that Word for Mac and Word for Windows can share files. Brother Maximos wrote: >Anyone know more about this? I'm not very happy with my wordprocessing >program and I want to change it when we can afford it. So I'd like some >advice on the best thing to get. Word is a very good program. Very robust with more features than you will ever use. I'm pretty sure the file formats are compatible. Of course, what could be done is to use plain text (ASCII) files to get everything put together, then when it's 'finished', someone can 'typeset' it using a word processor. The advantage here is that we can send the text back and forth across the internet. If the same person typesets, then the style will be the same across books. Brother Maximos wrote: >Jeff, do you want me to do anything in the next few weeks? Approach the >Sisters, work on some FAQs? Father Nicholas is letting me spend a few hours >a week on this work in my afternoons - it's in the time budget! Me too. Anything that I can do? -Andy Andrew J. Wollert IC|XC Tempe, Arizona USA --+-- redco@xroads.com NI|KA ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 17:27:49 -0700 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Andrew Wollert Subject: Vespers Rubrics To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Glory be to Jesus Christ! Peter wrote: >In the Ukrainian parishes, there is a tendency to abridge the >services. Should we do a "full-up" booklet, or one which is >abridged? Please, please, please, please, please no abridgement. Please? -Andy Andrew J. Wollert IC|XC Tempe, Arizona USA --+-- redco@xroads.com NI|KA ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 00:17:12 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: Vespers Rubrics Comments: To: hrycak@the-hermes.net To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Peter asked: >In the Ukrainian parishes, there is a tendency to abridge the >services. Should we do a "full-up" booklet, or one which is abridged? My view is that one should give people everything. If parishes want to abridge things, fine, but let's not legislate for them! This is especially so for Vespers which, even if done completely "by the book" need not take longer than 40 minutes to an hour. If you hear of Orthodox taking longer it is because their music is slower! Inevitably, however, we will probably find ourselves abbreviating Matins somewhat for parish use. Abbreviation in itself is not necessarily bad provided we try to keep pretty much to what the WHOLE Byzantine world does, and not make Greek Catholic services a separate category. I think that statement is in the spirit of the Vatican's latest "Instruction". BTW, I won't bother re-posting my earlier garbles post. I'm very happy with the suggestions Dave and Peter have made re the Vespers booklet! In Christ, Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 00:17:25 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: Getting started To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Glory to Jesus Christ! Jeff wrote: >I've never seen, for example, an explanation in print of how to chant a reading, or a psalm, or an >oikos. And that's a great problem now that our cantor training system has broken down. I myself don't know how to chant a reading properly according to the Ruthenian melody. And I've always assumed the Oikos can be just "straight chanted" - is that wrong? >Does anyone know if there is a standard Typicon in English? I have ordered Father David's >yearly Typicon, but I'd like to find the permanent rules for the calendar, Father David's system of "Formats" is very useful. There is a thing called the "Abridged Typicon" used by the Russian Patriarchal jursidiction (and to a large extent by the OCA). It is also useful, but more difficult to follow and covers less ground than Father David's work. Also it is important to remember that the "Great Russian" and Rusyn traditions are not identical. Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 04:25:32 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Traditions To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Monk Maximos said: > Father David's system of "Formats" is very useful. There is a thing called > the "Abridged Typicon" used by the Russian Patriarchal jursidiction (and to a > large extent by the OCA). It is also useful, but more difficult to follow > and covers less ground than Father David's work. Also it is important to > remember that the "Great Russian" and Rusyn traditions are not identical. > I have a copy of the Abridged Typicon and some of the terms I just don't understand. I also have "The Liturgical Dictionary of Eastern Christianity" that helps somewhat, but not totally. Would a glossary of terns be helful for the faq, e.g. Oikos - The stanza that immediately follows the kontakion between Canticles 6 and 7 at Matins, or Orthos (<- from Liturgical Dictionary) I noticed that the Ruthenian & Ukrainian Catholics use Greek style vestments. Is this the case for the Orthodox or do they use Russian style vestments? What are other differences in these two traditions besides vestments & music. I noticed from the OCA Resurrection service that they take the burial shroud to the altar at a diffferent time that the Ukrainians do. Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 12:09:56 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: Traditions Comments: To: hrycak@the-hermes.net To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Peter asked: >Would a glossary of terns be helful for the faq, e.g. Essential, I think. >I noticed that the Ruthenian & Ukrainian Catholics use Greek style >vestments. Is this the case for the Orthodox or do they use Russian >style vestments? I've seen many Ruthenian phelonions that look half and half: short in front like Russians, but low in back like Greeks. Always seems to me a perfect metaphor for our tradition - best of both worlds?? >What are other differences in these two traditions besides vestments & >music. This is a large topic. Apart from Latinizations, there are two main (valid) reasons for differences: 1. Kievan usages developed somewhat differently from Muscovite; and 2. Both the Ruthenian and Ukrainian Greek Catholics entered into union with Rome before the major Russian liturgical reforms initiated by Patriarch Nikon. There are numerous small differences. For example, during Pascha the Russians sing "It is truly proper" and "More honorable than the Cherubim" whereas we Ukrainians and Ruthenians tend to replace it always with "The angel cried" and "Shine in splendor." One of the major things we need to be careful about when reading Orthodox service books is that our two traditions emphasise congregational singing much more than individual cantors and choirs. For example, at Vespers the hymn "O Lord keep us this evening without sin" is almost always recited in Russian usage, but we Ruthenians sing it - there is even music in the Uniontown Vespers book (from the Prostopenie, I think). I don't know whether this is the same for Ukrainians as well. In our monastery, we do take it in turns more to chant bits of the services, because we spend several hours every day celebrating them, and if we all had to sing every word it would ruin be too much strain on our voices (too late I hear you cry!) But for parish use, I think we need to preserve this very strong and beautiful tradition of singing in common, where it can be done without radically changing the nature of the service. Pray for the sinner, Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- OPTIONS: NOACK LOG LONG NOTEBOOK CANTOR-L Message-Id: Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 15:22:47 -0400 (EDT) From: "Jeff Mierzejewski" To: "Ruthenian Church Music List" Subject: Re: Getting started In-Reply-To: Message of 05/14/96 at 13:13:20 from HCommun871@AOL.COM On 05/14/96 at 13:13:20 brother Maximos said: >>I'm guessing that you mean "The Office of Vespers" done by the >>Sisters of St. Basil's. Should we get the permission of the Sisters? >Yes, that's what I mean. And yes, we should get permission. Would anyone >like me to write, or would it be better done through Jeff (and perhaps Father >David)? Could you go ahead and do it, brother Maximos? I'm not sure we will use the text without some minor replacement from other Ruthenian sources, but in general, the Uniontown texts are the place to start. On 05/14/96 at 18:45:35 Dave Brown said: > ... in light of the new Liturgical Instructions, >whatever is published should be designed for and usable for both Orthodox and >Eastern Catholic. Problem is there is no standardized English translation. >Perhaps our friend Pedro Vega (who is at the Carpatho-Russian Cathedral in >Johnstown, PA) could help us get some feedback from the Carpatho-Russians? I >know he is signed on to CIN EAST...don't know if he signed on here. Definitely we should use common translations where possible. I will get in touch with Father James Gleason (the Carpatho-Russian chant professor at the Johnstown seminary) this weekend to discuss what texts and translations are in use. There is no standard translation, I know, and they are somewhat in the middle of a Jacobean English versus Modern English debate. Personally, I think the kind of English in the Byzantine Book of Prayer and the Divine Liturgy texts we use are about right: modern English, but English with both poetry and no attempt to hide language that speaks of spiritual things. Archbishop Raya's translations are quite good this way, and I have seen quite a bit of use of his works by the Orthodox. I posted a note about this list to the Indiana ORTHODOX list, BTW, since there are a number of Carpatho-Russians there. On 05/14/96 at 18:46:31 Peter D. Hrycak said: >Monk Maximos is Mac based. I'm Windows based. What else are other >people using out there? Can we standardize on some stuff so we can >share some of the load? I believe that Word for Mac and Word for >Windows can share files. Once someone has done the hard work of >doing the music arrangement, making it look pretty on a computer is >not a big deal for a single voice. Multiple voices is a bear. I >haven't figured out a way of doing this without going nuts with >MusicTime. Anyone else out there using a music program besides monk >Maximos and myself? I think multiple voiced music is not something we need to worry about! While there are settings of the prostopinije chants arranged for 3-4 voices (especially by the Carpatho-Russians, many parishes of which sing choir music in the Great Russian tradition and are not used to having the people sing), we should instead emphasize congregational monophonic singing, along with the traditional harmonies of a third above and below the melody for the melodies everyone knows already. I've studied some of the minor variations in our own parish's setting of chant, and almost all of the changed notes are either a third up or down from the melody -- in other words, the original note was replace by a note used in harmonizing it :-) >Let's also not forget about the cantor faq. I really liked Jeff's >outline. Can we go forth, split it up and hand out assignments? I will have a draft outline for the FAQ prepared by the beginning of next week. If anyone has questions or topics they'd like to see addressed, just drop me a note. Then we can break it up into pieces and start work on it. BTW, as someone suggested, a glossary is a GREAT idea, and probably vital, especially since so often there are Greek, Slavonic and English terms for the same thing, which may be used interchangeably. It took me two days to figure out that the sessional hymns in the Uniontown Vespers books are the same things called sidalen elsewhere! On 05/14/96 at 21:44:52 Bill Metzar said: >Around 20 years ago I set the Holy Thursday Matins, Good Friday Vespers, >and Resurrection services to music in both English and Old Slavonic. >Then the Diocese issued official translations a >year or two later. However, most of the music I've done is by pencil >on staff paper so I could edit it easily later. This includes most of >the feast day troparia for the church year. I began by setting the >music to faithfully reflect the Prostopinia, but then altered it >to reflect the official English music provided in the English >Prostopinia which the Diocese published a while back. This music was >highly simplified but a pastor at that time insisted that I use the >new music. I think that my setting of the St. Basil's canon is very >faithful to the original Prostopinia. I think that we should (gently) challenge the belief that the music must be simplied. While I recognize that some chant may need to be rearranged to fit English scansion, in general the trend is to take beautiful music that the people _can_ learn, and replace it with a psalm tone. This may be appropriate for very rarely used music, but I'd rather see us set real prostopinije. And once cantors and people know the tones, I think we'll see the drive to simplify diminish. I was amazed to study the history of congregational singing in Subcarpathian Ukraine. The Great Zbornik (a book containing all the hymns, psalms and verses for Vespers, Matins and Divine Liturgy for the Sundays and great feast days of the year) was very widely distributed among the people. Contemporary accounts by musicologists avd Slavists tell of the Rusin people singing the services from this book with no music in from of them at all. These days, we are all trained to rely more on our eyes than on our ears, but I think that this kind of participation is what we should strive for. >At the Passiac Byzantine Congress there is a young cantor from the >Virginia area who sets the morning prayer and vespers (abridged) to >musical notation and does a pretty good job at it too. I'm wondering >if he already has a good start on this project. I will try to find >out who he is and perhaps contact him. I know of a cantor in Virginia who sets certain of the music to chant; unfortunately, some of the rhythm of the chant (according to both the priestly chant professors I know) is simplified and modified to suit "modern" tastes. I'd like to work from the Slavonic sources as much as possible, keeping an eye on existing English works, for Vespers and Matins; but since none of them seem to be complete yet, I think we should avoid borrowing bits and pieces from all over. The tone settings should be done consistently. This is best done when a single person, or a group with peer review, works on an entire service or set of texts. Just my opinion. On 05/16/96 at 17:43:55 Peter D. Hrycak said: >In the Ukrainian parishes, there is a tendency to abridge the >services. Should we do a "full-up" booklet, or one which is >abridged? Another definite vote for a full (not abridged) service. The Orthodox parishes I know are struggling _away_ from abridgments _toward_ complete services. On 05/17/96 at 00:17:25 brother Maximos said: >And that's a great problem now that our cantor training system has broken >down. I myself don't know how to chant a reading properly according to the >Ruthenian melody. And I've always assumed the Oikos can be just "straight >chanted" - is that wrong? That's what is often done these days. _However_, the Prostopinije of Boksay states that the Oikos is to be recited (i.e. straight chant) _except for the ending, which is sung_. The melody for the ending only is found in the funeral parastas. This is one of the (few) drawbacks of the Prostopinije book; you really need to know the whole thing, because many things (podobny names, for example) are given in an abbreviated form, on the assumption that you will know what it meant. At Paschal Matins this year, we (I) chanted the Oikos with the sung ending for the first time. Some of the older people in the parish told me afterwards that they recognized it. Yours in Christ, Jeff ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 16:58:39 -0500 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Bill Metzar Subject: Re: traditions To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Monk Maximos wrote: >>What are other differences in these two traditions besides vestments & >>music. >This is a large topic. Apart from Latinizations, there are two main (valid) >reasons for differences: >1. Kievan usages developed somewhat differently from Muscovite; and >2. Both the Ruthenian and Ukrainian Greek Catholics entered into union with >Rome before the major Russian liturgical reforms initiated by Patriarch >Nikon. >There are numerous small differences. For example, during Pascha the >Russians sing "It is truly proper" and "More honorable than the Cherubim" >whereas we Ukrainians and Ruthenians tend to replace it always with "The >angel cried" and "Shine in splendor." A few weeks ago my pastor told me that Bishop Andrew Pataki has suggested that we return (if that is the proper word) to the "Russian" practice described above. I was quite surprised to hear of this. However, in the rubrics of The Byzantine Daily Worship (Raya's) it does say to sing "It is truly proper" and "More Honorable.." around two or three weeks after Pascha. I never noticed this before. >One of the major things we need to be careful about when reading Orthodox >service books is that our two traditions emphasise congregational singing >much more than individual cantors and choirs. For example, at Vespers the >hymn "O Lord keep us this evening without sin" is almost always recited in >Russian usage, but we Ruthenians sing it - there is even music in the >Uniontown Vespers book (from the Prostopenie, I think). I don't know whether >this is the same for Ukrainians as well. If I recall correctly, the Ruthenians adopted choral singing around 1848 during an uprising against Hungarian rule. I believe that there were Cossack's who worshiped in our churches using choral music. As I said this is a very vague memory of something I read a long time ago and it may be completely wrong. Bill Metzar Metzar_w@sunybroome.edu ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 21:41:30 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: Getting started To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L From Jeff: >That's what is often done these days. _However_, the Prostopinije >of Boksay states that the Oikos is to be recited (i.e. straight chant) >_except for the ending, which is sung_. The melody for the ending >only is found in the funeral parastas. This is one of the (few) >drawbacks of the Prostopinije book; you really need to know the >whole thing, because many things (podobny names, for example) are >given in an abbreviated form, on the assumption that you will >know what it meant. This makes sense because the end of the Oikos usually is the same as the end of the Kontakion that precedes it - it is a kind of refrain. The Kontakia and their accompanying oikoi once formed whole services in themselves, I suppose the Akathist Hymn is a species of that liturgical genus. Is the last line of the Oikos always the same melody? If the Oikos is sung three times, is it ended the same way each time? About mere abbreviations: I understand the frustration! The service books frequently prescribe the proper Katabasia for a Canon by reference to the first few words of the relevant verse. All through Lent. These tantalising hints have been faithfully reproduced, for example, by Bishop Kallistos and other translators of the Triodion, even though no-one seems to have translated the Irmologia that enable one easily to locate the verse prescribed! This was one of my frustrations through last Lent. I will approach the good Sisters as requested. Pray for me! Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 21:41:37 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: traditions To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Glory to Jesus Christ! >A few weeks ago my pastor told me that Bishop Andrew Pataki has >suggested that we return (if that is the proper word) to the "Russian" >practice described above. Well, there you go! I must admit I just assumed it was an old custom of ours because I couldn't see how it could be a Latinization. Anyone know the full story? Incidentally, does anyone know how the custom of singing "O Heavenly King" etc. before the sermon got started in the Ruthenian Liturgy? This is another thing that doesn't seem like a Latinization. Do Ukrainians do this too? in Christ Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 21:47:55 -0700 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Andrew Wollert Subject: Layout To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Glory be to Jesus Christ! Dave Brown wrote: >Perhaps a solution to this "problem" could be found in the lay-out of the >service in the booklet (or book?) For example, parts that are omitted in a >reader service could be plainly marked using some consistent system (text >blocked with a light grey "screen" in a smaller point type if necessary). This is a good idea. I've seen it done. Alternatively, you might have 2 columns (at least for short things): Text here... more stuff... Reader Service: With a Priest: Lord have mercy (3) In peace, let us pray to the Lord. R. Lord have mercy. .... Text continues here... Of course, when you have Lord have mercy (12) on the left, and the great ectenia on the right, there's a lot of white space on the page. pray for me Andy Andrew J. Wollert IC|XC Tempe, Arizona USA --+-- redco@xroads.com NI|KA ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 06:31:52 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: O Heavenly King To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L > Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever! Brother Maximos said: > Incidentally, does anyone know how the custom of singing "O Heavenly King" > etc. before the sermon got started in the Ruthenian Liturgy? This is another > thing that doesn't seem like a Latinization. Do Ukrainians do this too? > The Ukrainians, in my experience, don't sing "O Heavenly King" prior to the sermon [although it would have probably been a good idea based on some of the sermons I have heard in my life:-) ]. I think that it is a wonderful custom! However, next Sunday, right after "Blessed be the Kingdom..", we all kneel and sing "O Heavenly King" which I think the Ruthenians do as well. Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 14:01:22 -0500 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Bill Metzar Subject: Heavenly King To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Monk Maximos wrote: >Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever! >Incidentally, does anyone know how the custom of singing "O Heavenly King" >etc. before the sermon got started in the Ruthenian Liturgy? This is another >thing that doesn't seem like a Latinization. Do Ukrainians do this too? I always assumed that this was just a prayer to the Holy Spirit so that the priest would preach a good sermon. I believe that I have seen concelebrating priests say a prayer over the one who was about to preach. I have always assumed this to be a prayer to the Holy Spirit. I always thought this was a nice touch. We had only one pastor in our church who requested that this hymn be sung before his sermons. It was rather appropriate in our case since our church is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Through the prayers of the Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, save us. Bill Metzar metzar_w@sunybroome.edu ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 14:22:50 -0500 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Bill Metzar Subject: Heavenly King To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Peter wrote: >The Ukrainians, in my experience, don't sing "O Heavenly King" prior >to the sermon [although it would have probably been a good idea based >on some of the sermons I have heard in my life:-) ]. I think that it >is a wonderful custom! However, next Sunday, right after "Blessed >be the Kingdom..", we all kneel and sing "O Heavenly King" which I >think the Ruthenians do as well. Yes we do. However, I believe that the Melkites do this AFTER the Liturgy. The Kneeling Prayers are actually for vespers for Pentecost Monday. Therefore, starting with the Liturgy for Pentecost Sunday we begin kneeling during the Liturgy once again. But, doesn't it make sense to also stand and not kneel for the feast of Pentecost, the birthday of our Church? It is very interesting to delve into our history. We are blessed in this country to have the different Eastern Churches so we can compare the various practices. S'Bohom Bill Metzar metzar_w@sunybroome.edu ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- OPTIONS: NOACK LOG LONG NOTEBOOK CANTOR-L Message-Id: Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 01:34:31 -0400 (EDT) From: "Jeff Brooks" To: Subject: FAQ: Outline Here's what I have for the FAQ so far. ---Overview--- 1. Who are the Ruthenians? 2. What are the public services of the Ruthenian Church? 3. What are the Ruthenian service books? 4. Where can I find Ruthenian service books? 5. What is prostopinije? 6. What are the Uzhorod and Presov usages? 7. Where can I find prostopinije materials? 8. How is prostopinije related to other forms of chant? 9. What is Church Slavonic? 10. Do I need to learn Church Slavonic? ---Liturgical texts--- 100. What is a troparion? 101. What is a kontakion? 102. What is a canon? 103. What is a stich? 104. What is a stichera? 105. What is a prokimen? 106. What is a kathisma? 107. What is a sidalen? 108. What is a steppena? ---Basics of Prostopinije--- 200. How is the liturgical chant organized? (mention Ordinary chants, recitative chants, varietal chants) 201. What are the recitative tones? 202. What is the difference between "recite", "chant" and "sing"? 203. How is an epistle sung? 204. How is a prophecy sung? 205. How is a psalm sung? 206. How is a troparion sung? 207. How is a kontakion sung? 208. How are stichiry sung? 209. What are samohlasen tones? 210. What are podoben tones? 211. What are Bulgarian tones? 212. What are Dogmatic tones? 213. How is a prokimen sung? ---Vespers--- 300. What is Vespers? 301. How does Vespers begin? 302. How is Psalm 103 sung? 303. How is the Psalter sung? 304. How are the Lamp-Lighting Psalms sung? 305. How do I know what stichiry to use? 306. How are the Aposticha sung? 307. How does Vespers conclude? ---Matins--- 400. What is Matins? 401. How does Matins begin? 402. How is "God the Lord" sung? 403. How is the Psalter sung? 404. How are the Sessional Hymns (Sidalen) sung? 405. How is the Polyeleos sung? 406. How is the Exaltation sung? 407. How is the Hypakoe sung? 408. How are the Gradual Hymns (Steppena) sung? 410. How is Psalm 50 sung? 411. How is the Canon sung? 412. How is the Ikos sung? 413. How is the Magnificat sung? 414. How are the Hymns of Light sung? 415. How are Psalms 148-150 sung? 416. How is the Great Doxology sung? 417. How does Matins conclude? ---Divine Liturgy--- 500. ((Open to suggestions for organization)) ---Special Liturgies--- 600. How is a wedding liturgy sung? 601. How is a funeral liturgy sung? 602. How are the Royal Hours sung? 603. How are Jerusalem Matins sung? 603. How is Paschal Matins sung? 604. How many ways are there to sing the Paschal troparion? 605. How is a moleben sung? 606. How is a panachida sung? 607. How is the Akathistos sung? ---Paraliturgical and Folk Hymns--- ---On Being a Cantor--- 800. What are the responsibilities of a cantor? 801. How do I learn to be a cantor? 802. How should I prepare spiritually for a service? 803. How should I prepare physically for a service? ---Glossary of Liturgical and Musical Terms--- ---Church Slavonic terms and phrases you should know--- What should be added? (Surely I'm missing something!) I'd be interested in doing the first section; the third section (basics of prostopinije) will probably take the most work, and perhaps should be done on the list. The later sections will probably refer back to it a lot. Any volunteers for specific parts? Jeff ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 13:14:37 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Dave Brown Subject: FAQ: Outline for Matins To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Our moderator gave a well thought out FAQ outline. If I could be greedy...this is where our parish will soon need help as we will be beginning Matins in our parish and we have no experience whatsoever! Just the sight of these questions is intimidating. Would someone care to start with Matins for us? Glory to Jesus Christ! Dave > ---Matins--- > 400. What is Matins? > 401. How does Matins begin? > 402. How is "God the Lord" sung? > 403. How is the Psalter sung? > 404. How are the Sessional Hymns (Sidalen) sung? > 405. How is the Polyeleos sung? > 406. How is the Exaltation sung? > 407. How is the Hypakoe sung? > 408. How are the Gradual Hymns (Steppena) sung? > 410. How is Psalm 50 sung? > 411. How is the Canon sung? > 412. How is the Ikos sung? > 413. How is the Magnificat sung? > 414. How are the Hymns of Light sung? > 415. How are Psalms 148-150 sung? > 416. How is the Great Doxology sung? > 417. How does Matins conclude? ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 15:23:26 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: David James Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline for Matins To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Greetings, everyone. Christ is risen! I am not Ruthenian Catholic, but Russian Orthodox. I look forward to participating on this list. I can very much sympathize with those who are learning to celebrate the services properly from scratch, having gone through the same process over the last several years in our English-language parish. I am the reader (psalomshchik, dyak) at St. Xenia of Petersburg Russian Orthodox Church in Methuen, MA. My best advice is to just do it. The Orthodox services presume an intimate knowledge of the structure and rules of worship, based on first-hand exposure. You will make mistakes, but there is no other way to learn the services properly than by actually celebrating them. In order to celebrate the services fully, and for Vespers and Matins, in particular, you will need a full Menaion, the Octoechos, the Festal Menaion, the Lenten Triodion (with weekday supplement), the Pentecostarion, the Psalter, the Bible (with Apocrypha) and the Unabbreviated Horologion. >> 400. What is Matins? Matins, or "Orthros" is the principal morning service. It is approximately equivalent to Matins and Lauds in the Western rite. >> 401. How does Matins begin? If served in conjunction with the All-Night Vigil (Vespers, Matins and the 1st Hour served as one united service), then Matins begins with the Six Psalms. Otherwise, we begin at the Trisagion. >> 402. How is "God the Lord" sung? The deacon (or priest) intones the verses. The choir responds with the refrain "God is the Lord..." in the tone of the first troparion. Then, on a simple Sunday Vigil: the troparion of the Resurrection in the tone of the week, twice. Glory: troparion of the saint of the day. Both now. Resurrection Theotokion in the tone of the last troparion. Choir: Lord, have mercy. (3) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Reader: Both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. [and he begins at once to read the appointed kathisma] >> 403. How is the Psalter sung? The reader chants the psalms on one note. At the end of each stasis: Reader: Glory... Choir: Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God. (3) Glory... Reader: Both now..., and the 2nd stasis. After the 3rd stasis, after "alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God," the deacon or priest says the small litany. >> 404. How are the Sessional Hymns (Sidalen) sung? They are usually read, except in monasteries. If sung, they are sung in the troparion tone. After the sessional hymns: Choir: Glory... Reader: Both now..., and the next kathisma, as above. >> 405. How is the Polyeleos sung? In Russian parochial use, only certain verses are sung. There are several settings readily available. We use a melody from the "Sputnik Psalomshchika" (Psalmist's Companion), published by Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. >> 406. How is the Exaltation sung? I assume you are referring to what in Slavonic is called the "Velichaniye." This is explained in the "proper" of the saint or feast, and is only done if the service is of "vigil" rank. If a "vigil" rank feast coincides with a Sunday, the rules for the performance of the "Velichaniye" or "magnification" are different. >> 407. How is the Hypakoe sung? If sung, it is sung in the troparion tone. It is usually read. >> 408. How are the Gradual Hymns (Steppena) sung? In the tone of the week, sticheron melody. >> 410. How is Psalm 50 sung? It is not sung, but intoned on a single note. On Sundays and feastdays there are special hymns appointed following Psalm 50, sung in the sticheron melody. >> 411. How is the Canon sung? There are almost always two or more canons, which are combined. The Irmos of the first canon is sung in the proper (Irmologic) tone, then the troparia are read, with the refrains interjected between them. [Refrains are a separate topic about which I will post another time.] The Irmos of the last canon is sung as the katavasia. After Odes 3, 6 and 9, there are small litanies. After the litany of Ode 3 there is the kontakion and ikos (sung) of the secondary commemoration. After the litany of Ode 6 there is the kontakion and ikos (sung) of the primary commemoration. At Ode 9 is the megalynarion (which is usually the Magnificat, except for great feasts, which usually have their own megalynarion [zadostoinik]). On Sundays, after Ode 9 we have "Holy is the Lord our God" in the (prokeimenon) tone of the week. >> 412. How is the Ikos sung? In the troparion tone. >> 413. How is the Magnificat sung? After each verse of the Magnificat, we chant the hymn "More honorable than the Cherubim..." as a refrain. >> 414. How are the Hymns of Light sung? In Russian use, there is a special melody. The exapostilarion is sung three times, separated by "Glory...," and "Both now..." >> 415. How are Psalms 148-150 sung? Lauds is executed exactly like "Lord, I have cried..." at Vespers. Both Lauds and "Lord, I have cried..." are chanted in the tone of the first sticheron. >> 416. How is the Great Doxology sung? There are traditional melodies for this in Russian use. After the Trisagion, we sing the troparion of the day. >> 417. How does Matins conclude? Matins ends with the usual dismissal and the Commemoration (the "Many years"). If it is part of the All-Night Vigil, Matins is followed immediately by the 1st Hour, beginning at "O come, let us worship..." (Christ is risen..., 3x, during the Paschal season). At the conclusion of the dismissal for the 1st hour, we chant "Lord, have mercy," thrice, to a solemn melody. David James ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 18:23:11 +0000 Reply-To: hrycak@the-hermes.net Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Peter D. Hrycak" Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Jeff, Great Outline! I'm excited about this project. Being Ukrainian and almost totally ignorant of Ruthenian music, I'll only be able to help out with the generic stuff. However, I am looking forward to learn the music since I beleive that it will help me understand my own music as well. If it is ok with the list members, I'd like to build on what gets developed here and evetually include Ukrainian information. I propose that somewhere you include a discussion of how to handle tropars and services when feasts merge, e.g. Annunciation & Good Friday. Also a description of the various classes of holydays would be heplful as well. I suggest that we also include a mapping of the numbering of psalms from the more commonly found Hebrew to the Septuagint as well as a mapping of psalms into kathismata(?). I can do this since I have the information at hand. Just assign a paragraph number and it will be done! I would also like to contribute in working up a glossary of terms. I've been toying with doing this anyway on St. Michael's home page. Also, as far as the Old Slavonic stuff, I suggest that we have a description of the numbering system. I have a description in Ukrainian that I would hazard to translate into English. The challenge is that this page will have to be set up using graphics. Finally, I would like to offer the listmembers some space on my home page (unless Jeff has some space). I would not openly set a link to this page. The URL would only be known to the list members and to our friends/critics, etc. In this fashion, we can keep tabs on out progress and provide suggestions, corrections, additions, modifications real time. Once we're satisfied with the results, we can have a grand opening. Peter ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 11:31:48 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Dear Jeff, Slava Isusu Christou! It's an excellent outline. If I think of anything to add I'll let you know, right now I can't. I'd be happy to do the answers to the Liturgical Texts section (100-108). Presumably we should all post the answers to the list as we do them for people to comment? Incidentally, I've put a call in to Sister Provincial re. use of the Uniontown books. Hopefully we'll speak early this week. More news when I've got it! In Christ, Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 12:47:18 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: brother Maximos Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline for Matins To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Slava Isusu Christou! Reader David James wrote: >The Orthodox services presume an intimate knowledge of the structure and rules of worship, >based on first-hand exposure. I couldn't agree more. As a priest who has studied the Liturgy much of his life said to me - advantage practitioner! >> 401. How does Matins begin? >If served in conjunction with the All-Night Vigil (Vespers, Matins and the >1st Hour served as one united service), then Matins begins with the Six >Psalms. Otherwise, we begin at the Trisagion. Does anyone know what our Ruthenian tradition is re the Vigil? Father David's Typicon does prescribe the Vigil for major Feasts of the Master and of His All-Holy Mother and for some very important saints (e.g. Apostles Peter & Paul). He certainly presecribes fewer Vigils than the OCA Liturgical Calendar that I sometimes consult. I know that further east in the Carpathians the Romanian Orthodox follow two traditions. In parishes the all-night vigil is rarely taken. Vespers is served at night, then Matins and Liturgy together the next day, just as the Greeks do. In Romanian monasteries, however, the Russian practice is followed, with Vespers, Matins and other services taken together in the evening, with Liturgy the next day. Does anyone know what the practice is under Vladyka Nicholas? I'm pretty sure our Basilian Sisters follow pretty much a parish usage. Personally I am attracted to the Romanian solution: it fits in with our understanding of ourselves as a Church positioned between the Greek and Russian usages! But it would be nice to know whether we have our own tradition. >> 403. How is the Psalter sung? >The reader chants the psalms on one note. Ruthenians and Ukrainians are, of course, are used to singing EVERYTHING together. A trade off will be required here: either you do a respectable selection from the prescribed Kathismata (on Sundays 2 & 3, and in the Winter cycler 17) in which case you really need inidividual cantors. Alternatively you take 2 (or 3) psalms only and these are sung congregationally. This is the alternative adopted in most of our parishes in the Holy Week services. Ultimately this is a decision for our Bishops. Personally I suggest we not legislate in our booklet. Simply say "the prescibed psalms are now read or sung according to usage" or something like that, with an explanatory note in the back of the book. In many Orthodox jurisdictions, greater liberties are taken with the number of psalms taken than with anything else (except, perhaps the Canon), so there is probably no disgrace in our following suit. But a personal plea: please leave the Six Psalms at the beginning alone! They are a unit in themselves, penitential in character, and it makes no sense just to take one of those psalms and sing it. The Six Psalms should always be recited, in a subdued voice and a darkened Church, by a single cantor. > How is Psalm 50 sung? It is not sung, but intoned on a single note. At this monastery we happen to take Psalm 50 in Kontakion Tone 8, which is fairly traditional in the Ruthenian usage, so I'm told. Probably in parishes it would be straight chanted, maybe antiphonally. Finally: Reader David has given us a wealth of material to begin our work. I've only commented on a couple of practical issues, there are plenty more there! What a blessing to have a practitioner of the services from the most observant of all the Orthodox jurisdictions join us on this list. We have our own special usages in the Kievan, Galician and Carpathian traditions, but basically we share the same services as the Russian Church, the beauty of whose services is legendary. Reader David: you come from a Church that, for all the trials it has endured for centuries, has never lost its monastic heart or its liturgical soul. Most of us here belong to a Church that has undergone trials that have almost robbed it of both these. Almost, but not quite. Thank you for your prayers, your continued presence and for your help. On this the eve of the Leavetaking of Pascha for the Orthodox Churches: Christ is Risen! Pray for me, Monk Maximos ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 17:23:25 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: David James Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline for Matins To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Fr. Maximos wrote: >Reader David James wrote: FYI, Father, I am the psalomshchik or cantor for our parish, but I am not an ordained reader, so I don't merit the title "reader." >Does anyone know what our Ruthenian tradition is re the Vigil? Father >David's Typicon does prescribe the Vigil for major Feasts of the Master and >of His All-Holy Mother and for some very important saints (e.g. Apostles >Peter & Paul). He certainly presecribes fewer Vigils than the OCA Liturgical >Calendar that I sometimes consult. > >I know that further east in the Carpathians the Romanian Orthodox follow two >traditions. In parishes the all-night vigil is rarely taken. Vespers is >served at night, then Matins and Liturgy together the next day, just as the >Greeks do. In Romanian monasteries, however, the Russian practice is >followed, with Vespers, Matins and other services taken together in the >evening, with Liturgy the next day. > >Personally I am attracted to the Romanian solution: it fits in with our >understanding of ourselves as a Church positioned between the Greek and >Russian usages! But it would be nice to know whether we have our own >tradition. Greek and Russian use on when to serve a vigil has only diverged since the 1880s (a separate discussion). Prior to that, the rules for when a vigil was served were identical. The Lord's Day is a vigil rank feast in traditional Orthodox practice. Other examples of vigil-rank feasts would be the pre-eminent "Twelve Great Feasts," as well as the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter & Paul, the Protection of the Theotokos, St. Nicholas, a parish's patronal feast, etc., etc. On feastdays of less than vigil rank, matins is served in the morning. Feast days are ranked in the following way (with examples): 1. Simple commemoration (St. Pachomius the Great) 2. Double commemoration (St. Epiphanius, bp of Cyprus & St. Germanus, pat. of Constantinople) 3. 6-stichera feast (Holy Protomartyr and Peer of the Apostles Thecla) 4. Doxology-rank feast (The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae) 5. Polyeleos-rank feast (St. Gregory the Dialogist, pope of Rome) 6. Vigil-rank feast (Holy Glorious Prophet Elijah) 7. Pascha (the Feast of feasts, in a category unto itself) Each rank of feast varies both as to manner of celebration of certain elements, as well as how much is taken from the Octoechos, Menaion, Pentecostarion, etc. There are also adjustments and variations for feasts occurring in pre- and post-festal periods and on Sundays. > >>> 403. How is the Psalter sung? >>The reader chants the psalms on one note. > >Ruthenians and Ukrainians are, of course, are used to singing EVERYTHING >together. A trade off will be required here: either you do a respectable >selection from the prescribed Kathismata (on Sundays 2 & 3, and in the Winter >cycler 17) in which case you really need inidividual cantors. Alternatively >you take 2 (or 3) psalms only and these are sung congregationally. This is >the alternative adopted in most of our parishes in the Holy Week services. > >Ultimately this is a decision for our Bishops. Personally I suggest we not >legislate in our booklet. Simply say "the prescibed psalms are now read or >sung according to usage" or something like that, with an explanatory note in >the back of the book. In many Orthodox jurisdictions, greater liberties are >taken with the number of psalms taken than with anything else (except, >perhaps the Canon), so there is probably no disgrace in our following suit. Is there not a technical difference between: Psalmody = recto tono, intonation on one note ecphonesis = as in the priest's exclamation at the end of prayers or the deacon's petitions of the litanies Prokeimenon-style (whose proper name I cannot recollect at the moment), according to a simple melodic pattern, and Chant = the melodies for the eight tones of the stichera, troparia, and irmosi, as well as the special melodies (podobni) Hymnody = special compositions for certain hymns, such as the Cherubic Hymn or the Te Deum. > >But a personal plea: please leave the Six Psalms at the beginning alone! > They are a unit in themselves, penitential in character, and it makes no >sense just to take one of those psalms and sing it. The Six Psalms should >always be recited, in a subdued voice and a darkened Church, by a single >cantor. Amen! Some say it is the Six Psalms that will be read during the Last Judgment, and this is how we should behave when they are being read in Church. >On this the eve of the Leavetaking of Pascha for the Orthodox Churches: > Christ is Risen! Truly, He is risen! I had not realized that the Byzantine Catholic Churches kept a different Paschalion from the Orthodox. For some reason, I thought you were all still on the Old Calendar. This will present some interesting typicon challenges for me. I won't be able to just look it up in this year's current rubrics yearbook! With love in Christ, David James ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 14:06:50 -0500 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Blaydoe Marc Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline for Matins To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L >I know that further east in the Carpathians the Romanian Orthodox follow two >traditions. In parishes the all-night vigil is rarely taken. Vespers is >served at night, then Matins and Liturgy together the next day, just as the >Greeks do. In Romanian monasteries, however, the Russian practice is >followed, with Vespers, Matins and other services taken together in the >evening, with Liturgy the next day. > >Does anyone know what the practice is under Vladyka Nicholas? I'm pretty >sure our Basilian Sisters follow pretty much a parish usage. At St Thomas the Apostle, with Vladika Nicholas' blessing, we do Matins/Liturgy together. >> 403. How is the Psalter sung? >The reader chants the psalms on one note. We usually chant in a simple pattern: First word down one step then up one to the end of the sentence or verse, second verse starts one note up then down to the second to last word which drops a note, with the last word on the tonic. This is repeated as necessary through the psalm. reader herman ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 13:45:00 -0500 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: Bill Metzar Subject: Re: FAQ: Outline for Matins To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Monk Maximos wrote: >Does anyone know what our Ruthenian tradition is re the Vigil? Father >David's Typicon does prescribe the Vigil for major Feasts of the Master and >of His All-Holy Mother and for some very important saints (e.g. Apostles >Peter & Paul). He certainly presecribes fewer Vigils than the OCA Liturgical >Calendar that I sometimes consult. >I know that further east in the Carpathians the Romanian Orthodox follow two >traditions. In parishes the all-night vigil is rarely taken. Vespers is >served at night, then Matins and Liturgy together the next day, just as the >Greeks do. In Romanian monasteries, however, the Russian practice is >followed, with Vespers, Matins and other services taken together in the >evening, with Liturgy the next day. >Does anyone know what the practice is under Vladyka Nicholas? I'm pretty >sure our Basilian Sisters follow pretty much a parish usage. I will send a copy of this message to Fr. Jim Dutko, of the Johnstown Diocese. His father is also a retired priest from the Johnstown Diocese and perhaps between the two of them they can provide some help. >But a personal plea: please leave the Six Psalms at the beginning alone! > They are a unit in themselves, penitential in character, and it makes no >sense just to take one of those psalms and sing it. The Six Psalms should >always be recited, in a subdued voice and a darkened Church, by a single >cantor. I do recall my pastor telling me some twenty years ago that the Ruthenian traditon is to just take the first six verses of each psalm. However, I have found that the congregation has always fully participated whenever the psalms are chanted. >At this monastery we happen to take Psalm 50 in Kontakion Tone 8, which is >fairly traditional in the Ruthenian usage, so I'm told. Probably in parishes >it would be straight chanted, maybe antiphonally. This is the way we chant the psalms during the Presanctified Liturgy. It is easy to sing so there is great participation. S'Bohom, Bill Metzar metzar_w@sunybroome.edu ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 22:30:37 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: David James Subject: Reader Services To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Services without a priest, or "Reader Services," as they are often referred to, are very similar in structure to services with a priest. The following points, however, should be noted: 1. During reader services, the Royal Doors and Curtain remain closed at all times. The senior person present (deacon, subdeacon, reader or most senior layman) may cense the icons and those present using a hand-censer at the prescribed times. (Even a deacon must use the hand-censer, as there is no priest to give the blessing for the usual type of censing.) 2. Instead of the blessing, "Blessed is our God...," the one reading says: "Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen." And then continues with "Glory to Thee...," etc., as usual. After "Our Father...," instead of "For Thine is the Kingdom...," he says the Jesus Prayer, which is, "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen." Likewise, we say the Jesus Prayer after the "Our Father" any time it appears in a service. 3. At any point where the Great Litany, "In peace, let us pray to the Lord...," or the Litany of Supplication, "Let us all say...," (sometimes this litany begins, "Have mercy on us, O God...") appears, instead we say "Lord, have mercy," forty times and "Glory...," "Both now..." Some say "Lord, have mercy" only twelve times. 4. At any point where the Small Litany, "Again and again, in peace...," appears, we say instead, "Lord, have mercy," thrice, and "Glory..., Both now..." 5. At any point where the Litany, "Let us complete...," appears, we say instead "Lord, have mercy" twelve times and "Glory..., Both now..." 6. The sequence "Let us bow our heads...," etc., (at the end of Vespers and Matins) is omitted. 7. At the Hours, instead of "In the name of the Lord, father, bless!" we say, "Bless, O Lord!" and then the senior says the prayer given ("Through the prayers..." or "God be merciful...") 8. The dismissal of Vespers and Matins is thus: "More honorable...," "Glory..., Both now...," "Lord, have mercy," thrice, "Bless, O Lord!" and the senior person present says, "O Lord Jesus Christ, through the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother, by the power of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, through the prayers of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John, of --- (saints of the day and of the temple), and of all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen." [If there is a special dismissal, as at Pentecost: "May Christ our true God, Who sent down from heaven the Most Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire upon His disciples and apostles, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother...," and the rest, as above.] 9. The dismissal of the Hours, if called for, is as above, except that "More honorable..." is *not* said at that point, having been said earlier. 10. The Divine Liturgy can only be served by a priest (or bishop, of course). When reading services without a priest, Typica must be read in its stead. The troparia on the Beatitudes, the troparia and kontakia appointed for after "O come, let us worship...," the prokeimenon(s), epistle(s), alleluia verses and Gospel(s) appointed for Liturgy may be read at Typica after the Beatitudes. All other portions of the service customarily said by the priest are *omitted.* Attached is an outline for reader services I received from Fr. George Lardas, now priest of the Russian Orthodox Church (Synodal) in Houston, TX. It was adapted by him from materials received from Bishop Daniel of Erie, PA, vicar for the Old Rite. David James ======= An account in brief of how to conduct the All-Night Vigil Service, that is to say, Vespers, Compline, the Midnight Office, Matins, the Hours and the Typica, as well as the Paraclesis [Molieben], if there be no Priest. An Analogion [lectern] is placed before the icons, and thereon, the Gospel Book and a Cross. If it be in Church, the analogion is placed in the nave before the Royal Doors. (If there is no priest assigned to the church and regular reader services are scheduled, then the analogion with the Gospel Book and the Cross is placed on the bema in front of the Royal Doors outside of service times and only brought into the center of the church before the beginning of each service.) Beginning of Vespers. The Eldest [or most senior] of those present, a Deacon, or a Reader, or a Monk, or a simple layman, says: "Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us." This beginning occurs at every service. And the Reader answers, "Amen." If the All-Night Vigil is being served, the Reader passes at once to "O come let us worshipx" [below], otherwise "O heavenly King," the Trisagion prayers through the "Our Father:" and instead of "For thine is the Kingdomx," the Eldest says the Prayer of Jesus, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us." And the Reader says again, "Amen." "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," "O come let us worship," thrice, and Psalm CIII: "Bless the Lord, O my soul:" and "Alleluia," as usual. And instead of the Litany of Peace, we say: "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, in chant, and "Gloryx, Both now." If, however, a Deacon is also present, there being no Priest, he does not say the Litany. And the Kathisma as usual, and instead of the Little Litany, "Lord, have mercy," thrice, "Gloryx, Both now." And we chant "Lord, I have criedx," in the proper tone. While this is being sung, the Eldest takes up the hand censer and places incense therein and, beginning with the Gospel Book, censes all the Images thus: he makes the Sign of the Cross with the censer and, placing the censer in his left hand, he makes the Sign of the Cross and bows to the Image. But when he censes the people, making only the Sign of the Cross with the censer, he only bows, holding the censer in his right hand. When there is no Priest, the Royal Doors are not opened, nor their veil, there is neither censing within the Altar, nor an Entrance, but when the stichera are completed, the Eldest says, "O joyous Light." And the singers chant the rest as usual. And straightway the Reader or the Canonarch says: "The Prokeimenon in the __ Tone." And the choir chants the Prokeimenon in the usual way, with the verses being said by the Reader or Canonarch. But "Peace be unto all," "Wisdom" and "Let us attend" are not said. And if there are Parables [Scripture readings], the Reader says the title, and straightway begins to read. Instead of the Litany, "Let us all sayx," we say "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, "Gloryx, Both now." And if there is an Entreaty Procession [Lity], we sing the stichera for the Entreaty; instead of "O Lord, save thy peoplex," "Lord, have mercy," forty times, thirty times, and fifty times, "Gloryx, Both now." And the stichera of the Aposticha, and the appointed Reader says "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peacex," and the Trisagion. And after "Our Father," the Prayer of Jesus. The Reader, "Amen;" and the Troparia according to the Typicon. Afterward, "More honorable than the Cherubimx," "Gloryx, Both nowx," "Lord, have mercy," thrice. And the Eldest says the Dismissal in this manner: If it is the Lord's Day: "Thou that didst rise from the dead, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of thy most pure Mother, and of St. N., (whose temple it is) and of SS. N., (whose day it is) and of all the Saints, have mercy on us and save us, for thou art good and lovest mankind." But on other holy days, according as is proper. But on a simple day; "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God," and the rest. This Dismissal is said facing toward the East. And then, "Amen." "Lord, have mercy," thrice, in chant. But when there is a Vigil, instead of "Lord, have mercy," we say "Amen. Blessed be the name of the Lord from henceforth and for evermore" thrice. And the first ten verses of Psalm XXXIII, after which, we pass at once to Matins, beginning with "Glory to God in the highestx" and the Six Psalms, as usual. BEGINNING OF SMALL COMPLINE. "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathersx" and the Reader says, "Amen." "O Heavenly Kingx" and the rest of Compline as usual. But instead of, "For thine is the Kingdomx" the Prayer of Jesus: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us." After "More honorable than the Cherubimx," some say: "In the name of the Lord, Father, bless." Inasmuch as the Priest is not present, it were better not to say it, but the Eldest says only, "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers." After the Dismissal, instead of the [mutual] Forgiveness, the Prayer, "Absolve, pardon, forgive, O God." Then, instead of the Litany, "For this landx," bowing to the ground we say the Prayer, "Forgive, O Lord, Lover of mankind, those who hate and offend us." WE DO LIKEWISE AT THE MIDNIGHT OFFICE. THE BEGINNING OF MATINS is from the Trisagion, with the Censing. After the Troparia "O Lord, save thy people," instead of the Litany: "Lord, have mercy," nine times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," and the Eldest makes the Sign of the Cross with the censer before the Gospel Book, saying, "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers;" and the Reader: Amen. "Glory to God in the highestx" and the Six Psalms. And instead of the Litany of Peace: "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, "Gloryx, Both now." At "God is the Lord," the Canonarch says the Verses, and the Troparia in order, and the appointed Kathisma of the Psalter. Instead of the Little Litany: "Lord, have mercy," thrice, "Gloryx, Both now." And the Sessional Hymns [Sedalen] in order. And the Reading from the Explanation of Blessed Theophylact [Commentary] or other such book. After the second Kathisma likewise. And if it be the Lord's Day, we chant "Blameless is the manx" [Psalm CXVIII] in three stases, and the Troparia, "The choir of angelsx" If it be a feast day, we chant the Polyeleos, "Praise ye the name of the Lordx," and the selected Psalm with the Magnification. And instead of the Little Litany: "Lord, have mercy," thrice, "Gloryx Both now," and the Session Hymns and the Song of Ascents, according to the Typicon. Then the Canonarch or the Reader says the Prokeimenon for the Resurrection or the Feast. Instead of the Ecphonesis [Exclamation], the Prayer of Jesus, and, "Let every breathx;" then, "Lord, have mercy," thrice. The Eldest says the title of the Gospel, and we chant: "Glory to thee, O Lord." And the Eldest reads the Gospel, turning himself to the East. And at the end of it, again: "Glory to thee, O Lord." And if it is the Lord's Day, "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christx;" and Psalm L, "Have mercy on me, O God;" "Gloryx," "Through the prayers of the Apostlesx," and the rest, as usual. But we do not say the Prayer, "O Lord, save thy peoplex," but only, "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, and the Prayer of Jesus. And then, "Amen," and we begin the Canons. At the Third Ode, after the Sessional Hymn, there is a Reading. Likewise, at the Sixth Ode, after the Kontakion and the Ikos. At the Ninth Ode, we sing the Magnificat with its refrain, "More honorablex," and there is a Censing. After the Ninth Ode, "It is truly meetx," and a prostration. We sing in the proper tone, "Holy is the Lord our God," and the Canonarch says the Verses. And we chant the Psalms of the Praises [Lauds] and the stichera on the Lauds as usual, and after the stichera, straightway we chant the Great Doxology, "Glory to God in the highestx;" and the Prayer of Jesus, and the Troparion. And instead of the Litany, "Have mercy on us, O Godx:" "Lord, have mercy," forty times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," and instead of "Let us complete our morning prayerx:" "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," "Lord, have mercy," twice, "Bless, O Lord," and the Dismissal as at Vespers. And the Reader says: "O come, let us worshipx;" and in order, the First Hour. After "Our Fatherx," the Prayer of Jesus. After "More honorablex," "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathersx;" but the Reader says the prayer, "O Christ, the true Lightx" Then, "Gloryx, Both nowx," "Lord, have mercy," twice, "Bless, O Lord." And the Lesser Dismissal, "O thou that didst rise from the dead [if it be the Lord's Day], Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of thy most pure Mother and of our God-bearing Fathers, and of all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, for thou art good and lovest mankind." And we: "Amen." "Lord, have mercy," thrice. BEGINNING OF THE THIRD HOUR. The Eldest says, "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers;" and the Reader: "Amen." "O Heavenly King," and the rest. After "Our Father," the Prayer of Jesus, and after "More honorable," "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers:" In the same way, we say the Sixth, and the Ninth. If the Sixth Hour is said together with the Third, as before the Typica on Sundays and Feast Days, we begin with "O come, let us worship." THE TYPICA. After the Prayer of the Ninth Hour, straightway Psalm CII is said, "Bless the Lord, O my soul;" "Gloryx," and Psalm CXLV, "Praise the Lord, O my soul;" "Both nowx," "O Only-begotten Son;" and the Beatitudes. On the Lord's Day and on Feasts, the stichera are said on the verses of the Beatitudes, according to the Typicon. Then, "O come, let us worshipx," and the appointed troparia. After this some chant the Trisagion, but others omit it. Then the Prokeimenon, the Epistle, and the Alleluia, with the Verses. Then the Eldest says the title of the Gospel, and we: "Glory to thee, O Lord." The Eldest reads the Gospel for the day, facing the East. At the end, "Glory to thee, O Lord;" "The heavenly choirx;" "Gloryx," "The choir of angelsx;" "Both nowx," "I believex," "Absolve, pardon, forgive, O Godx;" "Our Father;" the Prayer of Jesus, "Amen," and the kontakia according to the Typicon. "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, and the prayer, "O All-holy Trinityx;" and "One is Holyx;" in chant. After this: "Blessed be the name of the Lordx," thrice, in chant. "Gloryx, Both nowx," and Psalm XXXIII: "I will bless the Lord at all timesx;" and "It is truly meetx," or the Megalynarion [Zadostoynik], and a prostration. "Gloryx, Both nowx," "Lord, have mercy," twice, "Bless, O Lord." And the Dismissal, as at Vespers; and after this some appoint a Reading from the sermons of St. Chrysostom, or from the Prologue, or from some other such book. And after the Reading, while the people are venerating the Gospel and the Cross, we sing, in the 6th Tone: "We who are walled about by the Cross are ranged against the enemy, not fearing his devices and ambushes, for the proud one hath been destroyed and trampled underfoot by the power of Christ crucified on the Tree." "Gloryx," first sticheron from the Lity for the patronal feast of the temple, Both nowx, Theotokion from the Lity for the patronal feast of the temple. At the end, "Lord, have mercy," thrice. HOW TO CHANT A PARACLESIS [MOLIEBEN] WHEN THERE IS NO PRIEST. Beginning: "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers;" "Amen." The Trisagion, and after "Our Father," the Prayer of Jesus, "Amen." "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," "O come, let us worship," thrice, and Psalm CXLII, "O Lord, hear my prayerx;" "Gloryx, Both nowx," "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to thee, O God," thrice. "Lord, have mercy," twelve times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," "God is the Lord" in the tone of the Troparion, and the Troparia. Psalm L, "Have mercy on me, O Godx;" the Prayer of Jesus, "Amen," and the Canon with the Irmosi (once each, but the troparia in four). After each Ode, the Katavasiae, "Deliver thy servants from harmx;" or "Save thy servants from harmx;" and "Lord, have mercy," thrice, and three prostrations. At the Third Ode, "Gloryx, Both nowx," the Sessional Hymn. At the Sixth Ode, "Gloryx, Both nowx," the Kontakion and the Ikos. The Prokeimenon of Matins, the Prayer of Jesus, "Let every breathx;" "Lord, have mercy," thrice, and the Gospel, as at Matins, and the sticheron after the Gospel. Then the Irmos of the Seventh Ode. After the Ninth Ode, "It is truly meetx," or the Megalynarion, and a prostration. The Trisagion, and after "Our Father," the Troparion, "Gloryx," the Kontakion, "Both nowx," the Theotokion according to the tone of the Troparion. And instead of the Litany, "Lord, have mercy," forty times, "Gloryx, Both nowx," "More honorablex," "Gloryx, Both nowx," "Lord, have mercy," twice, "Bless, O Lord." And the Dismissal. He commemorates also the saint whose Paraclesis is chanted. Translated by The Rev. George D. Lardas, Boston, MA, 1984. Books needed: The Unabbreviated Horologion [Book of Hours] The Menaion The Octoechos The Festal Menaion The Lenten Triodion, with Supplement The Pentecostarion The Psalter All these texts are available from: St John of Kronstadt Press RR 1 Box 205 Liberty, TN 37095 615 536-5239 ÿ=======================================================================V-R- --- Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 22:30:42 -0400 Reply-To: Ruthenian Church Music List Sender: Ruthenian Church Music List From: David James Subject: Refrains for Canons To: Multiple recipients of list CANTOR-L Here are the customary refrains used when reading canons. David James ======= REFRAINS FOR CANONS Glory to thee, our God, glory to thee. (Feasts of the Lord) Glory to thy holy Resurrection, O Lord. (Resurrection Canon of the Octoechos) Glory to thy precious Cross and Resurrection, O Lord. (Canon of the Cross and Resurrection of the Octoechos) Have mercy upon me, O God, have mercy upon me. (Supplicatory Canon of the Octoechos) Glory to thy precious Cross, O Lord. (Canon of the Cross from the Octoechos) O most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to thee. (Canons of the Trinity) O most holy Theotokos, save us. (Theotokia and Canons of the Theotokos) Holy great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us. (St. John the Baptist) Holy archangels and angels, pray to God for us. (Canon of the Angels from the Octoechos) Holy Chief Captain of God Michael... (8 November) Holy Apostle (of Christ) James... (Apostles of the Twelve or of the Seventy) Holy Apostle (of Christ) and Evangelist Luke... (Evangelists) Holy Prophet of God Obadiah... (Prophets) Holy Hierarch Father Nicholas... (Hierarchs, i.e., bishops) Holy Martyr (or Great Martyr or New Martyr) Tryphon... (Martyrs) Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope and Charity... or Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste... (Several martyrs) Holy Hieromartyr Antipas... (Bishop martyr) Holy Unmercenary Physicians Cosmas & Damian... (Unmercenary physicians) Venerable Father Sergius... (monk saints) Venerable Mother Theodora... (nun saints) Venerable Fathers Sergius and Herman of Valaam... (several monastic saints) Holy Righteous Symeon... (Righteous layman) Holy Blessed Xenia... (Fools-for-Christ's sake) Holy Right-believing King (Prince, Grand Duchess, etc.) Edward... (Royalty) Holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Nina... (Equals of the Apostles) Holy Imperial Equals-of-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen... (21 May) Where a saint has a distinguishing characteristic, such as exuding m