The Tone 1 Prokeimenon Melody
Introduction - examples - analysis
This melody is used to sing prokeimena in Tone 1, as well as the Tone 1 Alleluia and certain special hymns at Matins which are sung to the prokeimenon melody. This page shows how to sing the melody according to the patterns established by the Inter-Eparchial Music Commission.
The form of the melody
The Tone 1 prokeimenon melody consists of three phrases, which are sung in order, without repetition.
The first phrase begins on mi, the third note of the scale:
As usual, the barred whole note indicates a place where additional text may be sung as needed, depending on the length of the phrase.
The second phrase begins on the ending pitch of the first phrase, and ends in the same way as the first phrase:
When a longer text is sung, the last few notes are repeated with a slightly different rhythm:
The third phrase concludes the prokeimenon:
For a longer text, the melody drops briefly and leaps up above the note marked with an accent. This leap upward is not accented; it goes with the preceding eighth note.
Sometimes the first two eighth notes of the final phrase are omitted, especially if this phrase begins with an accented syllable. Either form of the final phrase may be shortened in this way:
For more about the history and variants of this melody, see the analysis page.
Example
Here is the Sunday or Resurrectional prokeimenon in Tone 1. Compare each of the phrases with the corresponding pattern given above.
See the examples page for more practice in learning this melody.
Singing the prokeimenon verse(s)
Normally, the verses of prokeimena are sung by a single voice, whether a reader of cantor, using a simple recitative melody. The ordinary choice for this melody is the usual psalm tone, beginning on do. This means that the one singing the prokeimenon verses must start a perfect fourth up from the final note of the prokeimenon:
Listen to the recording of the Resurrectional prokeimenon above to see how this sounds.
The Alleluia and Matins hymns
The Alleluia in Tone 1, sung at the Divine Liturgy, follows the Tone 1 prokeimenon melody closely. Note the use of the "short form" of the third phrase.
At Sunday and feast-day Matins, the prokeimenon melody is used for the Matins prokeimenon appointed in the liturgical books, and for two additional hymns: "Let everything that lives and that breathes" and "Holy is the Lord". The latter hymns are always sung in the same tone as the Matins prokeimenon of the day.
"Let everything that lives" is sung just after the Matins prokeimenon, and before the Gospel. When the Matins prokeimenon is in Tone 1, it is sung as follows:
(Notice that the longest form of the second phrase is used here, along with the shortest form of the third phrase.)
"Holy is the Lord" is on Sundays at the end of the Canon. Like "Let everything that lives and that breathes", it is sung to the same melody as was used for the Matins prokeimenon. In Tone 1:
In these more intricate settings of the Tone 1 prokeimenon melody, the important thing is to sing the rhythms smoothly and at a good pace. Congregations can learn to sing these quite competently if led by a cantor who sings them clearly and does not let them drag.