Nikolaos Giannoukakis
Παλαιό Μέλος
Dear Mr. Nassis,
I don't need PR for myself. You seek answers in the wrong places.
Ordinarily, I would not entertain your demand, but in the interest of fact, I will provide you with just enough to get you started on your apparent objective of uncovering my rank and serial number:
1) Look at volume 3 of the "who's who"in Byzantine Music published by Phillipas Oikonomou (Βυζαντινή Εκκλησιαστική Μουσική και Ψαλμωδία-Ιστορικομουσικολογική Μελέτη, 1997) under the letter "G". This three volume compendium lists some of those people you champion (in volume 2), but more importantly it lists many more who were included because of the opinion of their teachers, Protopsaltai in Greece and elsewhere and peers.
2) Since you seek my rank and serial number, you can get those from the unparalleled Emanuel Hatzimarkos, the Archon Hymnodist of the Great Church of Christ George Hatzichronoglou, the Archon Mousikodidaskalos of the Great Church of Christ Vasilios Katsifis, the Archon Maistor of the Great Church of Christ Grigoris Ntaravanoglou, Archon Protopsaltis of the Metropolis of Kaisariani Panagiotis Sousounis, George Naoum, George Karamanis, Panagiotis Dermousis, Archon Protopsaltis of the Metropolis of Canada Constantinos Lagouros, and.....since I understand you once served in Chicago - Nikolaos Georgafentis. Also, you may remember Stelios Kontakiotis who served in Washington DC? Need I go on with more names? Would you like their phone numbers? Would you like a list of Hierarchs perhaps of the Ecumenical Throne? Perhaps priests who are also exceptional chanters in Greece and elsewhere?
It would be tempting to ask you the same question you asked me, but the voice serves the Lord and the Ekklhsiasma and not the ego. Your question (correct me if I am wrong) appears to be ego-motivated. Just because, Mr. Nassis, someone chooses to not put oneself on Google (aided by sound reinforcement and rackmount or computer-generated effects and voice corrections) does not imply they do not exist, or that they know nothing or are "self-proclaimed".
3) Would you like to see a list of awards and accomplishments and newspaper acclaims (major newspapers in Greece perhaps)? See, you don't look in the right places Mr. Nassis.....
4) Perhaps some audio transcripts from programs of the Radio Station of the Church of Greece might be worth pursuing?
I could go on, but it is really pointless, as I balance my response to you to reflect fact and not to fall into the trap that someone may misrepresent as self-aggrandisement. I leave further sleuth work to you if you really have nothing better to do in life....
You see Mr. Nassis, you don't remember me, but I remember you and your brother when I visited your parish many years ago.....I really thank you so much for your kind welcome. I cherish it and remember it. It indeed was a demonstration on your part of Christian love.....
On the other hand, you are more than welcome to drive a little East and join me at the Cathedral in Pittsburgh. You are welcome in fellowship and Christian love to chant as you please. We have a very sophisticated audience many of whom are from Constantinople and Asia Minor who remember the Protopsaltes of the period and I am sure they will find you pleasant.
Also, if you seek recorded material Mr. Nassis, please come to Pittsburgh and I will provide you with enough (covering the period between 1984-today) to make your ride back to wherever you reside now uplifting and, maybe educational.
Since you invoke the usual Karas group as having a formative effect on you (am I correct in making this comment?), your line of argumentation is not surprising. Please read the Greek threads in this forum on the errors and folly (I would add heresy) of the Karas viewpoint and also make yourself aware of the encyclicals of the Church of Greece regarding the heresy you allude to. Also, Ketsetsis and Sourlatzis I do not understand why you lopped them into the Karas group. The late Sourlatzis would probably scold you and I doubt Fotios Ketzetzis would accept being considered belonging to the same category as those who share the Karas viewpoint. However, maybe you know more than I do.....
Our church (I assume you are still part of the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) follows Canons and rules. Anything that strays outside the canons and rules is a heresy Mr. Nassis.
I don't need your approval or blessing Mr. Nassis to be considered legitimate, nor do I wish to be part of "your" group (i.e. the Karas heresy). More relevant, vocally-talented and historically-traditional Protopsaltes in Greece have pronounced their verdict on legitimacy and faithfulness to tradition years before you probably learned Ni-Pa-Vou-Ga-Di in the Chrysanthine System which (correct me if I am wrong) you abandoned in favor of highly peculiar and historically, acoustically and musicologically-untenable sophist meanderings that you and your confreres present as the "real" Byzantine Music.
But, I will demonstrate in this Forum and elsewhere, as necessary, what makes the Karas viewpoint a musical (theoretical and historical) heresy to anyone willing to think scientifically and scholarly and to seriously learn Byzantine Music according to what Patriarchal and Constantinopolitan teachers spread throughout Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans and the Middle/Near East.
America had and continues to have some very good and historically-accurate chant tradition Mr. Nassis (Savvas Savvas+, Fotis Ketzetzis, Dimitris Pappas, Iraklis Panagiotidis, Nikos Georgafentis [and some other very good psaltai in Chicago I might add]). As far as I know, none of these servants of tradition followed or follow the Karas viewpoint.......
Thank you for your kind concern about my "epifaneia". I do not seek it, nor do I need it.
For those interested in learning Byzantine Music in a SYSTEMATIC MANNER and not a weekend session where nothing else than a survey can be realistically offered, and in the tradition of what the Ecumenical Patriarchate holds as the gold standard, there is a program, sanctioned by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh (which is part of the jurisdictions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) that they can take advantage of:
http://www.psaltologion.com/showthread.php?t=11749
Best of all, it is free:
NG
I don't need PR for myself. You seek answers in the wrong places.
Ordinarily, I would not entertain your demand, but in the interest of fact, I will provide you with just enough to get you started on your apparent objective of uncovering my rank and serial number:
1) Look at volume 3 of the "who's who"in Byzantine Music published by Phillipas Oikonomou (Βυζαντινή Εκκλησιαστική Μουσική και Ψαλμωδία-Ιστορικομουσικολογική Μελέτη, 1997) under the letter "G". This three volume compendium lists some of those people you champion (in volume 2), but more importantly it lists many more who were included because of the opinion of their teachers, Protopsaltai in Greece and elsewhere and peers.
2) Since you seek my rank and serial number, you can get those from the unparalleled Emanuel Hatzimarkos, the Archon Hymnodist of the Great Church of Christ George Hatzichronoglou, the Archon Mousikodidaskalos of the Great Church of Christ Vasilios Katsifis, the Archon Maistor of the Great Church of Christ Grigoris Ntaravanoglou, Archon Protopsaltis of the Metropolis of Kaisariani Panagiotis Sousounis, George Naoum, George Karamanis, Panagiotis Dermousis, Archon Protopsaltis of the Metropolis of Canada Constantinos Lagouros, and.....since I understand you once served in Chicago - Nikolaos Georgafentis. Also, you may remember Stelios Kontakiotis who served in Washington DC? Need I go on with more names? Would you like their phone numbers? Would you like a list of Hierarchs perhaps of the Ecumenical Throne? Perhaps priests who are also exceptional chanters in Greece and elsewhere?
It would be tempting to ask you the same question you asked me, but the voice serves the Lord and the Ekklhsiasma and not the ego. Your question (correct me if I am wrong) appears to be ego-motivated. Just because, Mr. Nassis, someone chooses to not put oneself on Google (aided by sound reinforcement and rackmount or computer-generated effects and voice corrections) does not imply they do not exist, or that they know nothing or are "self-proclaimed".
3) Would you like to see a list of awards and accomplishments and newspaper acclaims (major newspapers in Greece perhaps)? See, you don't look in the right places Mr. Nassis.....
4) Perhaps some audio transcripts from programs of the Radio Station of the Church of Greece might be worth pursuing?
I could go on, but it is really pointless, as I balance my response to you to reflect fact and not to fall into the trap that someone may misrepresent as self-aggrandisement. I leave further sleuth work to you if you really have nothing better to do in life....
You see Mr. Nassis, you don't remember me, but I remember you and your brother when I visited your parish many years ago.....I really thank you so much for your kind welcome. I cherish it and remember it. It indeed was a demonstration on your part of Christian love.....
On the other hand, you are more than welcome to drive a little East and join me at the Cathedral in Pittsburgh. You are welcome in fellowship and Christian love to chant as you please. We have a very sophisticated audience many of whom are from Constantinople and Asia Minor who remember the Protopsaltes of the period and I am sure they will find you pleasant.
Also, if you seek recorded material Mr. Nassis, please come to Pittsburgh and I will provide you with enough (covering the period between 1984-today) to make your ride back to wherever you reside now uplifting and, maybe educational.
Since you invoke the usual Karas group as having a formative effect on you (am I correct in making this comment?), your line of argumentation is not surprising. Please read the Greek threads in this forum on the errors and folly (I would add heresy) of the Karas viewpoint and also make yourself aware of the encyclicals of the Church of Greece regarding the heresy you allude to. Also, Ketsetsis and Sourlatzis I do not understand why you lopped them into the Karas group. The late Sourlatzis would probably scold you and I doubt Fotios Ketzetzis would accept being considered belonging to the same category as those who share the Karas viewpoint. However, maybe you know more than I do.....
Our church (I assume you are still part of the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) follows Canons and rules. Anything that strays outside the canons and rules is a heresy Mr. Nassis.
I don't need your approval or blessing Mr. Nassis to be considered legitimate, nor do I wish to be part of "your" group (i.e. the Karas heresy). More relevant, vocally-talented and historically-traditional Protopsaltes in Greece have pronounced their verdict on legitimacy and faithfulness to tradition years before you probably learned Ni-Pa-Vou-Ga-Di in the Chrysanthine System which (correct me if I am wrong) you abandoned in favor of highly peculiar and historically, acoustically and musicologically-untenable sophist meanderings that you and your confreres present as the "real" Byzantine Music.
But, I will demonstrate in this Forum and elsewhere, as necessary, what makes the Karas viewpoint a musical (theoretical and historical) heresy to anyone willing to think scientifically and scholarly and to seriously learn Byzantine Music according to what Patriarchal and Constantinopolitan teachers spread throughout Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans and the Middle/Near East.
America had and continues to have some very good and historically-accurate chant tradition Mr. Nassis (Savvas Savvas+, Fotis Ketzetzis, Dimitris Pappas, Iraklis Panagiotidis, Nikos Georgafentis [and some other very good psaltai in Chicago I might add]). As far as I know, none of these servants of tradition followed or follow the Karas viewpoint.......
Thank you for your kind concern about my "epifaneia". I do not seek it, nor do I need it.
For those interested in learning Byzantine Music in a SYSTEMATIC MANNER and not a weekend session where nothing else than a survey can be realistically offered, and in the tradition of what the Ecumenical Patriarchate holds as the gold standard, there is a program, sanctioned by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh (which is part of the jurisdictions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) that they can take advantage of:
http://www.psaltologion.com/showthread.php?t=11749
Best of all, it is free:
NG
Last edited: