Shota
Παλαιό Μέλος
It is known that slow katavasies of the Holy Week canons are chanted in a very quick tempo at the Patriarchate, at least from the time of Pringos and Stanitsas. On the other hand in the attached file you can find an example from the Gregoriou monastery chanted by Fr. Philotheos, where the tempo is slow. Is this how slow katavasies are chanted at other Athonite monasteries as well? Another interesting thing in that recording from the typikon point of view is that katavasia is repeated by another choir (I don't know who the psaltis is), but using a short heirmos melody at a slower tempo than when chanting a canon.
I also noticed an interesting piece of information given by Fr. Konstantinos Terzopoulos in his presentation at the 2nd BM conference, see the video RevDr-Kon/nos at
http://www.asbmh.pitt.edu/page9/page13/page17/page17.html
According to Konstantinos Protopsaltis' notebook in which he would write down typikon related guidlines (and at times also melos of various pieces) for several days he says that canons are chanted, but katavasies are short heirmologic, while for some other cases he says that canons are read, but katavasies are slow heirmologic. So it seems they wouldn't do systematically slow katavasies at St. George's in Phanar during Konstantinos' times (a good part of the notebook also covers Manouel's protopsaltia, when Konstantinos was a domestikos).
I also noticed an interesting piece of information given by Fr. Konstantinos Terzopoulos in his presentation at the 2nd BM conference, see the video RevDr-Kon/nos at
http://www.asbmh.pitt.edu/page9/page13/page17/page17.html
According to Konstantinos Protopsaltis' notebook in which he would write down typikon related guidlines (and at times also melos of various pieces) for several days he says that canons are chanted, but katavasies are short heirmologic, while for some other cases he says that canons are read, but katavasies are slow heirmologic. So it seems they wouldn't do systematically slow katavasies at St. George's in Phanar during Konstantinos' times (a good part of the notebook also covers Manouel's protopsaltia, when Konstantinos was a domestikos).