Article on Melodic Style

Dimitri

Δημήτρης Κουμπαρούλης, Administrator
Staff member
Thanks Father for posting the article. It is interesting indeed (the little I had time to read so far). What is also interesting is that Angelos Boudouris claims that Kypsele was not used entirely at the Patriarchate and contained much of Stephanos Lambadarios' imagination and changed melodic lines compared to Petros' doxastarion. I will have a more careful look at your article and comment further.
 

frephraim

Παλαιό Μέλος
I do trust the factuality of Boudouris' statement that Kypsele was not used at the Patriarchate. I question, however, the validity of his claim that it contained much of Stephanos' imagination, because the idiomela in Kypsele are so similar to those in Manuel's melodies, that if he lived in our times he could have been sued for plagiarism! (See footnote #3 on page 1 of my article).
 

Dimitri

Δημήτρης Κουμπαρούλης, Administrator
Staff member
Sure. He probably meant the rest of the idiomela composed by Stephanos to complete the book. Another assumption could have been that Manouel (an externally hired protopsaltis) carried a slightly different tradition than that of Petros but that's just an assumption for which I have no evidence and is probably wrong.
 

herron.samuel

Ieropsaltis
Would it also be possible that some (obviously not all) of the idiomela melodies used in the Patriarchate had changed by the time Boudouris is at the Patriarchate? Do we have any sources from the contemporary time of Stephanos about the validity of his melodies?
 

herron.samuel

Ieropsaltis
Also, do we know what WAS used for these melodies at the time of Boudouris, and would anyone know what is used for these melodies at the Patriarchate today?
 

herron.samuel

Ieropsaltis
And another point where Manuel's melodies match up to the point of plagarism with classics is his Doxologia (the ones we all do out of the Anastasimatarion) are point for point the almost exact same as Petros Lampadarios. Also, couldnt it be argued that him being an outsider gives more validation to Kypsele? What I mean is that even though he was appointed Protopsaltis, I would be surprised if he then brought his own melodies and didn't bother to learn/study the Patriarchal melodies. Not that I am Manuel, but if I was appointed to a high post like Protopsaltis of the Patriarchate or a Cathedral with tradition or even an outside parish, I would try to learn their traditions and specific melodies also. It just seems that, unless Manuel was an extremely arrogant sort of guy, he would've at least tried to study the Patriarchal tradition in regards to melodies. Just a thought.
 

frephraim

Παλαιό Μέλος
...Angelos Boudouris claims that Kypsele was not used entirely at the Patriarchate and contained much of Stephanos Lambadarios' imagination and changed melodic lines compared to Petros' doxastarion...

Apostolos typed up for me the parts of Boudouris regarding Kypsele, and now I see what you mean. To account for his claims, I have now added footnote #6 to my Article on Melodic Style.
 

apostolos

Απόστολος Κομπίτσης
Also, do we know what WAS used for these melodies at the time of Boudouris, and would anyone know what is used for these melodies at the Patriarchate today?

Samuel,

The standard syntomon Doxastarion that has been in used by the Patriarchal chanters since its publication is that of Petros Lambadarios. I went back and forth with Father Ephraim on this topic and provided him with transcriptions from Boudouris' book regarding Stefanos and Mousiki Kypseli. In a nutshell, Stefanos changed and "invented" some of his own melodic lines for various hymns in his Kypseli, and Boudouris states that much of what he wrote was not an accurate snapshot of what was being chanted at the Patriarchate at that time. The Patriarchal chanters knew this and, consequently, did not use those books to chant or to teach from. Stefanos' main goal (as was Ioannis') in publishing books was simply to make money.

Apostolos
 
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