Slow katavasies

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).
 

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  • Katabasia-TisPisteosEnPetra.mp3
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Dimitri

Δημήτρης Κουμπαρούλης, Administrator
Staff member
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.

This is exaggerated by the sped-up playback of the recording. I think I have somewhere a slowed down version of the original recording where the voices sound more natural (e.g. more as we know them) too. They might also do them faster as a custom in the Patriarchate where lots of and long services happen often. A typical example of this is the Leitourgika of the liturgy of St Basil, the Koinonikon of the Presanctified liturgy and other. Finally, I think they only do slow katavasies the first 3 days of Holy Week but could be wrong here.
 

Shota

Παλαιό Μέλος
This is exaggerated by the sped-up playback of the recording. I think I have somewhere a slowed down version of the original recording where the voices sound more natural (e.g. more as we know them) too.

Even then it is still faster than what we hear in the Athonite recording.

They might also do them faster as a custom in the Patriarchate where lots of and long services happen often. A typical example of this is the Leitourgika of the liturgy of St Basil, the Koinonikon of the Presanctified liturgy and other.

I think this is from Stanitsas' times. We don't have live recordings of Nafpliotis and Pringos chanting Tin Gar Sin Mitran, but in those that we have they chant at a slower tempo. Stanitsas also chops away the concluding line. In an old discussion in the byzantinechant forum Miltiadis Pappas mentioned that old Constantinopolitan chanters would chant Tin Gar Sin Mitran at a slower tempo than what Stanitsas does. Also Emmanouilidis on the discs with Holy Week recordings published by Stathis chants Geusasthe slower than Stanitsas. Now that Stanitsas' fans turned quick tempo for certain pieces into a dogma (if you chant them quickly, you are a traditional chanter, if not, then you are don't follow the tradition, or are musically incapable), is another thing. I agree with Elder Dositheos: the right tempo is the one that allows you to correctly execute laryngismoi.

http://www.analogion.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13819&d=1244052915

Finally, I think they only do slow katavasies the first 3 days of Holy Week but could be wrong here.

Here are katavasies Ο Θειότατος by Asteris

http://www.ec-patr.net/music/OThiotatos_LA.rm

and the katavasia Νάουσαν ακρότομον by Ioannis Hariatidis

http://www.ec-patr.net/music/Naousan_IX.rm

I don't know whether they were chanted at the antidoron distribution or during the actual services. From what I've heard slow katavasies were in general banned by Patriarch Athenagoras, except of the Holy Week period. During Nikolaidis' protopsaltia they wouldn't even chant these, it seems.
 
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