apostolos
Απόστολος Κομπίτσης
Kudos to Basil for his full disclosure. Having followed the thread, I wanted to put in my own $.02 worth.
I am the protopsaltis of a large parish in the Metropolis of New Jersey. I have made it known that I will NOT compromise my chanting as it was taught to me by both my teachers and my own father, who is a priest. For example, the simple matter of English: I REFUSE to chant in English. Period. I will not even chant "Amen", let alone "Lord have mercy" (which, theologically, is an incorrect translation anyway). If our Roman Catholic brethren sing "Kyrie eleison", why in the world would WE, the Orthodox, NOT chant it and substitute "Lord have mercy"?? This makes no sense to me. l could get into a huge philosophical discussion here about the mystagogy - "mystagogia" - of our faith, the EXPERIENTIAL (rather than pietistic and "protestant") nature of our faith, but it would take pages and pages.
Regarding western choir music, let it be known that I grew up with western choir music. Growing up in America, my father had a choir in every parish he’s been assigned to. Some choirs were quite good, others were very elementary. But all of them used the “standard” choral manuals of Anastassiou, Vryonidis and Roubanis. George Anastassiou and Nicholas Roubanis, in particular, include a couple of Russian Xerouvika which, to this day, make the hair on my arms stand on end because they are so beautiful. (My absolute favorites are the Dmitry Bortniansky Cherubic Hymn and the Nicholas Karlash Cherubic Hymn. The former was edited by Pyotr Tchaikovsky – sometimes it’s referred to as the “Bortniansky-Tchaikovsky Cherubic Hymn – and appears in N. Roubanis’ choir hymnal, while the latter was dedicated to George Anastassiou by Karlash and found in Anastassiou’s hymnal, p. 29.) I have even sung in some of these choirs (they ALWAYS needed tenors! LOL). As I got older and delved into the history of our hymnology and began learning more and more, I realized that all of this was very foreign to Orthodoxy. This was NOT the traditional music of the Church.
The big problem with the "western choirs" is that most have deviated from the music of those original three composers I mentioned. The modern compositions of Desby, Zes, Bogdanos, Lawrence, Gallos and others are so far removed from tradition, that they sound like protestant requiems rather than Orthodox hymnology. And they have the AUDACITY to say that they are "based on the traditional Byzantine melodies".
I maintain this: Anastassiou, Roubanis and Vryonidis (who were all CHANTERS in their own rite, and not Juilliard graduates) composed their music based on the music of Sakellaridis and kept it simple. Where they could "harmonize", they harmonized. First Tone, for example, for the most part was NOT harmonized. There was a melody and there was an ison. (Oh, perhaps at the end they threw in a switch to major where they could add a 1-3-5 chord and make a "grand finale", but that was about it.)
After these three composers, it was all downhill from there. The latter so-called "neo-byzantine" composers (Desby, Zes, et al.) added weird chord structures, rhythmical point/counterpoint movements and rondo forms that make their compositions anything BUT Orthodox. These have absolutely NO PLACE in Orthodox worship. Oh, they'd be fine for a concert, but NOT within the official services (Liturgy, etc.) of the Church.
I think that the matter requires EDUCATION and SUPPORT. By "education" I mean educating the faithful; writing articles in our church bulletins on Byzantine chant; conducting lectures or other presentations for our congregations; and teaching the young people about our hymnology. By "support", I mean that the clergy (priests AND hierarchy) need to stand behind this tradition and support it.
The National Forum has no business in Byzantine Music because, for the most part, it knows nothing ABOUT Byzantine Music. They claim they have "resources" for the chanters, but if you wrote to them and asked them to provide a copy of Petros' Eirmologion, they'll look at you like you have two heads. This is why anything related to Byzantine Music should be REMOVED from under the "supervision" of the National Forum. They can promote their western music all they want, but when it comes to Byzantine chant, they need to step back.
Apostolos
I am the protopsaltis of a large parish in the Metropolis of New Jersey. I have made it known that I will NOT compromise my chanting as it was taught to me by both my teachers and my own father, who is a priest. For example, the simple matter of English: I REFUSE to chant in English. Period. I will not even chant "Amen", let alone "Lord have mercy" (which, theologically, is an incorrect translation anyway). If our Roman Catholic brethren sing "Kyrie eleison", why in the world would WE, the Orthodox, NOT chant it and substitute "Lord have mercy"?? This makes no sense to me. l could get into a huge philosophical discussion here about the mystagogy - "mystagogia" - of our faith, the EXPERIENTIAL (rather than pietistic and "protestant") nature of our faith, but it would take pages and pages.
Regarding western choir music, let it be known that I grew up with western choir music. Growing up in America, my father had a choir in every parish he’s been assigned to. Some choirs were quite good, others were very elementary. But all of them used the “standard” choral manuals of Anastassiou, Vryonidis and Roubanis. George Anastassiou and Nicholas Roubanis, in particular, include a couple of Russian Xerouvika which, to this day, make the hair on my arms stand on end because they are so beautiful. (My absolute favorites are the Dmitry Bortniansky Cherubic Hymn and the Nicholas Karlash Cherubic Hymn. The former was edited by Pyotr Tchaikovsky – sometimes it’s referred to as the “Bortniansky-Tchaikovsky Cherubic Hymn – and appears in N. Roubanis’ choir hymnal, while the latter was dedicated to George Anastassiou by Karlash and found in Anastassiou’s hymnal, p. 29.) I have even sung in some of these choirs (they ALWAYS needed tenors! LOL). As I got older and delved into the history of our hymnology and began learning more and more, I realized that all of this was very foreign to Orthodoxy. This was NOT the traditional music of the Church.
The big problem with the "western choirs" is that most have deviated from the music of those original three composers I mentioned. The modern compositions of Desby, Zes, Bogdanos, Lawrence, Gallos and others are so far removed from tradition, that they sound like protestant requiems rather than Orthodox hymnology. And they have the AUDACITY to say that they are "based on the traditional Byzantine melodies".
I maintain this: Anastassiou, Roubanis and Vryonidis (who were all CHANTERS in their own rite, and not Juilliard graduates) composed their music based on the music of Sakellaridis and kept it simple. Where they could "harmonize", they harmonized. First Tone, for example, for the most part was NOT harmonized. There was a melody and there was an ison. (Oh, perhaps at the end they threw in a switch to major where they could add a 1-3-5 chord and make a "grand finale", but that was about it.)
After these three composers, it was all downhill from there. The latter so-called "neo-byzantine" composers (Desby, Zes, et al.) added weird chord structures, rhythmical point/counterpoint movements and rondo forms that make their compositions anything BUT Orthodox. These have absolutely NO PLACE in Orthodox worship. Oh, they'd be fine for a concert, but NOT within the official services (Liturgy, etc.) of the Church.
I think that the matter requires EDUCATION and SUPPORT. By "education" I mean educating the faithful; writing articles in our church bulletins on Byzantine chant; conducting lectures or other presentations for our congregations; and teaching the young people about our hymnology. By "support", I mean that the clergy (priests AND hierarchy) need to stand behind this tradition and support it.
The National Forum has no business in Byzantine Music because, for the most part, it knows nothing ABOUT Byzantine Music. They claim they have "resources" for the chanters, but if you wrote to them and asked them to provide a copy of Petros' Eirmologion, they'll look at you like you have two heads. This is why anything related to Byzantine Music should be REMOVED from under the "supervision" of the National Forum. They can promote their western music all they want, but when it comes to Byzantine chant, they need to step back.
Apostolos