StephanosAnd
New member
Hello, I'm a new member here, but I've lurked for a while. I am from the United States and I primarily chant in English & Greek. My desire is to seek out an opinion from fellow chanters on this website about the compositions of Father Seraphim Dedes, whose work is primarily featured on his own website AGESInitiatives.com.
It seems that he primarily composes his music using the western four bar staff method, rather than using Psaltic neumes. Only after he finishes his compositions, are they transcribed into the neumes. Listening to a recent interview with him, it seems he doesn't always use the patterns found in chant books, nor uses original compositions from Greek to inspire his own compositions, instead composing by what sounds best to him.
As I chant his music each week, sometimes I think it sounds nice, and other times I think it sounds odd, broken and inconsistent. My skill level, however, is amateur at best. So I wanted to register on this site and seek out opinions of fellow chanters here. What are your honest opinions of most of Fr. Seraphim Dedes' compositional work?
Examples:
Εὐφραίνου Αἴγυπτος, Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/me/m01/d19/ve/b/sticglory.pdf
Τὸ Αʹ Ἑωθινόν. Ἦχος Α'
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/eo/e01/b/eodoxasticon.pdf
Τὸ Ζʹ Ἑωθινόν. Ἦχος βαρύς:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/eo/e07/b/eodoxasticon.pdf
Τὸ Ιʹ Ἑωθινόν. Ἦχος πλ. βʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/eo/e10/b/eodoxasticon.pdf
Παντοκράτορ Κύριε, Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/tr/d001/ve/b/sticglory.pdf
Ταῖς ἐξ ἔργων καυχήσεσι, Φαρισαῖον, Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/tr/d001/ma/b/laudsglory.pdf
Ἀπεστάλη ἐξ οὐρανοῦ Γαβριὴλ, Ἦχος πλ. βʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/me/m03/d25/ve/b/sticglory.pdf
Σήμερον χαρᾶς Εὐαγγέλια Ἦχος δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/me/m03/d25/ve/b/aposglory.pdf
Κύριε, ἡ ἐν πολλαῖς. Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/barrett/en/tr/d067/ma/b/aposglory.pdf
Ἀναστάσεως ἡμέρα. Ἦχος πλ. αʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/pe/d00p/b/sticglory.pdf
It seems that he primarily composes his music using the western four bar staff method, rather than using Psaltic neumes. Only after he finishes his compositions, are they transcribed into the neumes. Listening to a recent interview with him, it seems he doesn't always use the patterns found in chant books, nor uses original compositions from Greek to inspire his own compositions, instead composing by what sounds best to him.
As I chant his music each week, sometimes I think it sounds nice, and other times I think it sounds odd, broken and inconsistent. My skill level, however, is amateur at best. So I wanted to register on this site and seek out opinions of fellow chanters here. What are your honest opinions of most of Fr. Seraphim Dedes' compositional work?
Examples:
Εὐφραίνου Αἴγυπτος, Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/me/m01/d19/ve/b/sticglory.pdf
Τὸ Αʹ Ἑωθινόν. Ἦχος Α'
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/eo/e01/b/eodoxasticon.pdf
Τὸ Ζʹ Ἑωθινόν. Ἦχος βαρύς:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/eo/e07/b/eodoxasticon.pdf
Τὸ Ιʹ Ἑωθινόν. Ἦχος πλ. βʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/eo/e10/b/eodoxasticon.pdf
Παντοκράτορ Κύριε, Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/tr/d001/ve/b/sticglory.pdf
Ταῖς ἐξ ἔργων καυχήσεσι, Φαρισαῖον, Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/tr/d001/ma/b/laudsglory.pdf
Ἀπεστάλη ἐξ οὐρανοῦ Γαβριὴλ, Ἦχος πλ. βʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/me/m03/d25/ve/b/sticglory.pdf
Σήμερον χαρᾶς Εὐαγγέλια Ἦχος δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/me/m03/d25/ve/b/aposglory.pdf
Κύριε, ἡ ἐν πολλαῖς. Ἦχος πλ. δʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/barrett/en/tr/d067/ma/b/aposglory.pdf
Ἀναστάσεως ἡμέρα. Ἦχος πλ. αʹ:
http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/m/dedes/en/pe/d00p/b/sticglory.pdf