Shota
Παλαιό Μέλος
To give just a little example, are Gerasimos Kanellidis' Leitourgika "classical music"? Would Neleus Kamarados chant only "classical music"?
Already with a quick search one can find a sufficient number of Athonite Axion esti recordings from Nektarios' books, e.g. Filanthidis' Axion esti in Deuteroprotos (Karcigar), the one composed by Anastasios from Parla in Pl. 4, the one by Charalampos Papanikolaou in Pl. 4, the anonymous composition in Pl. 2 and so on. The point is that execution of these melodies requires technical skill and not all Athonites have it. Those that don't have it, also don't chant them (more difficult ones, at least), I presume (in his teaching recording of the Leitourgika in Plagal First by Kanellidis edited by A. Kyriazidis (and of Sarantaekklesiotis' Axion esti in Pl. 1), Fr. Daniel of the Danielaioi brotherhood characteristically remarks that these Leitourgika are πολύ ωραία, but θέλουν μονάχα λίγο μελέτη περισσότερα. That's an Athonite way of saying what is reachable for somebody with a modest musical talent and what is not, I guess
). As far as Fr. Panaretos of the blessed memory is concerned, his communication is important, but I don't see why would it contradict what I wrote; Fr. Panaretos himself represents a new trend in Athonite chanting (the new trend is noticeable from 1960s, when the influence of Karamanis, Theodosopoulos and Taliadoros started to be felt, later on with the Simonopetra style on ascendance, and recently also with the invasion of Karas-influenced chanting): he was almost 60 when he went to Athos (thus a very experienced chanter with established repertory and taste) and e.g. in his teaching tapes of the Liturgy melodies he chants not from Nektarios' books, but from Karamanis. And in what qualitative respect do compositions from Karamanis' book, many of which bear makam names, differ from the older ones?All the composers I named were Constantinopolitans. And I don't see the point in arguing that their compositions were chanted in Constantinople, because they were (as a little anecdote, (narrated in Tsiounis' book on Stanitsas, I believe) upon becoming Lampadarios at the Patriarchate, Stanitsas got asked by his friends from his Palasis times why he wouldn't chant some mathemata of his teacher, to which he responded (quoting from the memory): "Forget those senseless things. The music is the one we chant at the Patriarchate").
I guess there is no point in doubting that Nikolaos and his successor Misailidis would use Nikolaos' books at the analogion. Now many of Nikolaos' compositions are indeed long mathemata, but others are not and in any case all his compositions bear his distinct style. And when talking about Nikolaos' work, I didn't mean only his Liturgy volume, as you perhaps thought, but also his other books. As far as who would chant what, e.g. every year in Patras the late Metropolitan Nikodimos would use many compositions from Nikolaos' books for Doxastika and Idiomela, especially during the Holy Week period. About Nikolaos' papadic Liturgy pieces: these were chanted where
1) circumstances would allow it (enough time);
2) students of Nikolaos were active;
3) papadic melos hasn't degenerated into improvisation, or displaced completely in favour of other compositions as in the case of the koinonika.
Up until some time ago Athos was such a place, but I guess there too Nikolaos' compositions are destined to eventually disappear.
P.S. When Vamvoudakis included in his book polyphonic pieces (in Byzantine notation) by Bortnyanski, did he do it for training purposes? Or when Andreou chanted Sakellaridis in Canada? The chanters don't live in lab conditions, they adapt or get influenced by the environment, and what was the musical aesthetics of Smyrni is attested by numerous early 20th c. recordings. And that that did influence the Smyrni yphos is something that already Boudouris sensed.
