A Composed Nature
Yesterday, I went to church. Apparently, aside from the complete lack of English, the service itself was totally botched...badly cut up and basically rearranged. Again, glad I didn't go, because it would have made my ecclesiarch-like personality completely spin out.
But. In keeping with the structure of the services in Bright Week, we did the Paschal matins properly today. Surprisingly, we even had a small amount of English - especially surprising considering the small amount of even bilingual people there!
After that, had breakfast with a couple of people who went that morning; then, I went home, and started composing for a short period of time, before deciding to watch Just Shoot Me! on DVD. Then went to have dinner with a friend from high school.
This morning, I eventually got to finishing the compositions for the service of St Bede the Venerable. There are five pieces in this service that do not have pre-arranged melodies and are supposed to: in Vespers, the Dogmaticon (or Doxasticon) for the Kekragarion (after 'Lord, I have cried' - or, Kyrie Ekekraksa, from which is derived 'Kekragarion'), the Dogmaticon for the Vesperal Aposticha; the Apolytikion of the Saint; in Matins, the Kontakion and the Dogmaticon for the Matinal Aposticha.
For those who know what parts of the service are, and don't need the explanation, skip this paragraph.
During Vespers and Matins, whenever one hears the 'Glory to the Father...' chanted rather slowly, that means that the Dogmaticon is coming right up - in Vespers, it usually means that an Entrance is near; in Matins, it means that it's almost time for the Doxology and the Liturgy. In Greek, the connection between the name and what they mean is more apparent, because the word for Glory is 'Doxa', and the name of the hymn is a Doxasticon.
The Dogmaticons are, AFAIK, always written as idiomelons, which essentially mean that they have no set melody. Each tone has its own general feel for how it should sound, and assortments of notes - but they're usually made up on the spot by an experienced chanter who knows (or, of course, knows that no one will correct) how to do it. In contrast, the hymns in between the versicles are usually set to a melody (for example, the verses after 'Lord I have cried' and before the Dogmaticon are set to 'Πανευφημοι Μαρτυρες / O All-praised Martyrs'.
However, it has become an increasing trend in Greek service books to not only have the text, but to have a composition (of how to chant the dogmaticon) in the back of the saint's/event's service book. This is where said composition comes in - to fill a gap that might be existing, by providing an example of how to chant the dogmaticons in a pleasing manner in the appointed tone.
There are two other pieces that are un-melodied (for lack of a better word) - the apolytikion (main, short hymn of the saint) and the kontakion (another short hymn for the saint). Notably, these are the only two sets of hymns relating to a saint or an event (aside from the Resurrection, of course) that are actually put into a Divine Liturgy in standard parish practise (just after the Small Entrance, before the 'Holy God'). However, these are both able to be melodied - the apolytikion to 'Την Σοφιαν και Λογον / The Wisdom and the Word', and the Kontakion to 'Τη Υπερμαχω / O Champion Leader'.
I haven't posted the compositions yet - I'm still running them by some local people knowledgable in chanting and Byzantine notation and see how it sounds to them - but I shall do so when I think that they're ready for release. Reviews are, so far, all favourable.
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pistevo) wrote,
accomplished
