Hymnography with(out) Music as Scripture and Prayer', in Ivan Moody and Maria Takala-Roszczenko, eds, Creating Liturgically: Hymnography and Music. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Seraphim above: Some Perspectives on the Theology of Orthodox Church Music
Religions, 2015
Some outstanding contributions notwithstanding, much recent scholarship in Western European languages concerning art and the sacred has been quite prolific but has generally avoided discussion of specifically liturgical music, a particular problem when dealing with the sacred music of the Orthodox Church. The present discussion aims at establishing some bases for furthering this discussion, drawing not only on recent commentators but especially commentary on the question of liturgical singing by the Fathers of the Church.
A LITURGICAL MANIFESTO: MUSICAL TRANSMISSION AS ECCLESIOLOGY
Digital technology and the related social technologies afford people the opportunity to transmit and change ideas and art with incredible velocity. These practices also highlight the astonishing lack of control an artist or corporation has over what people decide to do with an artistic product. Many variables are at work, as the above quotation suggests, including choices in composition.“ Ubiquitous, international, and infinitely remixable” composition frames a “blank canvas” upon which people can compose their own work. Christian liturgy, especially the musical aspects of liturgy, are no less subject to such appropriation.
The Logoi of Song: Chant as Embodiment of Theology in Orthodox Christian Prayer and Worship
This practice-based study explores how chant of the Eastern Orthodox church embodies theology and how it helps worshippers to do the same. It consists of a theological investigation and three case studies, which include two live performances: hymnography of the services of bridegroom matins from Great and Holy Week; chant and ritual song in the life and folk practices of Lakhushdi Village, Upper Svaneti, Republic of Georgia; and a particular vespers service, which included the participation of my ensemble, several colleagues, and the wider community. These contexts also engage other liturgical art forms, such as iconography, with which the chanted hymnography interacts. The approach is practice-led and cross-disciplinary, including historical and ethnomusicology, theology, and performance. The methodology includes liturgical, literary, and musicological analysis; theological inquiry; autoethnographic fieldwork in Georgia and Ireland; creative, reflective writing; and performance. The performances demonstrate and shed light on aspects of embodiment and on chant as a palpable, performative agent, and the fieldwork surrounding them shows how theology can be an important tool in chant pedagogy. The writing of this dissertation is also understood as a performative activity and element of the research. The performances, however, are not simply objects for autoethnographic research; they also show aspects of my work that are best communicated through practice and embodiment rather than through written explanations. This research is significant within Orthodox Christian studies as it synthesises and makes accessible a variety of theological, cultural, and musicological information. More widely, it is of interest not only to clergy and church musicians but to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, philosophers, educators, and singers.
A very important and long-awaited recent event in the Russian Orthodox Church caused me to want to research the subject of this essay. In early December 2016, the First International Congress of Choirmasters and Singers of the Russian Orthodox Church took place at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. This was the first gathering dedicated to the issues of liturgical singing ministries since 1917. Traditionally fulfilling its role as an inseparable aspect of church worship, Russian liturgical singing never fully developed the same degree of ideological and artistic independence from the Church as was achieved by Western sacred music. So, the persecution that befell the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917 truly reduced many of the areas of church life to the level of catacomb existence. Obviously, in such circumstances prospects of engaging in any form of liturgical music ministry were dim. An observation from my fifteen-year liturgical singing praxis further illustrates this point: I have never performed a church hymn composed by a living author.
Communication Difficulties between Different Liturgical-Musical Paradigms
Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu, 2015
Contemporary ecumenical efforts face considerable difficulties due to differences of liturgical and musical paradigm between different confessions. Therefore, in opposition to a vision that is of secular inspiration and often eclectically and syncretically built in ecumenical manifestation, the Orthodox Church presents a traditional liturgical-musical perspective, a cosmic and soteriological typology, whose cyclical arrangement and liturgical hymns share a sacramental connection with divine revelation.
Die geistige & geistliche Macht der Musk. Interdisziplinaere une oekumenische Perspektiven, 2022
The paper begins with a general definition of the idea of “performance” and its theological relevance as presented in the works of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Phillip Stoltzfus, Jeremy S. Begbie and Maeve L. Heaney. There is an analysis of texts concerning the musical practices of some Reformed and Orthodox Churches which is followed by some practical observations made by the Marcel Pérès, Marcin Bornus-Szczyciński, Jacques Cheyronnaud and Jean-François Colosimo. The next section tries to put together the results of some very bold West-ern reflections on the anthropological importance of music in the liturgy, with the Orthodox praxis of liturgical chant. This juxtaposition leads to value and understand two different ex-periences of musical power: a) the internal, implicit power of the chant, fully integrated into the liturgy and sung in an anthropologically integrated way; b) the external, more spectacular power of creativity and expression, typical for Western worship. These two expressions seem to have a common theological ground and a perspective of growth within a context of re-spectful exchange. The conclusion proposes some steps in this field, partially with reference to the original discoveries of Serge Wilfart, made on the relationship between spirituality and voice.