A few years ago when I first became interested in the traditional byzantine chant of the Orthodox Church, I came across Fr. Apostolos Hill’s recording “Hymns of Paradise: Hymns of Life and Hope,” his English language adaptation of the remarkably beautiful Memorial Service. It was not until I heard this work that I began to appreciate these important hymns. I had simply never heard them executed competently in English anywhere in Greek Orthodox Church of America.
I was also deeply struck by Fr Apostolos’ simple and direct chant style, which is free of affectation, unpretentious, clear, and, in my opinion, simply beautiful. In short, a model for what I wish traditional chant in English would sound like in American parishes. In this recording, Fr Apostolos captures the spirit of an earlier, humble American plain chant tradition, while introducing elements of traditional byzantine chant, which is largely monophonic, uses an isson, and is practiced without any instrumental accompaniment. I appreciate that he avoids many of the vocal habits of popular music that some American psalti bring to their chant, while he similarly avoids injecting the vocal ticks of Greek psalti, which, to my ear, can sound false when found in our English language chanting.
Fr Apostolos’ adaptations are traditionally minded and not based on a single traditional musical text (warning to the musical purists). I count two moments of polyphony on the CD – the first and most obvious is the Trisagion hymn which he bases on the Arabic melody that is very popular here in the US. The second is in the Troparia Tone 8 “Among the Saints” which is subtle and reminiscent of harmonies found in the English adaptations of Vassilis Hadjinicolaou. I still found these pleasant, respectful, performed with sensitivity, unlike certain polyphonic treatments found in GOA parishes.
To my knowledge, Fr Apostolos has not made available a score for this music, so I’ve posted here my own transcription for those who want something to follow. It is in western notation and can be used to chant with friends. It is offers a simple introduction to traditional chant for English speakers who have no prior experience with byzantine style music. It should be used with the CD, not alone. I have not had time to correct the mistakes that riddle it – and there are many. I made it originally just for myself as a listening exercise. Again, I think it is the direct, clear and simple quality of Fr Apostolos Hill’s chant style that is most remarkable and useful, not necessarily the quality of the adaptation on its own.
I very much look forward to having more traditional adaptations from Fr. Seraphim Dedes or Fr. Ephraim of St Anthony’s Monastery. These two offer the best resources for English speakers to learn traditional byzantine liturgical chant.
The CD of Fr Apostolos Hill’s “Hymns of Paradise” can be found here.
The simple transcription is here.
Filed under: Chant, Christian Orthodoxy, Liturgical Music, Orthodox Christianity, Prayer, Religion
I dowloaded your transcription and am so thrilled to have it. I have a small chant team in my church and I am looking for Byzantine chant to adapt to us. I’ve heard the cd and am wondering if you have transcribed the others?
Also, how did you do it? Do you use a software program or just do it by ear?
Thank you for your comment. I hope you and your friends find the transcription useful. I did it by ear as a training exercise directly into Final Notepad. I also transcribed Fr Seraphim Dede’s doxologies and nearly all the Eothina Doxastica, but he has now provided this music in both Western and Byzantine notation. I suggest that you purchase Fr Seraphim’s matin collections (http://sgpm.goarch.org/Monastery/index.php), and the cd’s that go with them. From them you can learn all the basic hymns together, and they match the eMatin booklets for Sunday Orthros. If you can, enlist the assistance of a psalti who has had some training. In Greek, I have also found the training recordings by Konstantinos Katsoulis to be indispensible. You can also download Ioannis Margaziotis’ exercise book (http://www.analogion.com/Schools.html) that features his recordings.
But don’t get to entranced by the notation. It useful first to read the text of the hymns out loud and together for meaning, and to hear where accents naturally fall, then to listen to someone chant the hymn, then to chant together, keeping in mind the meaning and natural rhythm of our language. Remember to keep it simple, clear and understandable, taking time to breath together and preparing each vocable.
In Christ,
Tony
I’m a learner, and I’m interested in the V Hadjinicolaou’s 4-cd Vespers collection. I’ve been a little hesitant, tho’ because I seem to recall hearing some of his compositions and found them so floridly polyphonic that I couldn’t tell where the melody was. That wouldn’t be helpful to me. But yesterday I found his Orthodox Saints tape and it’s excellent. Is my recollection mistaken about the polyphony? Is the Vespers collection monophonic with the ison?
H