A recent thread in this forum regarding alternative choral harmonizations to the approved, recently promulgated liturgical musical settings was locked, with the directive that the OP be �obedient to the Council of Hierarchs in following their directives exactly�� What exactly are the directives of the Council of Hierarchs in this regard?
It would seem to me that Karl�s (Pseudo-Athanasius) admirable work in preparing and sharing SATB settings for these
approved musical settings was certainly in keeping with the intent of the Council of Hierarchs� directives. There always has been, and will always be, spontaneous harmonizations by the congregation with regard to whatever musical settings are employed (I know I�m guilty as charged!
) � I see no harm in putting these harmonies down on paper and sharing them, and I cannot see how this violates the Council�s intents.
Again I stress � these are harmonies that are relative to the
approved melodies. Are we not allowed to add harmony to these settings just because the books were published with melody only? To what extent does the Council require us to stick to
exactly what�s in the book? What if, for example, the priest or deacon intones his part in a key that is different than the key the setting is written in� are we required to revert to the written key (silly, if you ask me!) rather than pick up on their intoned note, just because that�s the key it�s published in and, therefore, the
only key approved by the Council? How far do we take all this?
Back in June of �06 one of the moderators of this forum posted the following request:
Over the past couple of months, there have been a good number of posts and discussion topics related to the changes proposed by the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical and Music Commissions to the Divine Services in the Metropolia of Pittsburgh.
Those discussions have taken place in a number of the sub-Forums (including "The Kliros").
In an effort to consolidate those discussions and create a place explicitly for that discussion, a new sub-Forum has been created in the General Discussion section of the Forum -- 9. The Revised Divine Liturgy .
As a Moderator of "The Kliros," I would kindly ask that any future discussions pertaining to the proposed new textual, rubrical and musical changes to the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom offered by the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical & Musical Commissions of the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh be posted in that new sub-Forum.
That way, "The Kliros" can continue to be a place for those who chant the Liturgy to discuss the other pertinent topics of the day or to share music with one another.
If Karl is guilty of anything, perhaps it is that he posted his work in the wrong forum, as per the above quote (perhaps I, too, am guilty of the same thing by posting this here rather than the RDL Forum? � at this point I�m just not sure). Even at that, what then is the purpose of �The Kliros� if not to share music �
approved music � with one another? Isn�t this exactly what the moderator says in the last paragraph of his quote?
Anybody� please help me in my confusion here�
Al (a pilgrim)
