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Christ is Risen!

I thought that this was a wonderful video!

Orthodox Chanting [pbs.org]

Enjoy!

My comments below are for those interested in the differences between the chanting in this video and real Byzantine chant.

Her interpretation is interesting, and actually NOT in line with Antiochian Orthodox thinking. She says: "In Orthodoxy, the music is not sacred. The words are sacred." The Antiochians--apparently apart from the English-speaking churches in the US--believe that the original Greek chants should not be altered to fit the words of other languages. This of course creates some rather weird-sounding troparia, etc., where the words are forced to fit the original Greek Melody.

The Antiochians usually even write their Arabic lyrics backwards (e.g. left to right) so that they do not change anything about the original Greek psaltiki music. It makes it very difficult to read, and sight-singing almost impossible.

She is also singing without Byzantine tuning, so the sounds that she says are Middle Eastern, are actually Western. But I have heard, too, that in the US, the Antiochian Church as well as the Greek Orthodox Church accept Western melodies.

Do others know whether this is generally true in the US--i.e., that the original Byzantine tuning is no longer or rarely practised?

Matta,

It would depend on what parish you go to. Even a good number of Church musicians are not experts in Byzantine music. Some Americans (like, in my opinion, the Boston Byzantine Choir who has several recordings) sound "western", probably because of intonation, but also stylistically. I'd imagine said choir has had a lot of influence on the parish profiled in the video clip. Other Americans sound just as good as the best Greek musicians (and they're generally Greek-Americans or even immigrant Greeks, like the Romeiko ensemble).

However, information on the intonations are available [stanthonysmonastery.org], and in my parish we use similar intonation. Personally, I get all my intonations from my collection of Athonite or other Greek Chant that I've built up over several years.

Thank you, Father Deacon Daniel...I enjoyed this video because her voice is truly beautiful, and her joyful countenance reveals that her soul is probably equally beautiful!!