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Deacon Lance.

Definitely not in a 'mission church out West' either.


Porter.

Again I disagree, Fr. Deacon. Our 'resources' need to be dedicated to preserving the entirety of Byzantine tradition, as is possible, and not one very provincial musical interpretation of that tradition. And which tradition? The latinized one which included the removal of married priesthood, recited liturgies, etc. etc.?

I would rather spend our 'resources' working on settings of music which in many cases are both easier to sing and have much more "track record" in successful usage in this country. Again, that is not to say there are beautiful and singable prostopinje melodies. There most certainly are and it is, as the Galician, Russian, and many others, a wonderful musical heritage.

If that means Prostopinje for some things, Kievan for others, etc. etc. that only exposes people to a much broader horizon of the musical beauty and riches of the Byzantine tradition. Again I will point to the OCA and their successes in that regard.

And which version of Prostopinje? Some of the written settings of the past are simply not good nor accurate nor metered appropriately.

The parish situation has to be taken into consideration as well. If you have, as in our case, a majority who were never "cradle" Greek Catholics, as well as an equally mixed "cradle" population of Galicians and Rusyns who are now greatly in the minority, it makes no sense to take a purist approach to a "musical tradition" that was never present in its "pure" form in the first place.

We are not in the mountains anymore. The physical geographic boundries which prompted the sole use of this musical tradition are simply not present here, and as the demographics change, so do our parish "personalities".

I have always considered the great liturgical flexibility within the Byzantine tradition [including musical flexibility] as one of its great and endearing aspects.

Subdeacon Randolph,

How did we move from Rusyn plainchant vs Russian choral music to recited liturgies, married priesthood.

If a parish is mixed Rusyn/Ukrainian/Melkite/Romanian then by all means a mix of chant should be used. But just because a parish is not cradle does not mean clergy should impose their personal preference for other types of music over the official music of a given Church. If a parish is of the Pittsburgh Metropolia Prostopinje should be used.

The Metropolitan Cantor Institute is currently redoing the poorer settings. The Admin's publications have a track record of success.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovich (1877 - 1921), a famous Ukrainian composer from 'Greater Ukraine', wrote both the original words and the music for a 'feast of the nativity song' called 'Shchedrivka'. The song, as was the composer, very popular in Ukraine until such time that the Bolsheviks came to power.

In 1921 Mykola was arrested by the Soviet Russians in Ukraine. He was tried and sentenced to death for having supported the establishment of a 'Bourgeoisie Ukrainian National Republic' (1918 - 1920). He was offered amnesty by the communists if he would write and compose Soviet propaganda music. He refused and was executed by a Soviet firing squad in 1921.

As part of an ongoing Ukrainian national liberation movement in exile, the music of Mykola Leontovich was revived in North America and used to promote the idea of re-establishing an independant social democratic Ukrainian Republic.

Mr Wilhousky wrote English language words (very different to the Ukrainian ones) for the music in the United States and it took on the name 'Carol of the Bells'. The carol was then popularized in the 1930's in North America by the famous national Ukrainian conductor Oleksander Koshetz.

Most Anglo American Christmas carols have their origins in the United Kingdom. This classic Christmas carol is one of the few exceptions. It's origins are from the heart of a true Ukrainian national patriot.

Hritzko

My parish--incorporated here in CT in 1900, has a had choir the majority of it's existence. There has always been a rich choral tradition along side the cantored prostopinije. We use a mixture of harmonized prostopinije, harmonized Kievan/Galician chant, Obikhod, and some free composed choral pieces, ie. Bortniansky, etc. One of our choir directors continues to set the Prostopinije in 4 parts for our use. The parish as a whole is proud of the work that we do in preparing and singing each Sunday and sing along with us for a lot of the music. The fact that we use music other than the Rusyn plainchant seems to bother no one. The fact that we use singable 4 part settings and not "concert" pieces, is what sets us apart as true leaders of song, rather than a performing group to be listened to. The vast majority of parishioners are descended from Rusyn immigrants and it doesn't seem to be an issue that don't sing only Carpatho Rusyn chant. Just my $.02.

John

Thanks for that information. I didn't know that. When I was getting my Masters in music, all the textbook information was on European music. When early music was discussed, it was about Gregorian chant. Russian or Ukrainian music wasn't discussed at all, unless it happened to be 19th century Russian music. That still gets pretty good coverage. Thanks again.

John K:

Sounds like you have something really wonderful going on there. Your .02 worth sounds like it is worth much more than that.

I have to agree with you on that. The Metropolitan Cantor Institute does fine work, and the Admin's publications are greatly appreciated.

John, it does indeed sound like you are doing wonderful things in your parish.

Father Deacon, is there an "official music" defined in the particular law? I know of no existing set of particular law which defines such a thing as "official".

How did we get to clergy "imposing their preferences"? We should be happy there are clergy at all in some places, and we should be supporting them, considering the numbers and outlook.

If clergy wish to implement liturgical aspects that they feel are both consonant with the larger Byzantine tradition as well as pastorally prudent, that is certainly their call.

I would like to know this, too. Is this a matter of church law, or personal opinion? Does anyone know?

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Particular law is demonstrated in several ways:

(1) In the 'Particular Law' for the Metropolitan Province of Pittsburgh as such;

(2) in promulgated liturgical books as such, and in the chant given in those books (if it exists).

So, for example, rubrics given in the current Liturgikon have the force of law (even though, it must be said, this force may be in abbeyance).

When and if the Council of Hierarchs authorizes the publication of a Liturgikon for the Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and of St. Basil the Great with a Peoples' Book to match, those texts, rubrics, and chant will have the force of law.

There is no question in my mind, however, that the prostopinije of the Carpatho-Rusyn people "is" the church of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh (as well as that of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of Johnstown). It holds pride of place in the instruction given to those who attend either Seminary.

There is also no question in my mind that choral music does play a role in many places in the Metropolitan Province (and in the Johnstown Diocese). Many parishes have choirs of which they are proud. But the choral music in these parishes has traditionally been seen to co-exist with the congregational singing of the Divine Liturgy and the Liturgy of the Hours.

As Diak alluded above, the tradition of Rusyn prostopinije is one which has a certain amount of 'cross-fertilization,' most especially through the Eparchy of Presov, which first incorporated Galician melodies into the divine services. It is interesting to note that the most popular melody for "Only Begotten Son" and one of the two "Creed" melodies, are both of Galician origin. The melodies which we use for Troparia and Kontakia (one family) and for Litija Stichera and the Hymns of St. John Damascene (another family) are historically called "Bulgarian," though how and when and if they came from that place is not known with historical accuracy.

Parishes in areas not part of the original immigration settlement are often made up of Eastern Catholic from different churches (and, indeed, sometimes even different ritual churches). This may indicate that a new form of 'cross-fertilization' may be appropriate for a given parish. That will not change, however, the basic identity of the Metropolitan Province, which implies a "basis" of prostopinije so that all members of the Metropolitan Province can go from one parish to another and be able to join both hearts AND voices in the singing of the Liturgy.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

There are still some good choirs in the Pittsburgh Metropolia and the Johnstown diocese - one or two correspondents have already mentioned Holy Spirit in Philadelphia; there was and may still be an excellent choir in Cleveland. But what is sad is that there was a concerted effort to close down the choirs several decades ago, and that effort has had a deplorable success - the musical lockstep crowd couldn't stand it.
Even a small parish could surely organize a small choral group to sing relatively simple music now and then, if only to provide a change from a steady diet of the same thing. A large metropolitan area, especially one with several parishes, can organize a large choir and work musical miracles.
The Pittsburgh Metropolia clearly aspires to be THE Byzantine Catholic Church - but is remarkable in its persistent effort to exclude music from the larger Byzantine tradition. Now just why is that, I wonder?
Incognitus

My parish, St Nicholas in Barberton Ohio has a wonderful choir, which mostly leads the congregation in plain chant, but also does some pretty complex [to my untrained ears] polyphony...

Thank you Professor, for your response. I suspected that if laws or policies existed, they would be balanced and reasonable. In my years as an organist in Latin Rite and Protestant churches, my experience has been that in every place I have run into the resident grumpy little old man who insisted something could be done one way, and one way only. Generally, this was delivered with warnings that the sky would fall, or something similar, if things were done differently. So when I hear that only one method or practice is allowed, I immediately suspect that I am hearing personal opinion, and I start looking for verification. Thank you again for your answer. It settles the question as far as I am concerned.

And I wonder the same thing, and have for many years. It seems a bit presumptious to call oneself that, and reject much of what is both musically and liturgically Byzantine.

Again I ask which versions of prostopinje are we talking about? In Slavonic there are different versions of the music, Bokshaj, etc. The Galician versions actually have preserved more Bulgarian tones than the Rusyn. In English there are different versions of the music floating around such as Jumba, 1960s Seminary, Levkulic, etc.

Are we then talking about a new, "consistent" set of music? So, if only some at the Seminary have used this music how can we presume that it can and will be consistently used across the Metropolia?

I think the consistency that is being fantasized here has never existed in the first place, even in the mountains. By Professor Thompson's own admission there is an inherent diversity and sharing of melodies even within families of Carpathian chant.

Regarding the canonical question, I believe that individual promulgations of liturgical texts do not have the force of particular law as provided by the CCEO. If that was the case, every new text would require abrogation of the older.

Liturgical texts come and go, sometimes even changing annually in various churches. If every such promulgation had the force of particular law, it would take an army of canonists reviewing every text consistent with the canonical process established in the CCEO to promulgate particular law.

"Norms" and "law" are different things. It seems the new texts will perhaps be promulgated as liturgical "norms"? But even that has canonical difficulties. A new liturgical usage cannot supercede the 1942 Ordo as that would entail an act of abrogation from the Eastern Congregation itself which promulgated the Ordo. I understand the Congregation is not willing to do that currently, as several churches sui iuris currently rely on the Ordo.

Considering the complexity and vastness of Byzantine liturgical texts extant, a "one-stop shop" liturgical book is a difficult proposal, if even possible, even with limiting its scope to the Divine Liturgy. It seems nearly impossible to create such a one-shot book with all of the propers necessary for the entire year.

On a historical tangent, forced attempts at musical and liturgical consistency (which in this case have never existed) generally have not gone over well with Byzantines. Even the Romans have found that this is not so easily accomplished.

In many parishes which are in the process of reestablishing lost or neglected services, these congregations are just now getting comfortable with a given set of music. Casting a known musical corpus aside for another might be disastrous in some cases and certainly not pastorally prudent.

Ultimately, it will be up to the pastors to implement or not implement such norms. It has always been that way, and a great change in that regard is not likely considering the vast distance and diversity of parishes in the Metropolia.

Back to Icognitus' astute observation, I continue to be troubled about the lack of tolerance for any other kind of music than a postulated "standard". The Metropolia is the only place I have experienced that kind of mindset. I have not experienced any Byzantine church, Catholic or Orthodox, that maintains this type of liturgical and musical autocracy. If it is appled too heavy-handed, the consequences will not be positive.

There is an entire universe of beautiful chant in the Byzantine tradition. Again, I applaud the genius of the OCA and Dr. Drillock in exposing seminarians and parishes to the immense wealth of the Byzantine musical heritage, and not putting on musical blinders to only one tradition, actually a sub-tradition when considering Carpathian chant.

No one is suggesting that Prostopinje be given up. On the other hand, there is always more than one way to do something. The Byzantine tradition has always been one of flexibility and economia, and what is wrong with exposing the faithful to greater liturgical horizons and riches? Your choirs seem to enjoy performing works from various musical traditions, Professor Thompson?