I
Irish_Melkite
Guest
Someone asked for some resources for Eastern and Oriental Chant. There are a variety of musical forms used in our Churches, as many as there are cultures, ethnicities, etc. This is just a sampling.
Most Eastern and Oriental Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, perform liturgical music a capella. As most of these Churches have their origins within an ethno-cultural framework, the peculiar form that each uses tends to be rooted in the culture and heritage from which its faithful originally came. Thus, Byzantines of the Greek Tradition (e.g., Albanians) utilize a different style than will Byzantines of the Slav Tradition (e.g., Ruthenians); the same is true of Antiochene Churches of East Syriac versus West Syriac Traditions.
Even within Traditions, there are differences, e.g., between Ruthenians and Ukrainians, both Byzantine Slavic Churches; prostopinije is used most often by the former, while kyevan chant is most used by the latter.
Except in instances where a Church has been influenced by external liturgical praxis (e.g., latinization), few if any differences should be observable between the musical forms used in Catholic or Orthodox Churches from the same heritage.
Arabic chant, used in Melkite Catholic and Antiochene Orthodox Churches has similarities to Islamic vocalizations, the latter having borrowed from the pre-existing Arabic Christian forms.
The vocalization style used in Christ’s time is likely most closely approximated by the Aramaic and Syriac chant of Maronites, Syriac Catholics and Orthodox, and Chaldean Catholics and their Assyrian counterparts, as well as the styles of Hebrew chant preserved by Jews in their worship. See Jewish Liturgical Music
For audio clips of Eastern and Oriental liturgical music, visit these:
Eastern Catholic Liturgical Hymns is a diverse collection of liturgical texts and hymns from a variety of Eastern Catholic Churches, gathered by Donald Wyckoff (who has recently added traditional Latin Rite music to the site). Most of the material here is, unfortunately, instrumental rather than in its traditional a capella presentation, but it does offer a sense of the hymnody. Be patient, as the site is slow to load.
Hymns from the Byzantine Liturgical Tradition is a wonderful range of music from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America’s beautiful website.
Choir Chant of the Byzantine Slovak Catholic Church was recorded by a Byzantine Slovak Catholic parish in Bratislavia.
Byzantine Melkite Liturgical Chant is offered at the site of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Australia. Although the page is written in Arabic, the links are obvious - click on any of them to listen.
Plainchant in the form of Ruthenian prostopinije is beautifully presented at the website of the American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Diocese.
Georgian Chant is reportedly the oldest Byzantine liturgical form. Regretably, to the best of our knowledge, there are presently no working chant links available on-line for this form. You can, however, hear an audio file of a traditional instrumental rendition of Shen Kar Venati - the Cherubic Hymn
Coptic Hymnody for the Feast of the Resurrection was recorded by the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies.
Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Hymns were recorded by St. Mary’s Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church in Los Angeles.
The Anaphora of Addai & Mari is the Mystery of the Eucharist from the Holy Liturgy of the Assyrian Church of the East, chanted in Classical Eddessan Syriac. This Anaphora is unique among those of the Apostolic Churches in that it recites no explicit narrative of the Words of Eucharistic Institution.
Maronite Music on the old (but presently still available) website of Saint Jude Maronite Catholic parish in Orlando, FL (the Maronite Liturgical Chant recorded by the parish choir appears to no longer be available on the site - these are audio clips from a recording by a Maronite nun)
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Most Eastern and Oriental Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, perform liturgical music a capella. As most of these Churches have their origins within an ethno-cultural framework, the peculiar form that each uses tends to be rooted in the culture and heritage from which its faithful originally came. Thus, Byzantines of the Greek Tradition (e.g., Albanians) utilize a different style than will Byzantines of the Slav Tradition (e.g., Ruthenians); the same is true of Antiochene Churches of East Syriac versus West Syriac Traditions.
Even within Traditions, there are differences, e.g., between Ruthenians and Ukrainians, both Byzantine Slavic Churches; prostopinije is used most often by the former, while kyevan chant is most used by the latter.
Except in instances where a Church has been influenced by external liturgical praxis (e.g., latinization), few if any differences should be observable between the musical forms used in Catholic or Orthodox Churches from the same heritage.
Arabic chant, used in Melkite Catholic and Antiochene Orthodox Churches has similarities to Islamic vocalizations, the latter having borrowed from the pre-existing Arabic Christian forms.
The vocalization style used in Christ’s time is likely most closely approximated by the Aramaic and Syriac chant of Maronites, Syriac Catholics and Orthodox, and Chaldean Catholics and their Assyrian counterparts, as well as the styles of Hebrew chant preserved by Jews in their worship. See Jewish Liturgical Music
For audio clips of Eastern and Oriental liturgical music, visit these:
Eastern Catholic Liturgical Hymns is a diverse collection of liturgical texts and hymns from a variety of Eastern Catholic Churches, gathered by Donald Wyckoff (who has recently added traditional Latin Rite music to the site). Most of the material here is, unfortunately, instrumental rather than in its traditional a capella presentation, but it does offer a sense of the hymnody. Be patient, as the site is slow to load.
Hymns from the Byzantine Liturgical Tradition is a wonderful range of music from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America’s beautiful website.
Choir Chant of the Byzantine Slovak Catholic Church was recorded by a Byzantine Slovak Catholic parish in Bratislavia.
Byzantine Melkite Liturgical Chant is offered at the site of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Australia. Although the page is written in Arabic, the links are obvious - click on any of them to listen.
Plainchant in the form of Ruthenian prostopinije is beautifully presented at the website of the American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Diocese.
Georgian Chant is reportedly the oldest Byzantine liturgical form. Regretably, to the best of our knowledge, there are presently no working chant links available on-line for this form. You can, however, hear an audio file of a traditional instrumental rendition of Shen Kar Venati - the Cherubic Hymn
Coptic Hymnody for the Feast of the Resurrection was recorded by the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies.
Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Hymns were recorded by St. Mary’s Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church in Los Angeles.
The Anaphora of Addai & Mari is the Mystery of the Eucharist from the Holy Liturgy of the Assyrian Church of the East, chanted in Classical Eddessan Syriac. This Anaphora is unique among those of the Apostolic Churches in that it recites no explicit narrative of the Words of Eucharistic Institution.
Maronite Music on the old (but presently still available) website of Saint Jude Maronite Catholic parish in Orlando, FL (the Maronite Liturgical Chant recorded by the parish choir appears to no longer be available on the site - these are audio clips from a recording by a Maronite nun)
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