Listening Blog #2
Russian Orthodox Chant
Let my prayer arise
Russian Orthodox Monks-unknown
Russia
Vocal
I am a member of the American Orthodox church and I have always been fascinated with the simplistic sound of their music. An Orthodox service is entirely sung, and though there is a choir to help lead the singing,most of the service it is sung by the entire congregation. There are different sections where the priest does a call and we respond. There are also portions of the service where readings are chanted by the other members of the clergy. After researching I have discovered that though it sounds simplistic, it is actually based on a set of eight tonal scales. This particular piece is in the sixth tone or the Plagal Second Mode. Let my prayer arise is used only during the first week of Lent, usually on the second day. It is based on Psalm 141:2 "May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." (BibleGateway.com) Orthodox hymns are time specific, based on the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar. Many times our Easter does not line up with Easter as it is on the Western calendar.
We have been looking at classification this week. This song falls firstly into the category of vocal music. Though it wasn't mention as much as other instruments, Wade discusses different ways the voice is used as an instrument on pages 45-47 of his book. (Wade, 2013). This particular example uses voicing is based in the sixth tone, as I mentioned above. This piece classifies even further into the area of spiritual associations. "We find throuhout the world the idea of an instrument's giving voice to a sacred spirit." (Wade, 2013, p. 51) We can even classify this song one step further using the Russian Orthodox chant categories of canonical, music found in approved liturgical chanting books, and uncanonical, music based on freely composed melodies. This piece is canonical, specifically it is classified into the 8 tone system. (Simmons, n.d.)
BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2B141%3A2&version=NIV
Simmons, N. (n.d.). A brief history of the monophonic chant tradition of the Russian
Orthodox church. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from
http://www.synaxis.info/psalom/research/simmons/chant_history.html
Wade, B. C. (2013). Thinking musically: experiencing music, expressing culture. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Hi Staci!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful video. I've always been fond of the richness of Russian sacred music since my first exposure to it in high school. It is a vocal tradition that is incredibly unique. Your points about classification systems are well taken, particularly in the realm of Russian sacred music itself. I wonder what the broader classification systems would be. Churches such as the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches seem to be very streamlined in their musical traditions. Many other denominations use standard hymnals and whatnot, so even that could be a form of internal classification as you suggest with Russian. However, I look at the Roman Catholic church and note their radical musical transformation after the Vatican II Council. Many musical traditions were modified and many sacred texts were set to new music. In this instance, did the classification system change, especially if the old music is no longer practiced? Looking at how such systems and traditions change over time could provide great insight into how we look at music presently and in the future. Great post!