We’ve got a new Paschal Matins canon we are using at the monastery. It’s neo- Byzantine based. I arranged it based on some Irmoi melodies I had lying around (which had no name on them). I tweaked some of them a bit. I consulted a multitude of source translation material (Ephraim Lash, Holy Transfiguration, and others) and set all the troparia (including the theotokia for use in Bright Week and beyond).
I appreciate any feedback.
Full Paschal Canon (edited 4-12-18)
It’s not quite finished in terms of mixing and mastering and all that, but here is a sample from our upcoming CD. It is a Great Doxology written with a simplified version of a Mozarabic melody for the Doxology as used in the Latin Rite.
The text used is the usual Byzantine Rite version for Festal Matins (Great Doxology rank and higher) and the music was adjusted to fit this form.
Below is a pdf of the sheet music for download:
GREAT DOXOLOGY Mozarabic style chant
I have received many requests for sheet music for the pieces on the CD that was produced in Manton at the Monastery of St. John. The CD is available from St. John’s Bookstore.
Here is a track listing with all the music I can make available linked below..
1. Litany of Peace in Mode 1. Composed by Rozanne Spires
2. Hymn of Ascent in Tone 4: “From My Youth.” Solovki Chant
3. Psalm 50. Valaam Chant, Tone 1;
4. Open to Me the Doors of Repentance. From Lenten Sunday Matins. Valaam Chant.
5. Kyrie Eleison. Traditional Byzantine chant.
6. Canticle Nine, Song of the Theotokos (Magnificat). Znamenny Chant
7. Tone 5 Funeral Sticheron of the 8 Tones, by St. John of Damascus, “I called to mind the Prophet.” Carpatho Russian Chant.
8. Matins Resurrectional Troparion #1. Valaam Chant; set in English and edited by Monk Martin [#2 is also included]
9. Litany of Peace. Composed by Archimandrite Matthew, arranged for 3 parts by Monk Martin
10. Trisagion. Composed by Maia Aprahamian.
11. Troparion and Kontakion for St. John of San Francisco. Kievan Chant and Stolp Melody arranged by Monk Martin
12. Cherubikon (Let us Who Mystically Represent). Composed by Monk Martin
13. Anaphora (A Mercy of Peace). Set to the special melody “Proceed Ye Angelic Hosts.”
14. Anaphora. Composed by Monk Martin
15. It is Truly Meet. Composed by Monk Martin
16. The Lord’s Prayer. Composed by Monk Martin
17. Koinonikon. (Communion Hymn) for St. John the Baptist and various saints. Composed by Monk Martin
18. Koinonikon. (Communion hymn) for Fridays. Based on Gregorian Melody, arranged by Monk Martin.
19. Koinonikon for Sundays. Composed by Monk Martin.
20: The Eyes of All Look to Thee with Hope by Monk Martin
21. O Gladsome Light. Hymn from Vespers. Composed by Monk Martin.
22. Song of St. Symeon. Composed by Monk Martin.
23. Rejoice O Virgin. Znamenny Chant and arranged by Monk Martin
24. Psalm 33. Composed by Mironositsky.
25. O My Most Blessed Queen. Final prayer of the supplicatory canon to the Theotokos. Krasnogorsk Monastery Chant.
26. You are a Priest. Composed by Maia Aprahamian for the occasion of Abbot Jonah’s Enthronement as Abbot.
I have composed an exapostilarion available here in three different arrangements.
Sorry to have missed the exciting time between Ascension and Pentecost, but my laptop had a main logic board failure and had to go back to Apple for a new one.
I soon hope to get more music up, but with all this good weather, I may be working in the vegetable garden more than I am posting music.
I’m a little late for this one, but for those who do daily services, this sessional hymn for the Paralytic is repeated at Monday and Tuesday matins until pre-empted by the sessional hymn for Mid-Pentecost which .
For this season of Pascha to Pentecost, I look at all the translations available and take the best from each. The setting for the sessional hymn is the Byzantine melody, “Awed by the Beauty” in the third mode/tone.
I used Bishop Basil Essey’s setting of the original melody found here. You’ll want a copy of it as well as it is the appointed theotokion from the Octoechos to be sung (although often read) in the first set of sessional/kathisma hymns and also as the theotokion following the sessional hymn below.
Sunday of the Paralytic Sessional Hymn
Mid-Pentecost is one of my favorite Feasts of the Church and often neglected. It is said to be flowing with the Grace of both Pascha and Pentecost.
Indeed you’ll see the metaphor of water takes the center stage as we celebrate the Fount of Wisdom, Christ Himself.
Those choir people from a Slavic tradition and stuck with an incredibly monotonous melody for troparia in tone 8, I would encourage to branch out and try this Byzantine version. It’s in Tone 8 or the Plagal of Tone 4, which is one of the more accessible modes for the western ear. It is also a lovely, catchy melody.
This is a special Sunday for me as it was the first Orthodox Divine Liturgy I attended as an inquirer. That day I obtained a book on the faith (The Orthodox Church by Kallistos Ware) and never looked back.
Johann von Gardner was the Russian musician and musicologist who uncovered this Exapostilarion Special Melody and helped to revive its use. The origin is an old Russian ‘Put melody.
People sing this with variations in the rhythm. Gardner himself produced different versions of this melody, one more melodic and slow-moving, the other more syncopated.
Arranged for Men’s Trio: Hearken Ye Women
Arranged for Women’s Trio: Hearken Ye Women
The week after Bright Week is the commemoration of St. Thomas. It starts with St. Thomas Sunday, also called Antipascha, which is unique in that many of the paschal hymns are laid aside and this new theme of St. Thomas comes into focus.
Each week of Pentecost is (in form at least) very like a great feast, in that it is followed by a week of “after-feast” during which several elements are repeated throughout the week: the canon, the troparia, kontakia and exapostilaria.
Thomas Sunday Hypakoe (Lesser Znamenny Chant)
Exapostilaria for Antipascha (St. Thomas Sunday)
For a setting of the Irmoi of Sunday’s canon, similar to the common setting of the Paschal canon, try this link for a download.
Orthodox Church Music 