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'The music of the Greek Church cannot be instantly appreciated by Westerners. Unlike the music of, say, the Russian or Romanian Churches, which is readily acceptable at first hearing, the sounds of the Greek chant are markedly unfamiliar to the Western ear, and initially they may be perceived as discordant. This is because, like much eastern music, the early style developed in Constantinople, which is still used in the Greek Church, employs notes on the scale which lie between the familiar notes of the modern piano. Byzantine music has inherited micro-tonal intervals from the music of ancient Greece and the Jewish synagogue. For this reason, Byzantine music is able to produce melodies that could not possibly be played using the more familiar European scales.
Another factor affecting appreciation is that it was originally composed, and for centuries used, in a society where the sense of time was profoundly different from our own. in order to appreciate it, the visitor will need to forget that he has a wristwatch, and relax...' Extract from Between Heaven and Earth: The Greek Church by John L. Tomkinson. |
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Christ is Born sung at Christmas
Hymn for the Sunday of Orthodoxy
Behold the Bridegroom First sung on the evening of Palm Sunday and later during Great (Holy) Week
Troparion of Kassiani-Part 1 Sung on Great (Holy) Tuesday evening
Axion Esti Part 2Sung on Great (Good) Friday
LamentationsSung on Great (Holy) Saturday
Christ is Risen! Sung at midnight on Easter Day and afterwards throughout Eastertide
The Life-Giving Spring
The Thrice-Holy Hymn (Trisagion) Sung during the Liturgy
Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki
Saint Nicholas
The Cherubic Hymn - Third Tone Sung during the Liturgy
Axion Estin - It is Truly Meet - 1st Tone Heptaphonic Sung during the Liturgy
Hail, Gladdening Light Evening hymn
Eternal Memory - Plagal First Tone Sung at funeral and memorial services
All-Holy Lady - Grave Tone Sung at funeral and memorial services
Doxology A Hymn of thanksgiving |
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