Spiritual Songs for Christmas
Now that we've completed work on the Nativity Fast and Saint Nicholas hymns for the Hymnal Project, we're turning to hymns for the Nativity. Work on the following is complete:
- Angels from Heaven - So nebes Anhel
- Eternal God, through gates of birth - Boh predvičnyj (check out the additional verses!)
- God the Lord eternal - Hospod, Boh predvičnyj
- God's Son is born (additional verses) - Boh sja raždajet
- Heaven and earth now welcome their Redeemer - Nebo i zeml’a
- Joyful news to the whole world - Nova radost’ stala
- Joyful tidings come our way - Radost nam sja javl’ajet
Hee is the final batch of songs for Christmas that we are working on. We could use your help with a few of them!
- Christmas Songs Old and New
- Three Christmas Songs in Hungarian
- Traditional "English" Christmas Carols
For easy access, you can now find the Hymnal Project from any article on the MCI website; just look under Spiritual Songs in the left-hand navigation.
Royal Hours for Christmas
Some years ago, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute published books for the vigils of Christmas and Theophany labelled Office of Readings, consisting of selected psalms from the Royal Hours for these feasts, along with the readings, tropria, and stichera.
I am pleased to announce that, based on the work of the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission on the Royal Hours for Holy Week, I was finally able to prepare a complete book of the Royal Hours for the vigil of Christmas (December 24, or the preceding Friday if December 24 falls on a Saturday or Sunday).
The new Royal Hours book contains complete instructions for celebration when no priest is available to lead the service. For more about the celebration of this service, see: Singing the Royal Hours of Christmas and Theophany. This work was done for the MCI Online class, Services for Christmas and Theophany.
Because it is a book without music (which can be found in the Office of Readings book), the Royal Hours book is set up for printing in booklet form on letter size (8.5 by 11 inch) paper.
As always, add "_booklet" just before ".pdf" in your browser window to download a copy of the service already settng up for printing as a booklet.
Vespers with Divine Liturgy for Christmas Eve
Back in 2007, the MCI published books for the service of Vespers with Divine Liturgy for the eves of Christmas and Theophany. This was not the first time such books had been created (Monsignor William Levkulic has published his own many years ago), but they were the first with complete music. Furthermore, they included the ENTIRE text of the Liturgy of Saint Basil, meaning that a newcome to one of our parishes could follow the entire Christmas service from such a book. Especially when parishes were still getting use to the new Divine Liturgies books, this Christmas booklet filled a vital need.
Now, more then ten years later, these four LARGE books are nearing the end of their useful life. This year, we are publishing much shorter books that:
- omit the ordinary parts of the Divine Liturgy, since they are in the Divine Liturgies book (and this way, you are not tied to the music choices in the MCI book)
- have all of Vespers, WITH music for the cantor's psalm verses
- contain better (smoother) music for the two responsorial troparia
Here is the new book for Christmas: Vespers with Divine Liturgy for the Nativity of the Lord
Please let me know what you think!
First MCI Singing Course is now free
As of November 4, the MCI Online class Introduction to Church Singing can be taken for free by cantors, clergy, and parishioners of Byzantine Catholic parishes in the United States. (Non-members can take the class for $75.) This class teaches the basics for singing in church - musical sound, fundamentals of singing and reading music, and how to lead basic responses used in all services. Recommended for anyone who wants to learn our plain chant!
For more information, click on Classes at the top of any page of this website.
Registration forms for 2019 MCI Online classes
New on the MCI Blog!
Emmanuel Moleben Updated
The MCI edition of the Emmanuel Moleben (a service of preparation for the Nativity of the Lord) has just been updated. The changes are fairly minor:
- the Gospel responses have been updated to use the official versions from the Inter-Eparchial Musical Commission;
- the Divine Praises section has been renamed Supplications (to match the terminology used in the website article on molebens); and
- several typos have been corrected
The article on Singing a Moleben now includes additional material on singing the Emmanuel Moleben.
The Months of October and November
As part of the MCI Online class, The Liturgical Year, we prepared a series of articles on the feasts of the year, month by month.
Divine Liturgy Propers for the Days of the Week
We have had a long-standing request for leaflet versions of the Divine Liturgy hymns for each day of the week (Monday through Saturday), as found on pages 406-413 of our Divine Liturgies book. Here they are!
Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday – Thursday – Friday – Saturday
As always, add _booklet before .pdf in your browser URL window to download a "camera ready" version for printing on legal-size paper.
Book of the Daytime Hours
Last year, the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission prepared a text and rubrics for the Small Hours (First through Ninth Hours) and Typika. This text is now available as a new booklet from the Metropolitan Cantor Institute (camera ready version here).
The booklet is intended for printing "two-up" on LETTER size (8.5 by 11 inch) paper, rather than the usual legal size paper for MCI books with music. This booklet for the Hours does NOT have musical notation, since:
- almost everything is simply chanted (psalm tone, and ordinary responses); changeable hymns have music in other sources
- what IS sung (the theotokion of each Hour) is sung in any of the eight tones, depending on the tone of the troparion that comes before it. I am preparing a music supplement for these hymns.
If you look at the book, you will notice that the "usual beginning" prayers are given ONCE, followed by the text of each Hour, which starts on its own page. Parishes that want to print only one or two Hours are welcome to do so.
The booklet also incorporates the rules for reader services (i.e. services celebrated in the absence of a priest) which were prepared by the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission and submitted to the Council of Hierarchs.
Updated Akathist Booklet
As part of the MCI Online course Services for the Living, which finished its first run at the end of June, I did a fairly extensive review of our texts and music for molebens and Akathists. In order to bring the MCI Akathist to the Theotokos booklet in line with the official edition in the Ruthenian Chasoslov, I did the following:
- Replaced the "original" first kontakion with the official start of the Akathist ("To you, O Champion Leader", or in our translation, "O Theotokos, valiant defender"). I used the translation and music on pages 228-229, but changed the refrain to "Rejoice, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!" to match the rest of the refrains.
- Renumbered the kontakia so that the first kontakion (preface) is also kontakion 1, and the final kontakion is kontakion 13. This means that each irmos follows an identically-numbered kontakion.
- Moved the sticheron in Tone 6, which in the Greek books accompanies the veneration of the icon, to AFTER the dismissal (since it doesn't occur in our official text) and added a rubric explaining what it is for.
I also added a 2-page appendix with four-part SATB harmonizations of the Pochaiv akathist melody, and the refrains, and sent it round to this list for reviews. Thank you to those who reported typos and submitted suggestions!
The new booklet has now replaced the previous MCI Akathist booklet, and is available at: http://mci.archpitt.org/sheetmusic/general/Akathist.pdf (camera ready version here)
Because the Pochaiv melody is so straightforward, I am no longing including a full SATB harmonization on the website, but for purposes of practice, the FIRST ikos (harmonized) is here.
Updated Moleben: Jesus, Lover of Mankind
One of the most important of the modern molebens is the Moleben to Jesus, the Lover of Mankind. This service, accompanied by a procession, is a staple at the annual Uniontown Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Recently, the book for this service was revised, and also incorporated additional work from the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical and Music Commissions. The resulting booklet was made available to me this week, and I am using it to replace the "old" MCI version of this moleben.
The new version can be found here: https://mci.archpitt.org/sheetmusic/general/MolebenJesusLoverOfMankind.pdf (camera-ready version here)
New Mailing List for Cantors
We are migrating the old MCI mailing lists to single list, cantors@groups.io. This new list should be more reliable than the one we have been using, and does NOT require the creation of a Yahoo ID. It also has more options for collaboration, including a wiki and post tagging.
This list will be used for both announcements, and general (moderated) discussion. If you wish to receive email ONLY for announcements, you can set your subscription options to "Special Notices Only."
To subscribe to the list, just go to https://groups.io/g/cantors
New smartphone apps have daily readings, resources, and texts for Vespers and Hours
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma (Ohio) recently released a smartphone app for Apple iOS and Android that includes:
- daily epistle and Gospel readings according to the Byzantine lectionary used in our church
- a short biography of the daily saint(s) on our calendar, together with their troparion and kontakion
- news, videos, and other resources
Eastern Christian Publications also has a free Byzantine prayer app for Apple and Android devices, with:
- The Daily Office and Daily Vespers with changeable texts
- Theosis ezine and weekly Sunday Bulletin covers
- Other daily spiritual reflections plus Saint-of-the-Day icon
Search for "Eparchy of Parma" and "ECPubs" in the Apple Store or on Google Play. Both are highly recommended.
Online musicianship for cantors
In preparation for our online classes, which begin in February, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute has acquired a site license for Theta Music Trainer, a website with computer- and smartphone-based games that teach pitch matching, recognition and singing of scales and intervals, and other important skills.
Complete access to this website is available to all cantors in the Byzantine Catholic Church, as well as students in the MCI Online program. For more information, see the Theta Music Trainer page.
There is also a new section in the left-hand navigation bar, Musicianship, to which articles will be added over the next two months.
Documenting the history of our church music - how you can help
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute is working with the Byzantine Catholic Seminary Library to put together material to document the history of the liturgical music of the Byzantine Catholic Church, both plain chant and choral music. Please consider contributing to these two efforts:
In early 2018, we will also be distributing images of particular pieces of music or other memorabilia we would like to find or identify.
What is the Metropolitan Cantor Institute?
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute exists to support and foster liturgical singing in the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh. At the direction of our bishops, and in cooperation with our clergy and experienced cantors, the Institute trains and certifies cantors for the service of the church, prepares music and educational materials, and provides workshops and seminars in church singing.
The mission of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute:
To ensure that each parish in the Byzantine Catholic Church has a cantor who can lead the liturgical singing of the parish well, to the glory of God and in support of the prayer of the faithful.
For more information, click on Cantor Institute in the left-hand navigation bar on this page.