Teaching the chant of the Byzantine Catholic Church
Over the next two weeks I will be making some significant changes to this website, merging content from the old site and switching to using WordPress only for the site blog, rather than for the whole site. If you have any suggestions for the site, please send them to me at mci@archpitt.org!
On the afternoon of the Sunday of All Saints, May 22, 2016, a meeting of the cantors of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh will be held at Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary, 3605 Perrysville Avenue, Pittsburgh, from 2-5 PM. Each parish within driving distance of Pittsburgh is asked to have at least one representative at the meeting. A dinner and social gathering will follow; please bring a dish to share if you plan to stay for the meal.
The Metropolitan Cantor Institute will hold a 3-day workshop for new cantors at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh from July 5-7. This intensive course will introduce beginning cantors to the fundamentals of church singing and chant leadership. The course is also open to bi-ritual clergy who wish to improve their knowledge of our plain chant.
A limited amount of lodging is available at the seminary for those coming from outside the Pittsburgh area. Cost for the course will be $100, and an additional $125 for those staying overnight. Watch this website for more details, or contact MCI director Jeffrey Mierzejewski at (412) 735-1676 or mci@archpitt.org.
Christ is risen!
Now that everyone is (hopefully) recovered from Holy Week and Pascha, I would like to solicit cantors’ feedback on the books and music for Holy Week with the feast of the Annunciation. Was there anything you found particularly tricky? What went well, and what could be improved? (I am asking because we can hope to have new Holy Week books for next year that match the texts and music from the DIvine Liturgies and Presanctified books; but final details have yet to be worked out.) Please send any input you may have to mci@archpitt.org. Thank you!
We have completed the weeklong celebration of Pascha, the Resurrection of our Lord, and on the Sunday after Pascha, also called Thomas Sunday, we restarted the cycle of eight tones with Tone 1. We will continue the eight week cycle of eight tones, one per week, until next Palm Sunday, 2017.
Christ is risen!
Brother Augustine of the Byzantine Franciscan friary in Sybertsville, PA put together a collection of Paschal hymns, and has graciously allowed the Metropolitan Cantor Institute to post them online. There are hymns in both English (using the current translations of our church) and Slavonic, and include some choral settings as well.
May they contribute to our joy in this Paschal seasaon!
The MCI now has a page on SoundCloud. This will allow us to share collections of music (chant, choral, and tutorial) that can be listened to or downloaded on a wide range of devices. I hope to add a couple of tracks every few days, beginning with historical (old) recordings of prostopinije singing and choir music from the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church.
Here are the first two recordings:
1949 – Silver Jubilee of the Pittsburgh Greek-Rite Diocese – Divine Liturgy of Thanksgiving, Part 1
1949 – Silver Jubilee of the Pittsburgh Greek-Rite Diocese – Divine Liturgy of Thanksgiving, Part 2
You can click Follow on the MCI SoundCloud page to be informed of new additions.
Please let us know what you think! And if you, your parish or choir have recordings you would like to make available to other cantors and cantor students, please contact me at mci@archpitt.org.
This is the sixth and final week of the Great Fast, which ends on Friday evening, completing the forty days of fasting. Continue reading “Chant Notes: March 14-20, 2016”
This is the fifth week of the Great Fast, a week that is dominated by the singing of the Great Canon of Repentance of Saint Andrew of Crete, and two days dedicated to holy women: Saturday, to the Mother of God, and Sunday, to Saint Mary of Egypt.
This year, the feast of the Annunciation (March 25) falls on Great and Holy Friday. When this happens, the hymns for the eve of the feast are added to the celebration of Vespers with Divine Liturgy on Great and Holy Thursday, and Vespers with the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated on the evening of Great and Holy Friday. This is the only time a Divine Liturgy is ever celebrated on Friday of Holy Week.
The bishops of the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh have promulgated a pair of books with music to be used at these services. Copies of these books are being provided to each parish. On March 3, a two-hour presentation on these books and the music they contain was given in Pittsburgh. Here are the audio recordings of this presentation, for those who could not attend or see the live Internet feed of the presentation.
The Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission has recommended that parishes which celebrate Matins for Great and Holy Friday (the Service of the 12 Passion Gospels) include the matins Gospel of the Annunciation (Luke 1:39-49,56) between the seventh and eighth Gospels of the Passion, and add the commemoration of the Annunciation to the final dismissal. The MCI has prepared a leaflet with this recommendation.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
