Melody for the Antiphons of the Divine Liturgy
The prostopinije tradition provides a common set of melodies for the three antiphons which are sung at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. Each antiphon consists of psalm verses, with a recurring refrain.
The verse melody
The verse melody for the antiphons is very simple, consisting of an intonation, a reciting tone, and a cadence of three half notes:
(example)
As is customary in chanting the psalms, each psalm verse is divided into two parts. At the antiphons, the verse melody is used for both parts:
(example)
Singing the intonation
In most cases, the intonation leads up to an accented syllable at the start of the reciting tone. This means that the intonation will be used to sing one, two or three syllables of the text:
(shout joyfully - it is good - robed is the Lord)
With antiphons (more so than with other hymns such as troparia and stichera), an accented syllable sometimes falls in the middle of the intonation, in order to prevent an important word from being "lost":
(the Lord reigns - I love the Lord - and greatly delights)
Sometimes the accent that falls on the reciting tone is a weak accent, in which case it should not be overemphasized:
(glory to the Father)
The key to a proper intonation is to start clearly, and accent the text properly.
Singing the reciting tone
The text on reciting tone should be sung in the rhythm of normal speech. If a stop (a semicolon or period) occurs in the middle of the text, it is appropriate to hold the last syllable before the stop slightly longer, or follow it with a brief pause, or both; this will not always be noted in the musical score. Similarly, even if the reciting tone is written out with quarter notes rather than the usual slashed note, this does not mean that a strict quarter note rhythm is to be sung! The singing needs to be adapted to the flow of the phrase.
Singing the cadence
The cadence always begins on an accented syllable, and consists of three half notes. The first two half notes may be slurred together, or the second half note (more rarely the first half note) may be subdivided to correspond to the number of syllables to be sung:
(majesty - bless us - thanks to the Lord - mercy on us)
Occasionally, both the first and second half notes are subdivided:
(girt about with strength)
The refrains
The refrain of the first antiphon is always the following:
(through the prayers of the Theotokos)
This refrain is sung after the palm verse(s), and after the doxology ("Glory... now and ever...").
The refrain of the second antiphon always c
For Slavonic versions and other settings, see the background article on this melody.