To Jordan's water
Current version
Here is the version in the Byzantine Catholic Hymnal (2007):
This hymn for the feast of Theophany (January 6) was written by Father Basil Kraynyak, to be sung to the same melody as Nebo i zeml'a (Heaven and earth)
Sources
Because the number of syllables in each verse is slightly different (particular between verse 1 and verses 2-3), and the chorus does not quite match the one for Heaven and earth, the singing of this hymn tends to be all over the map.
For the new hymnal, I have:
- smoothed out some of the accentuation
- used word extensions (underscores after a word) to show how syllables are matched to notes, rather than dashed slurs. I plan to use this method throughout the new hymnal; this is just a particularly good example.
Here is the result:
The music over "Christ our Lord is baptized" is a compromise (see the blog discussion below) in favor of keeping the same rhythm at that point as "Heaven and Earth / Nemo i zeml'a."
The hymn as a whole moves between 3/4 and 4/4 time. Some cantors show down "O'er the Jordan a dove, Holy Spirit of love" to 4/4 time, adding an extra note and holding the final syllable, to make it a little less "breathless." But both here and in Heaven and Earth / Nebo i zeml'a, I have kept the "usual" meter. Take a VERY quick breath after the last note of each phrase and keep going!
Thoughts or suggestions?
Please leave a comment on this blog entry: Songs for Theophany.