Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Polyeleos in plagal of first tone

This is a recording of Psalm 135 (136) called the polyeleos (much mercy) because the refrain is "for his mercy endureth forever". It is chanted as the third kathisma of the psalter at Orthros (Matins) on Sundays in Lent and on major feast days that are third class or higher. The language is (koine) Greek. The images in the background are various icons from the Eastern Orthodox tradition. This is an example of Byzantine chant, which is the traditional music of the Byzantine (Eastern) Rites. It is used by the Greeks and the Arabs. The Slavs developed their own tradition. It does sound foreign to western music, but that is one of the reasons why it is so great!

2 comments:

soonerfaninks said...

In the church you attend, what languages are used, and in what percentages, from service to announcements to counseling, etc.

Chris said...

The offices and Divine Liturgy are all sung, chanted, read in English. The only time Arabic and Greek are used is for repeated phrases such as "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal" or "lord, have mercy" or "Blessed art thou, O Lord teach me thy statutes." ON some feast days, such as Palm Sunday, when more of the native Arabic speakers come out, we will use more Arabic at the verses of the typica and for maybe one of the small litanies.