I am looking for a Ruthenian setting of "Eis Polla Eti Despota!" Our bishop visited yesterday, and we had no music for this, so we started our service with a hymn, instead.

I bet John Vernoski, who puts out those weekly music supplements, has one, but I don't know how to reach him directly. In any case, I would be glad to locate ANY Ruthenian settings for possible use next time, and possibly in other parishes of the eparchy. We're probably not the only ones without this.

Jim, are you referring to the entire Ton Despotin or just the Eis polla, eti Despota? We use the setting of Fr. Mikhail Lysytsyn's Ton Despotin from Kyiv which is fairly simple for the entire Ton Despotin.

If it is just the "Eis polla eti Despota" part you can adapt "Eis polla eti, Despota" to a simple two or three note prostopinje chant such as that used at "Amen" at the beginning of Liturgy if you don't have any other setting available.

Diak, I take it you are referring to what would be called a Ukrainian setting here. What I am looking for would be more in line with eastern Slovakian chant, Byzantine Catholic as opposed to Ukrainian Catholic. A simple one-part setting is all we need.

A panahkida source would be helpful, too, while I'm at it. Currently, our panakhidas have no written music, and are performed from the collective memory. Oral musical traditions tend to evolve away from norms over time without notation, however. Notated Settings would help preserve continuity.

J Thur, I hope you have some ideas or sources. I'd be glad to buy.

Jim,

The Panachida and full funeral service are available with notes in "The Rite of Christian Burial" which you can get from Byzantine Seminary Press.


Sharon

Jim, for the 'Eis Polla Eti' alone, such as after the Gospel without the entire Ton Despotin, I was referring to using the two-note melody for the Ruthenian Prostopinje 'Amen' which is sung at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy after the 'Blessed is the Kingdom' by the priest. You would sing 'Eis polla eti' with the first note and 'Despota' with the second note.
We also tried it using the melody for the first 'Lord have mercy' at the Great Ektenia (you know, the one that starts lower) but we liked using the 'Amen' melody better.

We sang the Lysytsyn Kyivan 'Ton Despotin' for the entrance of Bishop John Kudrick when he visited this past summer and he gave us some very favorable comments. He also commented that when we sang the simpler 'Eis Polla Eti' later after the Gospel when he blessed with dikery/trikery that many parishes don't know what to do at that point and was happy to see the respect for the Bishop and hear someone singing.

XB!

I would be really curious to see a Ruthenian setting for "Ton Despotin" or just "Eis Polla." I asked someone about this some time back and it was called to my attention that in the Ruthenian books there is no apparent use of either phrase rubrically and there is no setting in Bokshai. The person who told me this said it was questionable whether singing either was "authenitic Ruthenian tradition."

I imagine that what the ACROD uses would suffice for your parish but that is just a guess. As Sharon pointed out, the "The OFfice of Christian Burial" is very complete and user friendly and I think is in print.

Tony

XA! XB! CiR!

My dad arranged a "Ton Despotin" in a prostopinije fashion several years ago... he used one of the Creed melodies, I believe. If I can find it, I'll scan and post it somewhere online.

Dave

There is no Prostopinije setting of Ton
Despotin i am aware of. This is because it is replaced by a hymn unique to Rusyn usage: "Voshel jesi Archiiereju." The melody is, i think, a tone 8 podoben (this is the model text). The text is four verses (as it appears in the Bokshaj/Malinich Irmologion). Father Joe has a post on this hymn somewhere around here.

Here is the link to the thread:


http://www.byzcath.org/bboard/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=001548#000003

Below is the link to the scan of a "prostopinije" based Ton Despotin.

Ton Despotin

(My apologies in advance for the less than perfect quality of the scan.)

Thanks, Chtec, for the scan of "Ton Despotin". I'll pass it by our priest.

It isn't "used" in the Rusyn Greek Catholic Church because it has always been rendered in the Church Slavonic as "Mnohaja L'ita" along with the Bishop's entrance hymn " You have Entered O Noble Archpriest". While the Rusyn Orthodox Church in America (ACROGC) has a direct tie to Constantinople and are very Helenic-oriented so much that you hardly hear the Rusyn -Slavonic "Mnohaja L'ita" which seems odd!

Ung_Certez

This Slav of the Pittsburgh Metropolia would like to know:

Why is Church Slavonic now practically forbidden, yet Greek is now an official language of our "American" church?

In my home parish (that is about 80% Rusyns and their spouses) we didn't sing any Rusyn paraliturgical Paschal hymns this year, yet sang "Christos Anesti" many times.

XB!

It is curious that Slav Orthodox use Ton Despoting and Eis Polla in Greek while the Ruthenians apparently do not. The Ruthenians do however have the usage of the Bishop singing the Holy God (or the hymn that replaces it) the third time in Greek while other Slav Churches AFAIK do not.

What about the Ukrainians?

Tony

Don't be so sure about Ruthenians not using "Ton Despotin". When I mentioned it to our priest last week, he said we ought to have a setting of "Eis polla eti Despota" for use when the bishop comes. Looks more like another tradition may be about to be reclaimed in our parish.