www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Vesper stikhera for September 21st

Administrator,

I intended to ask about this earlier and in my usual rush neglected to. In my life in the Ruthenian Church in the USA Psalm 103 was not sung to melody in parishes, it was chanted. There is music for it in Bokshaj but I don't recall it being sung anywhere (of course Vespers was not celebrated much either, but...). Prof. Thompson has introduced a lovely melody at the BC seminary (which can be heard on his recordings) but I had not heard that one before he went to BC seminary. So, my question is: how in your experience is Psalm 103 sung, to the Bokshaj melody? Where can I go to hear that being done now?

Tony

Tony,

I am aware of only two English settings of the Boksaj melody for Psalm 103.

In the late 1960�s or early 1970�s the seminary produced the �Gray Vespers Book� (called �gray� because of the color of the cover), which contained a setting of the Boksaj melody for Psalm 103. I did not know it was no longer sung at the seminary and am surprised to learn that the melody is unknown to you.

In the early-1980�s I published a setting that was used in a few places. In the last 30+ years the tendency in the Byzantine-Ruthenian Church in America has been to sing Psalm 103 in its entirety and the simpler melody has become the norm in parishes with a regular celebration of Vespers (almost certainly due to the influence of Msgr. Levkulic�s Presanctified Book, which contained the full text of that psalm with the pattern for singing it). The melody can be found in one of the older versions of a Great Vespers book I published in the 80�s but I have not included it in more recent editions.

BTW, when I stated that a cantor should be able to sing Psalm 103 I was not thinking of the Boksaj melody. I was thinking of the simple chant that you are already familiar with (in the key of G Major (one sharp) with a pattern G-G-G-G --- A-A-A-A-F#-G). I am currently working with a new cantor who is not yet well versed in this style of chanting the psalms.

So, to finally answer your question, I�m not sure that any parish is currently using the traditional melody (unless they are still using a version of the Great Vespers book I published in the 80�s).

Admin

Isn't Prof. Thomson's setting of Psalm 103 just an English setting of Bokshaj? I just compared them, and they seem to be identical to me, except that Prof. Thomson's starts on an F and Bokshaj starts on a B.

There is also the "Greek" setting of Psalm 103 made famous and embellished by Rachmaninoff in his Vespers. Fr. Peter Galadza has a setting of this in English which is quite singeable.

Fr. Peter also suggested subdividing Psalm 103 for usual weekday Vespers outside of a great feast or Saturday evening using this same "Greek" melody so the entire psalm is sung between Sunday night and Friday night (and in its entirety on Saturday night). This is only if you use the more festal "Greek" melody, as otherwise plainchanting Psalm 103 recto tono does not take that long.

Dave,

If you say it is, it probably is. I thought I compared them some time ago but I may be confused...and music is not my forte either.

Tony

I heard father Peter arranged that "greek"chant setting when he was only sixteen in Welland Ont.. Musical talent seems to run in the family.


the cube

We at V&O's in Chicago are fortunate to have had Fr. Peter here for several years - first as a seminarian and then as a deacon and priest.

To this day we use his Ukrainian language arrangements - especially his Psalm 103.

Yours,

halychanyn

Glory to Jesus Christ!

When I taught at Christ the Saviour Seminary in Johnstown, PA, during the mid-1980's, the melody used for Psalm 103 (on the eves of Sundays and feasts, of course, not for daily vespers) was that given on page 52 of the "Tserkovnoje Prostopinije" of Bokshaj.

It is that melody which I introduced at SS. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary when I began teaching here a few years ago. It is that same melody which is recorded on the cd "Great Vespers and Litija, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker" by the Schola Cantorum of Saint Peter the Apostle. It is also contained in "The Order of Vespers for Sundays after Pentecost," c. 2000, from the Byzantine Catholic Seminary on pp. 2-4 (as, of course, is the entire psalm pointed for chanting on pp. 4-7).

I beg the Administrator's pardon for correcting him, but the Bokshaj melody for Psalm 103 is not contained in the "grey Vesper book" which was created at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in the 1970s. The only two melodies in that book are the Dolnitsky melody (please note, NOT the Bokshaj melody from pp. 52-53 of the T.P.) for the First Kathisma (with only the first verse and refrain written out under notes) and the melody from p. 53-54 of Bokshaj for the Prayer of St. Simeon the God-Bearer and the Trisagion (with, of course, the cantatorial emendations--the chromatic changes--customary in the U.S.A, but not present in the T.P.)

I am fairly certain (though not positive) that,when the service of Great Vespers is served in the Pro-Cathedral in Phoenix (i.e., not a Vesper Divine Liturgy), the "melodic" version of Psalm 103 is sung. I have not substantiated this, however, and it may not be correct.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Glory to Jesus Christ!

If anyone is looking for the correct stichera for this Saturday evening (Sept. 20/21) written out with notes, please call the office of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute (412-321-8199) and ask for them, providing a fax number that they might be sent through.

It is also possible to send an email to chantermt@aol with the same information.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

You are indeed fortunate to have had Fr. Peter and Fr. Andrij Chirovsky amongst the clergy at V&O in their younger days. Vichnaja pamjat to Fr. Butrynsky.

Fr. Conrad Dachuck of Welland (Ontario) has also done some wonderful settings of Galician chant.

The order for the "correct stikhera" were given at the beginning of the thread. Anyone with a Festal Menaion and Oktoechos (Uniontown or other translation) can easily get those.

If there is another order of stikhera different than that at the beginning of the thread, other than perhaps a different English translation, I would like to see those.

JMT is correct. When I got home from work and checked I realized my error. The book in my collection with that melody is under a brown cover in an 8�� x 11� format. The text used is that given in the gray Vespers book. Now, of course, I have been humming the melody all evening! If only my parish had daily vespers!

Those who are interested in music for vespers are encouraged to contact me via e-mail. I am in the midst of re-publishing several editions (Great Vespers for Sundays, for the Fast, for Feast Days, etc.) with musical notation.

Diak wrote:
I have a copy of this Oktoechos, as well as their full 12 volume set of Menaia, and when using them I sometimes feel like I must be the happiest person on the face of the planet. In addition to beautiful prayers, they also are a key element in my exercise program - carrying around a box with the appropriate oktoechos, monthly menaion, mulitple typicons, Vespers books, Matins books, horologia, Epistle and Gospel books, Festal Menaia, etc, often from more than one publisher has resulted in no end of teasing about me and my "Byzantine Box" (or "Boxes" in Great Lent). But I am usually prepared for anything!!!

I finally figured out my question about the Canon at Matins including a "Canon for the Mother of God from the Menaion of the Day". During the service I was working out of Fr. Petras' typicon and didn't want to delay things while digging the SJoKP version out of "the box". I did that tonight and found out that if no such canon is in the Menaion for the day, to use the Canon of Supplication at the back of the Menaion. A note has been scribbled for next year!

-- Ed

This is in response to Lemmko Rusyn's post of September 16. Sorry that I didn't come across the message until today.

This is merely a clarification. I began to publish the Typicon to aid priests and cantors who did not have a fluent knowledge of Church Slavonic. It is intended for the English-using eparchies of North America. I would not presume to publish an annual typicon for Uzhhorod.
My main source is the so-called "Sabbas Typicon" which is standard for all Slav-Byzantine Churches with variations for individual particular churches.
The Mikita Typicon is useless for this kind of project since Fr. Alexander Mikita was not concerned with the details of the daily office.
The Mikita Typicon is hailed as "the Byzantine-Ruthenian" Typicon, but may better be described as "a Byzantine-Ruthenian" Typicon. In the nineteenth century the Liturgy in Ukraine (Metropolitanate of Lviv) was standardized to appear "Eastern" but not "Orthodox." It was designed to give an identity to the Eastern Catholic Church. This standardized rite was formulated particularly in the Synod of Lviv in 1890 and resulted in the publication of the so-called "Lviv Liturgicon" of 1905. This S;avonic Typicon was used in our parishes until the Liturgy began to be translated into English in 1965. The 1965 translation followed the newly offical liturgical books (Rome, 1942), which rejected the accomodations to the Roman tradition of Lviv. To get back to the thread, in a personal interview with the late Msgr. Ernest Dunda, he observed that the Mikita Typicon did not actually refelct Ruthenian practice of the time, but had the goal of introducing the standardized Lviv decisions into Carpatho-Russia. In fact, the diocese of Uzzhorod used the "Sabbas Typicon," of which he gave me a copy that had been used by his father, a cantor who made the Typicon for the Eparchy of Uzzhorod. The Mikita Typicon, therefore, is no longer of contemporary value, since it is filled with many latinizations. Having said that, I have no intention of demeaning F. Mikita's works, which do contain much valuable information, and he was acting with a good heart according to the best lights of his time. However, we have gone in a different direction, and, indeed, by mandate of the universal Church.
I hope only that this clarifies some issues,

Father David