Leitourgeia kai Qurbana: Contra den Zeitgeist

7 Responses to “Liturgical music”

1. 1 Dave Chirico 5 March 2008 at 10:02 pm

   Nice melody, You going to add a part or two?

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2. 2 Richard Barrett 5 March 2008 at 10:55 pm

   Interesting question. Let us say I’m not sure it’s up to me to harmonize it — I think I might leave it to others to try if they want. Obviously there’s tonal movement implied throughout, but there’s part of me that says we need the library of tunes before we try to come up with a harmonic vocabulary.

   Richard

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3. 3 Esteban Vázquez 10 June 2009 at 9:18 pm

   Your “Gladsome Light” is missing a word: “of the immortal, heavenly, holy, blessed Father.”

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4. 4 Richard Barrett 11 June 2009 at 4:35 am

   Old version. Fixed.

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5. 5 tkmason 11 June 2009 at 9:38 am

   Holy Crap! I’ve never seen anything quite like this blogsite. I’ve never even blogged! This is amazing!(I don’t get out much).

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6. 6 AR 16 June 2009 at 9:08 am

   Richard, if I played these on a piano (I mean if this music were performed with equal temperament) would the tonality be right?

   I’m very confused about this whole question with Orthodox music in general. I’ve been asked to be the choir director at my Orthodox church (we do mainly Obhikod, with a lot of contemporary stuff thrown in) but my musical background consists mainly of being a student (and teacher) of modern piano methods; plus, I sang in a really decent college-level Baptist choir. I don’t even know where to begin to access the more ancient or authentic ways of singing. My priest is a monk who knows a lot of music by memory but doesn’t have any theory.

   I’m assuming you wrote this based on your studies of early music?

   Love your blog!

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   • 7 Richard Barrett 16 June 2009 at 2:59 pm

     I actually wrote these as an ongoing experiment in trying to write Orthodox music in an American vernacular musical idiom but with Byzantine influence. Think of a Shaker a-frame with an iconostasis, and you’ve got the right idea.

     There’s a LOT to be confused about with respect to Orthodox music. E-mail me privately and let’s compare notes. I can see which way I might be able to help. richardtenor (AT) gmail. com.

     Reply