To the researcher:

On this page I have started to compile a web database of linked articles related to theology and aesthetics. Many of those listed below deal specifically with Orthodox perspectives on the arts. I have, however, taken the liberty of including various papers that investigate the nature of sacred art in general. Some of these positions intersect with Orthodox thinking, and some are quite contrary to the Orthodox perspective. In all cases, special care should be applied in making any conclusions about matters pertaining to Orthodox choral music from these articles alone. If there are links that you feel might be beneficial for this database, please feel free to email the links to sanderk@nku.edu.

 

Click here to view Kurt Sander's Research Site

Orthodox Choral Music

Hymns of the Russian Orthodox Church. A concise overview of Russian Orthodox Choral music taken from the program notes of the CD.

Servants of Beauty The Precious and Sacred Role of Church Musicians by Mat. Deborah Johnson

Russian Orthodox Hymnody, an extensive series of articles on Russian Orthodox Church Music

Saint Romanos Melodos: The Lyric Poetry and Drama of Great Friday  by Fr. Dcn. Gregory Dobrov

Znamenny Chant a good historical article by Dawn Gauthier

The Meaning of the Rachmaninov Vespers by Dr. M. R. Brett-Crowther

Instructions for the Church Reader. An article translated from Russian which describes the proper techniques for the reader in liturgical worship.

Professor Alfred Julius Swan and His Contribution to Russian Orthodox Music A paper presented at the 10th Annual Russian Orthodox Liturgical Music Conference, San Francisco, October 1996 by Dr. Marina V. Ledkovsky

The Need for Good Choirs and Good Music (given by Bishop Demetri at the 12th Annual Sacred Music Institute)

An Outline of the History of Russian Sacred Music by composer Ivan Moody - The aim of this article, in the absence of easily accessible general books on the subject, is to provide a brief introduction to the chant of the Orthodox Church, principally as found in the Russian traditions, and to explain something of its ethos, background and development with reference to currently available recordings

Early Music in Greece by composer Ivan Moody - - The aim of this article, in the absence of easily accessible general books on the subject, is to provide a brief introduction to the chant of the Orthodox Church, principally as found in the Russian traditions, and to explain something of its ethos, background and development with reference to currently available recordings

Reflections on Life and Death in Contemporary Orthodox Music by composer Ivan Moody who begins "If we are to live as Orthodox artists, it is clear that we must, with St Paul, allow Christ to live in us. Whatever this may mean in terms of the expression of a particular Orthodox tradition, this central imperative, of allowing Christ's message to be transmitted through our own art, is something with which we must deal in no uncertain terms."

Georgian Sacred and Ritual Music (a very short background on this topic)

Music as Sacrament Dr. Paul Barnes begins with the important anthropological truth that mankind is a sacramental being. As Fr. Boris Bobrinskoy writes: “Mankind is a sacramental being by nature and needs the instrumentality of both sacraments and symbols to attain communion with the Invisible.”

Music in the Worship of the Church David Drillock / Reprinted from: Jacob's Well, 1996 There is not a single liturgical service in the Orthodox Church which does not use chanting and singing extensively. Why is the Church’s worship expressed in song?

The Ministry and Song of the Liturgical Assembly by Mark Bailey

Texts for the Study of Music and Song in the History of Orthodox Liturgical Worship Presented by Professor David Drillock St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary

Music of the Coptic Church by Shenouda Mamdouh - A reprint of an arcticle Published in Watany Weekly Newspaper dated 8 August 1993

Aesthetics and National Identity in Russian Sacred Choral Music: A Past in Tradition and Its Present in Ruins. An very detailed research work by professor Olga Dolskaya-Ackerly of the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City. The article describes much of the Russian choral aesthetic and how it has been misunderstood by many in this century.

Orthodox Byzantine Music (an article by professor Dimitri Conomos, U. of British Columbia)

Words and Music in Orthodox Liturgical Worship: An Historical Introduction by Professor David Drillock, Reprinted from: Jacob's Well, Fall-Winter 1998-99

What can be Done to Make Church Music Better? by Doreen Bartholomew

What Makes Russian Music Russian? An article by David Finckel and Wu Han that deals with the aesthetic contributions of Russian composers. The ffirst line gives some indication of its direction: "When listening to Russian music you get the feeling that the composer is telling you a story, not just to convey information but to unburden themselves, and to describe and chronicle the human condition as it existed at the time."

Church Reading: A Vital Ministry by Dn. Sergius Halvorsen

 
Prostopinije: The Liturgical Chant According to the Carpatho-Rusyn Tradition

A History of Orthodox Chant, a good article from the Liturgica.com site. A site to help one understand the origins and development of liturgical worship and the music used in these worship forms over the past millennia. Chapter headings include: Chant Development, Byantine Music Hsitory, Znamenny Chant, early Orthodox Chant Music, and Words and Music

Chant Development in the Church, a good article from the Liturgica.com site

Conducting Orthodox Choral Music, Performance Practice  For the Choir Director

On Church Singing by BishopTikhon (Fitzgerald), Bishop of San Francisco and the West

On Reading Square Note Notation, a resource for reading early Russian chant notation

Frequently Asked Questions about Byzantine Chant

Do Rock and Orthodoxy Have Anything in Common? This is an interesing conversation on important issues between priest Alexy Uminsky and Vladimir Minin, the art director and the chief conductor of the Moscow National Academic Chamber Choir

 
 

Orthodox Iconography and Aesthetics

Beauty will Save the World (editorial in Orthodox America)

Eastern Orthodox Church Art and Architecture and the Notion of "Sacred Space" by Archbishop Chrysostomos

Sacred and Secular Art  by Marija Ivankovic

An Orthodox Conception of Beauty by Milorad Lazic

The Spiritual Beauty of Icons by Fr. Joseph Frawley

The Aesthetics of Orthodox Faith: A review of the book Byzantium: Faith and Power by Sharon E.G. Gerstel

Other Interesting Perspectives on Sacred Music

The Elusive Soul of Russian Music A well-written essay by Gerard McBurney, a composer, broadcaster and teacher at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He writes, " What makes Russian music sound the way it does? Why do we recognize it easily and why do we let it so enchant us?"

Franz Liszt and the Sacramental Bridge: Music as Theology of Presence Dr. Paul Barnes, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Spirit in sound: New Sacred music: with Beauty as a Medium, Composers' Works Echo the Beating Heart of God. by Rich Heffern

Conveying the inexpressible. An Interview with Einojuhani Rautavaara by Rich Heffern

In What Sense is the Mystical Experience Ineffable? By Katrina Goldsby

Music and the Western Mysteries by Frater Darrell Piekarz

The Christian Art of Music by Frederick Stocken

Sound, Structure and Sacrality: Music as Sacrament by Mark Duley. Director of Music, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

God and Music by Charles Don Keyes

Singing our Prayers, Praying our Songs: Historical and Cross-Cultural Music in the Context of Worship by John D. Witvliet

What You Really Must Know About Gregorian Chant, an article by Adoramus: the Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy

Other Interesting Perspectives on Theology and Aesthetics

Is Art Necessary for the Christian? by Don Hudson

The Language of Orthodox Icons: A Resource for Teachers of Relgious Education by John Brentnall

The Apologetics of Beauty by Fr. Andrew M. Greeley

Is Music Sacred? Robert Reilly, Music Critic, Crisis Magazine

Spirituality in Abstract Art By Pamela Schaeffer

Unveiling the Sacred in Contemporary Art  by Richard D. Hecht and Linda Ekstrom

Miscellaneous Links on Orthodox Music

GNew Valaam Trading Company (some good background articles on Orthodox music theory)
Psaltic Notes (A website dedicated to the preservation of the Orthodox arts)
 
Music Page of St. John the Baptist in D.C. (home of the new English Church Singer's Companion)
 
Some Useful Information on Znamenny Chant
 
Mediterra Multimedia Studio A wonderful site from Russia offering a CD ROM that addresses many aspects of Orthodox Choral Music including musical scores, history, hymnody, composers, and a Slavonic dictionary.
 
Liturgica.com, a site to help one understand the origins and development of liturgical worship and the music used in these worship forms over the past millennia. Chapter headings include: Chant Development, Byantine Music Hsitory, Znamenny Chant, early Orthodox Chant Music, and Words and Music
 
Little Russia in US. Music Page A brief history of Russian Church Music Also contains many audio streaming samples of Russian Orthodox Music
 
The Russian Christ: Orthodox Liturgical Music A site offering a video presentaiton by Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan at Emory University This website will allow you to watch the video of this presentation on Russian Orthodox Music. You will need to have RealPlayer on your computer (Mac or PC). The *free* Basic 8 player is downloadable from the Real website at: www.real.com
 
PSALM (PanOrthodox Singers And Liturgical Musicians) PSALM is an organization of church musicians for church musicians, dedicated to the advancement, excellence, and growth of all traditions of Orthodox liturgical music and chant, with a special missionary emphasis on fostering these traditions, chiefly in the English language, in North America and wherever English is used as a liturgical language.
 
Orthodoxmusic.org - A site maintained by David Goode, director of St. Ephraim the Syrian Church in Cambridge, MA, This site featurestypeset music for singers to enable them to learn the standard melodies to which texts are sung. The typeset music will eventually make a simple chant book. Available in PDF format.
 
Jacob's Well The Music of Fr. Sergei Glagolev The following compositions were presented by Fr. Sergei at workshops sponsored by the New York-New Jersey Diocese (Orthodox Church in America). Graciously, he has offered his music for free distribution. These pieces can be viewed and printed using an Adobe Acrobat reader.
 
 
 
Russian Orthodox Music Scores from the library of the Synod Cathedral Choir Perhaps the best resource for downloadable choral music (free for liturgical use only). Here is where you can obtain your own copies of music scores prepared for and used by the Synod Cathedral Choir of New York City. The music scores on this web site are from the library of the late conductor of the Synod Cathedral Choir of New York, Alexander Ledkovsky. They are the result of his efforts toupdate and improve a collection of liturgical music consisting mostly of handwritten manuscripts. Alexander Ledkovsky created all the music scores on a continuing basis. The language of the music scores is Church Slavonic, utilizing old Russian orthography. This web site is presented in both English and Russian
 
Musica Russica can act as your consultant on matters of programming, repertoire selection, choral performance practice, and diction coaching. Whether you need help with performing editions or making sure your choir delivers the words with conviction, we are here to help you solve your thorniest problems. On-site or over-the-phone consulting services are available with native-Russian speakers, who are also vocalists and choral conductors.
 
Russian Orthodox Music - Scores available for download in Finale and PDF format
 
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese Department of Sacred Music Downloadable Music, recordings, books, liturgical resources,
 
Liturgy.ru - Perhaps one of the most comprehensive sites available for finding Orthodox choral music both in printed, MIDI and MP3 recorded versions. The site features both Russian and English versions of the website (above link is in English) There are more than 1700 Sibelius Scorch files on a double CD "Church Service of the Russian Orthodox Church"
 
The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is the largest website devoted exclusively to free choral sheet music. Begun in December 1998, the site has over 140 contributors and 3,200 scores. This is the new home of CPDL; however, it is still being worked on.
 
 
 
Russian Church Music (an interesting site with numerous sound clips maintained by Vladimir Pekkel)
 
Serbian Chant (listen to audio clips of the best known Serbian Orthodox chants)
 
Musica Russica (an excellent source for recordings and printed music)
 
 
 
 
Ukrainian classics. Works of Ukrainian and International authors performed by leading Ukrainian musicians. Over 175 audio compact discs and some CD-ROM in the catalogue. New Ukrainian releases are continuously added to the catalogue. Many sound clips for listening.
 
 
Archive of World Music, Boulton, Laura, 1899-1980. Collection of Byzantine and Orthodox Musics: Guide. Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library, Harvard College Library Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 ecordings collected by ethnomusicologist Laura Boulton between 1951 and 1969 primarily in Greece, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, and various other countries. It consists primarily of Byzantine and other Orthodox Eastern church music and services from the liturgical cycles; it also contains folk and classical music, some of a religious nature, and miscellaneous commercial recordings and books.
 
ClassicalMusic.ru Audio streaming selections of works by Tchaikovsky, Shvedov, and Tchesnokov performed by the the Russian State Chamber Choir Komi conductor Vladimir Kontarev
 
 
Blagovest ensemble directed by Galina Koltsova. Many sound clips of works by by Chesnokov and Kastalksky
 
Polyelei Live at St. Catherine Cathedral Alexander Perovsky , conductor Includes Kedrov's Otche Nash, Tchesnokov's Bless the Lord, O My Soul, some 15th century znamenny chant, and the traditional Mnogaya Lyeta (many years).
 
 
Inner Light Productions presents its Library of Monastic Music. CD recordings are highlighted and available via Amazon.com checkout. CDs represent a wide variety of ethnic styles. A portion of the procedes goes to support the monastery documentation project
 
 
Byzantine Music Liturgical Music Gallery. This site offers sound files of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music in the Byzantine style.
 
 
Boheme Music Company. This site offers a small collection of Orthodox choral recordings for sale.
 
 
St. Vladimir's Seminary Bookstore: A collection of almost 200 different CD recordings for sale.
 
 
RussianMP3.com self proclaimed as the largest Russian music & video store in America
 
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese Department of Sacred Music Downloadable Music, recordings, books, liturgical resources,
 
Learn to sing the Byzantine Tones. A website for instruction in this area. includes midi files of musical examples and tiff files of the scores.
 
Learning the Octoechos. This page created by Bob Mounger is a resource & teaching aid for music of the Russian Orthodox Octoechos as it is sung in St. Sava Orthodox Church, Plano Texas. (A mission of the OCA diocese of the South under the omophor of Archbishop Dmitri)
 
The Foundation of Church Singing: School and Prayer a good overview of the Holy Trinity Monastery Summer School of Liturgical Music in Jordanville, NY. (written by Catherine Stade)zantine Chant Information

Orthodox Choirsic

Orthodox Composers and Composition

Liturgical Music Utilities, Links, etc.

 
DDTC.edu a site that has LOTS of neat fonts including elaborate Church Slavonic typefaces.
 
 
Classical.ru Birth and Death dates of almost 100 different Russian composers.
 
Ivan Moody's Link Site One of the most comprehensive collection of links for the Orthodox Church on the web today. Ivan Moody has scoured the web to come up with these wonderful resources. Includes litrugical texts is numerous languages
 
Russian Plants Lots of links to Russian musicians, choirs, and resources
 
Medieval Russian Musical Manuscripts (in Russian only)

Eastern European/Russian Music Sites

Composition/Concert Music Sites


 

 

 

 

Return to orthodoxchoralmusic.com

Kurt Sander's Orthodox Choral Music Website. A site dedicated to the study and composition of Orthodox choral music. Download free choral music scores for liturgical use. Included are works by Kurt (Lawrence) Sander, Mikail Ipolitov-Ivanov, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and examples of Znamenny chant settings. Choral scores are in .pdf format and are free for liturgical and educational purposes only. All other performance and reproduction is strictly prohibited without the expressed written consent of the author and/or arranger. All articles and research materials are the intellectual property of the author and may not be reproduced without permission.