Figure 1.--

The Eastern or Orthadox Church also had a Since the Reformation, but HBC has few details at this time. Some believe that some of the most beautiful choral music is in the Eastern tradition. HBC does not know, however, of any current Orthodox choirs.

Orthodoxy and Music

One of the most celebrated Orthodox theologians is St. Theophan the Recluse. He writes:

"The purpose of church hymns is precisely to make the spark of grace that is hidden within us burn brighter and with greater warmth. This spark is given by the sacraments. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are introduced to fan the spark and transform it into a flame ...." Perhaps there is no better description of liturgical harmony than that which is conveyed in these words. Where some religions see Music through the eyes of faith, the Orthodox Church sees faith through the eyes of music. In other words, music is not to be looked at as an object attached to worship, to the Orthodox, it is worship. It is the communicator of that spark of grace which St. Theophan so eloquently described. If we know this, then we realize the great responsibility we have as church musicians. For if we fail to nourish the arts in the traditions that have been passed down to us, then we essentially stand in the way of this grace. In closing, I would like to stress the importance of seeing music, not simply as a beautiful part of our services, or as a only servant to the text. Instead, we should consider each choral work, each note that we sing as an indispensable part of Orthodox worship for music, along with icons, architecture, hymnography is a communicator of God's ever-present grace and truth. When we interpret music in this way, we are indeed, as St. Paul says, speaking to one another in psalms hymns and spiritual songs. When we interpret music this way we will indeed feel the sublimity of our liturgical harmony. And finally, when we look upon our choral heritage, we will indeed be reminded that these things have been given to us as a gift from God in order to draw us closer to the eternal mysteries of His Kingdom.

Orthodox Choirs

HBC has learned that there are some orthodox Choirs but it is somewhat difficult to find information because of severeal different problems.
Language: If you find something on the internet about Orthodox choirs, it almost always is in cyrillic characters which HBC is unable to dechiper.
Communism: The Communit did their best to destroy religiin in the Soviet Union and subsequently Eastern Europe. Churches were destroyed. The Church's role in education and even teaching the religius teaching outside of schools was outlawed or severely limited. Asc a result, in some areas religion has all but disappeared in some areas.
Individual church choirs: As in many other Christian denominations, many individual churches have their own choir, most will be just for the church service and will not have real musical nor serious vocal training.

National Churches

There are different national traditions in Orthodoxy. HBC does not at this time have extensive details on the choral tradition in these different national traditions. The Russian Revolution and subsequent introfuction of communism throughout eastern Europe in 1945 as the aftermath of World War II had a huge impact on Orthodoxy.

Greek Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

Russia was christianized in 988 by Saint Vladimir, whose grandmother, Olga, was said to have been converted in Constantinople. By 1051 hermits were settling in caves along the bank of the Dnepr river beneath what would become the oldest monastery in Russia, the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. The religion there was Eastern Catholicism or Orthodoxy ("True Faith") hence the Russian Church is Orthodox rather than Roman Catholic. The seat of the Church now is the Trinity-St. Sergiev Monastery in Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk).

Orthodox Choral Music

While we have been able to find little information about the history of Orthodox choral music, a HBC reader has alerted to us an internet site which broadcasts Orthodox music. The site describes itself, "Ancient Faith Radio is a pan-Orthodox internet based radio station on the air 24 hours a day. Choose a listen button from the top right of our page to tune in. We provide a steady stream of the rich, traditional music of the Orthodox faith as well as several daily and weekly programs and free downloadable Podcasts as part of our unique service. We encourage you to listen daily to this free, listener supported ministry and subscribe to our growing list of Podcasts!"

Created: November 24, 2000
Last updated: 9:57 AM 8/23/2007