'Nanane' and 'ririram'

[Kris]

Hi,

Forgive me if someone has already asked this question. I was wondering if someone could explain to me the meaning of "nanane" and "ririram", which seem to be used quite often in Byzantine hymnography.

Are they real words, or are they of noetic/angelic origin?

Also, are there any specific rules regarding when they're used and at which points during the hymn?

Thanks

In XC,
Kris

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Hi,

Forgive me if someone has already asked this question. I was wondering if someone could explain to me the meaning of "nanane" and "ririram", which seem to be used quite often in Byzantine hymnography.

Are they real words, or are they of noetic/angelic origin?

Also, are there any specific rules regarding when they're used and at which points during the hymn?

Thanks

In XC,
Kris

I'm far from being an expert about this but I think what you're referring to is the 'terirem' which is used especially during all night Vigils in Byzantine practice.

I have seen this mostly on Mt Athos, especially during one literal all night Vigil at the Danielou kelli in 1986 on the Sunday of the Athonite Frs (I think this was who their kelli was dedicated to but I don't remember for certain).

In any case, by about 2 or 3am there was no one except a lay psaltis chanting the Vigil. He began chanting a terirem which must have gone on for about an hour or so. It was really the most amazing thing to watch as part way through he got into almost a kind of trance, chanting and waving his arms in beat to his chanting (meanwhile everyone in the church appeared to be asleep in their stalls, so there was no movement except for him). For some reason the whole effect set me in mind of pure worship of God along the lines of St Dionysios the Areopagite.

Maybe this is why it is that the terirem is often explained as being the language of the angels.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[M.C. Steenberg]

Hi,

Forgive me if someone has already asked this question. I was wondering if someone could explain to me the meaning of "nanane" and "ririram", which seem to be used quite often in Byzantine hymnography.

Are they real words, or are they of noetic/angelic origin?

Also, are there any specific rules regarding when they're used and at which points during the hymn?

Thanks

In XC,
Kris


It is quite possible you're referring to the leading tones by which the chanter indicates the mode and pitch/scale of the hymn, sung just before launching into the text itself. If so, these are not mystical words: they are in fact the names of the pitches in Greek (the equivalents of the Enlgish 'Do, re, mi, fa...').

INXC, Matthew

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

It is quite possible you're referring to the leading tones by which the chanter indicates the mode and pitch/scale of the hymn, sung just before launching into the text itself. If so, these are not mystical words: they are in fact the names of the pitches in Greek (the equivalents of the Enlgish 'Do, re, mi, fa...').

INXC, Matthew


Maybe Kris is confusing two different things. I have never heard the singing of anything like "nanane" - so maybe these could be the names of pitches (?).

For sure though "terirem" is the word used with a whole number of melodies which are chanted at Vigils.

Since "terirem" is not an actual word which means something in Greek it commonly is ascribed to the 'language of the angels'.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Kris]

Maybe Kris is confusing two different things. I have never heard the singing of anything like "nanane" - so maybe these could be the names of pitches (?).


Bless Father,

I have only heard "nanane" (or something to that effect at least) at the beginning of hymns, so it is possible that its simply a way to determine the pitch.

However, I was asking someone about "terirem" the other day (I thought I'd ask here to get a more substantive answer), and they said a priest had told them both "nanane" and "terirem" were 'special', which is why I equated them.



For sure though "terirem" is the word used with a whole number of melodies which are chanted at Vigils.

Since "terirem" is not an actual word which means something in Greek it commonly is ascribed to the 'language of the angels'.


Are you aware of any reference to this concept of angelic language among the Fathers?

I've heard the "stand aright" at the Liturgy comes from the Archangel Michael, the "Holy, Holy, Holy" is of course from Isaiah's vision. Does "terirem" have any such origin; a Saint hearing it sung perhaps?

Thanks

In XC,
Kris

[Kris]

I had a look at google, and I found one article which said:


Kratimata (from the Greek word “chrato,” which means “to hold”) are musical compositions which employ nonsensical syllables, such as terirem, terere, tenena, and prolong the melody. These compositions are not bound by the restrictions of the poetic texts, thus the composer is free to develop the melody with creativity and originality, many times borrowing material from the secular music of the Greeks and other nations.


However, it did not give any hints as to the origins of these "nonsensical syllables", "which some have called the Virgin’s lullaby, others the chanting of the angels, and others the flight of the soul towards God, the soul which is not satiated by mere words and nowlongs to hear the voice of the Other."

So that part still puzzles me.

[Andrew]

Hasidic Jews do something similar when they chant too... I guess it's like the aural equivalent of fine incense :)

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Are you aware of any reference to this concept of angelic language among the Fathers?

I've heard the "stand aright" at the Liturgy comes from the Archangel Michael, the "Holy, Holy, Holy" is of course from Isaiah's vision. Does "terirem" have any such origin; a Saint hearing it sung perhaps?



One thing to keep in mind is that this practice does not appear in the Russian tradition of chanting. Basically terirem for the Byzantine tradition fills otherwise unfillable spaces during the service. I remember on the Holy Mt some wryly commenting about how the Vigils at the Russian monasteries 'only' lasted for 6 or 7 hours - even on their Feast Day! In the Greek monasteries they could last for 12 hours.

I don't know of any Patristic references to the specific practice of terirem. But this is more from ignorance of not being able to read Greek. Maybe there are some comments from the later Byzantines or Greeks.

"Stand aright", "wisdom" etc come from the tradition of the deacons proclaiming certain instructions during the services. Again there are differences between Byzantine & Russian practice; eg at the Holy God the deacon proclaims "dynamis" before the last (?) Holy God. I've never quite understood the purpose of this except maybe something like "once more and make it lively!" :)

For all of these diaconal instructions there are many symbolic interpretations which the Frs give. Many refer to the angelic role of the deacons who like the angelic hosts are 'messengers' (angel means messenger in Greek). These interpretations also play on the fact of the deacon's vestments, esp his orar which is like angelic wings.

These interpretations however come after the fact of the services.

In Christ- Fr Raphael
PS: By the way our 'youth choir' (those 3 and under) seem already to know the chant 'nanane' very well!

[Kris]

One thing to keep in mind is that this practice does not appear in the Russian tradition of chanting.


Bless Father,

This is true, although if one considers the impact Peter the Great's reforms had on the musical tradition of the Russian Church, this does not have to mean this was uniquely Greek (although I could be wrong of course).

I wonder if anything like this exists in the hymnography of the non-Chalcedonian or Assyrian traditions?



eg at the Holy God the deacon proclaims "dynamis" before the last (?) Holy God. I've never quite understood the purpose of this except maybe something like "once more and make it lively!" :)


Perhaps it is a reference to the bodiless-powers (dynameon asomaton) who were the first to sing it?



For all of these diaconal instructions there are many symbolic interpretations which the Frs give. Many refer to the angelic role of the deacons who like the angelic hosts are 'messengers' (angel means messenger in Greek). These interpretations also play on the fact of the deacon's vestments, esp his orar which is like angelic wings.


I was unaware of this 'angelic' symbolism. I'm constantly amazed at how much the Liturgy contains.



PS: By the way our 'youth choir' (those 3 and under) seem already to know the chant 'nanane' very well!

:-)

Perhaps it was introduced to fulfill Christ's commandment r.e. becoming like little children.

In XC,
Kris

[Olga]

From the little I know, the terirem is, as described, a passage of "free" chant, with plenty of melismatic singing. It is not found in Slavonic church singing, only in Byzantine chant, which would include Arabic as well as Greek.

There are a series of other largely nonsense phrases which are sung at the beginning of a hymn, troparion, etc, which are the equivalent of the choirmaster "giving tone". . The chanting of these phrases by the choirmaster allow the singers to pitch their voices correctly. The phrases include: neane, neano, anane, aghia (yes! a real word), neaghio, and others.

[Alexandros Andreou]

The "ananes" of an intonation is one thing, and the "terirem" of the kratema is something entirely different. There is a nice explanation of intonations by St. Anthony's Monastery at: http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Inton-new.pdf (the file is 500 Kb)
And they also wrote an exlpanation about the kratema as a footnote in the file containing their 8-mode version of "O Theotokos and Virgin" at http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/VespersSpecial.htm Their explanation is as follows:


The Byzantine musicologist Dimitri Conomos defines a kratema as "a melodic unit of teretismata which is woven into the normal sequence of a hymn at a point, usually a cadence, where amplification is possible." According to Gregorios Stathis, the primary purpose of the kratema is to extend (κρατω) the duration of a service. Early Church Fathers make reference to wordless or meaningless chants, basing their commentaries on Is. 6:3 and Ez. 3:12. The sixth-century mystic known as Pseudo-Dionysios the Areopagite refers to litugical music as echos of divine beauty which humans receive after its transmission descends the heavenly hierarchy. [PG IV, 156-184]. St. Augustine refers to the ecstatic nature of wordless jubilation, and both he and St. Ieronymos identify the same with the early Christian concept of glossolalia [PL XXXVII, 1272 and PL XXVI, 970]. Commentators agree that such praise was a human imitation of the ceaseless chants of angels. Music manuscripts show that the kratema has been in use since at least the fourteenth century. The fact that St. John Koukouzeles wrote numerous kratemata suggests that he was a staunch supporter of their use. St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, however, in his commentary of Canon LXXV of the Sixth Œcumenical Synod, criticized the kratema and recommended that chanters avoid them so that more time will remain for the readings. In 1649, Gerasimos Monachos of Crete argued that the meaningless sounds designate the Holy Trinity and refer to the Incarnate Condescension (based on the numerical value of the letters of terirem). The Patriarchate of Constantinople issued an encyclical in 1880 forbidding the kratema only during the Great Entance, implying that at other times it is acceptable. In contemporary times, the kratema is still used throughout Greece and on the Holy Mountain, as well as in some places of the Greek Diaspora where services are conducted in Greek. For a thorough discussion in English of the kratema, see: Conomos, Dimitri E., Byzantine Trisagia and Cheroubika of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, Thessaloniki, 1974, pp. 262-286.

-Alexandros Andreou