Guides to liturgical poetics and composition

[Robert Hegwood]

I was listening to a podcast on AFR the other day whose subject was the need for Orthodox liturgical poetry and poets (theorators) in English. The topic made me wonder what resources were available to study hymns, canons, akathists, etc of the Church at their composititonal level. A study of their conventions, metrics, forms, uses, liturgical rubrics and so forth together with their developmental history...even where ancient forms may have intersected and informed English poetics in preschism times.

It would also be useful to have resources delving into how Byzantine, Slavic, and Arabic liturgical poetical conventions relate to English poetical conventions, and which forms of English poetics might be best adapted to serve Orthodox liturgical/hymnographic needs.

For example, if I am not mistaken one of the "rules" of Orthodox hymns is that the music must serve the words not vis versa, nor should any bit of theology be sacrificed to a metrical scheme. This then would exclude sing-songy lyrical forms, pretty much all rhyming meters. Should the would be liturgical poet take more cues from the metrics of "Evangeline" or Hamlet, Leaves of Grass, or Prufrock?

Anyway, thoughts and references would be appreciated.

[Father David Moser]

what resources were available to study hymns, canons, akathists, etc of the Church at their composititonal level. A study of their conventions, metrics, forms, uses, liturgical rubrics and so forth together with their developmental history...even where ancient forms may have intersected and informed English poetics in preschism times.

Personally I don't think I can help, however if you contact V. Krassovsky or the Russian Orthodox Music Commission:

Synodal Liturgical Music Advisory Board

Secretary: Reader Vladimir Krassovsky
SYNODAL LITURGICAL MUSIC ADVISORY BOARD
c/o Vladimir Krassovsky, Secretary
900 Monte Verde Drive
Pacifica, CA 94044, U.S.A.
Tel: (650) 359-0901

Web Site: http://www.rocm.org

He might be able to get you pointed in the right direction.

Fr David Moser

[Ryan]

That is a wonderful question. As a poet myself, I would be very curious to know what you find out- please post it here.

As I understand it, most of the standard Byzantine hymns are "prose poems" and do not have a regular meter. This doesn't mean that the writers were unlearned in metrics though- they were masters, and I think a solid grounding in meter is essential whether one writes "formal" or "free" verse.

Also, there are some great Orthodox hymns that are in fact written in meter and/or rhyme... "Agni Parthene" comes to mind. I think, in skilled hands, a hymn could be written in meter and even rhyme without sacrificing theological content.

I think a big problem today is that most contemporary poets are not trained in traditional poetics, and that their chief influences derive from 20th century modernists. The idea of a heightened poetic language is overwhelmingly rejected, and standard devices like archaisms and inversions are dogmatically frowned upon.

So I think an Orthodox poet working in English today will have to ignore most of what has been going on recently, and look to more traditional poets and poetic conventions. I think the King James Bible (whence Walt Whitman derived much of his style) provides solid examples of English "prose-poetry"- the translators were well trained in poetics and the psalms and other Biblical poetry, while not fully metric, are filled with various metric forms, with a mind to the liturgical reading of the texts. I think also poets working in blank verse, especially Milton, need to be considered.

In terms of traditional "rules" for writing hymns, if such exist in any systematic form, they should be considered. Nevertheless, I don't think the translations of Orthodox hymns into English that we use in our services have paid attention to such rules, so I don't think ignorance of them should preclude one from writing. Also consider that the cadences and sounds of English may not be suited by rules which were written for hymns in the Greek or Russian languages.

Now, regarding the setting of hymns to music, I do know there are some rules. I think I read about them at the Saint Anthony's Divine Liturgy project (http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/ByzOrthography.pdf). For instance, certain phrases have set melodies which must be incorporated into the hymn.

[Anthony Stokes]

Also consider that the cadences and sounds of English may not be suited by rules which were written for hymns in the Greek or Russian languages.

Now, regarding the setting of hymns to music, I do know there are some rules. I think I read about them at the Saint Anthony's Divine Liturgy project (http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/ByzOrthography.pdf). For instance, certain phrases have set melodies which must be incorporated into the hymn.

With regards to the musical aspect, I always tell people how the text is the most important thing. The rules that you speak of, those from St. Anthony's being specifically about Byzantine chant, are about the setting of the text, not the writing of the text.

When I set pieces, the main thing I look for are the phrases and sentences, and then within those, which words, and even more specifically syllables, should be emphasized with longer notes, etc.

Setting text can be difficult sometimes. Everyone does it a little differently. The Russian chant systems, Kieven, Obikhod, etc., don't have the same rules that Byzantine chant has. And within the American Byzantine chant realm, many of the rules were not followed for years. There are now a handful of people that do follow the rules, Papa Ephraim at St. Anthony's, Fr. Seraphim Dedes, Nancy Takis, and John Michael Boyer to name a few. The rules really dictate that the melody is to be almost rewritten with the translation. What has happened for so long in the US is that people just fit English translations into the Greek melody, which really doesn't work well.

Sbdn. Anthony

[Robert Hegwood]

Thank you for all the replies.

I did take a look at the link to the St. Anthony site and I must say I've a great great deal to learn because it looked very much like seasoned commentary on a script system and language invented by Tolkein.

[Anthony Stokes]

Thank you for all the replies.

I did take a look at the link to the St. Anthony site and I must say I've a great great deal to learn because it looked very much like seasoned commentary on a script system and language invented by Tolkein.


I've always thought that the Byzantine chant itself looks like Arabic and Greek on top of eachother.

Sbdn. Anthony

[Ryan]

For Robert and everyone- I found the following passages in an appendix to Sacred Catechism of the Orthodox Church ("edited and augmented by Constantine Cavarnos"). This is from a section in the back entitled "Hymnody of the Church" and written by Dr. Cavarnos. It is not exactly a guide to poetics but puts forth some important principles in writing hymns.


These hymns are distinguished by free rhythm and, generally, by a lack of rhyme. Measured rhyme or meter , which Westerners expect to find in hymns, is not to be found in these. Rhyme is employed only occasionally, particularly for the purpose of emphasizing a connection between certain thoughts.The form of the language of these hymns can best be characterized as cadenced poetic prose. There are exceptions, such as certain hymns of St. John Damascene, which are in iambics.

The inner essence of Byzantine hymnody is identical with that of Byzantine music, architecture, and iconography... Like them, it seeks to introduce us to a realm of being that lies beyond the world which is apprehended by the senses, to lift us to a higher level of experience,to the level of spiritual beauty, of holiness, of the Divine.

The themes of the hymnographer are the Holy Trinity, Christ, the Theotokos, the Prophets, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Church Fathers, and the rest of the Saints, and in some instances the Archangels. They are the power, wisdom, justice, mercy, beauty and other attributes of God; the life, teaching, and miracles of Christ; the life and virtues of the Theotokos and of the Saints. These themes are treated objectively, without the poet injecting into them either his idiosyncrasy or matters pertaining to his own individual life...

It is not his ego or his place and time that the hymnographer seeks to express, but the facts, truths, and values of Christian religion, and the feelings that it is proper for a devout Christian to express, such as praise of God and of the Saints, gratitude to them, hope, and love...

The concern for the beautiful is of the essence of Byzantine hymnody. But the beauty that concerns it is the spiritual, not the physical. The latter is brought into the hymns only by way of comparison as a means of expressing the beauty that is spiritual.

Hope this helps.