Dating the composition of Orthodox hymns

[Troy G.]

I have been trying to search for the dates of composition for different Orthodox hymns across the internet and online datebases like JSTOR, but have had no luck. Could anyone here recommend a source to find the dates for composition of hymns such as 'Behold the Bridegroom' sung during Holy Week?

Thanks!
Troy

[Olga]

One approach is to find out who the hymnographer was who wrote the particular hymn. Knowing when the hymnographer lived would then give you a date at which the hymn was composed. Most menaia and other liturgical references have the name (if known) of the hymnographer next to the tone the hymn is sung.

Some of the better-known hymnographers are: Sts John of Damascus (also listed as "John the Monk"), Romanus the Melodist, Joseph the Hymnographer, John Koukouzelis, Andrew of Crete and Kassiane the Hymnographer.

[M.C. Steenberg]

Some of the better-known hymnographers are: Sts John of Damascus (also listed as "John the Monk"), Romanus the Melodist, Joseph the Hymnographer, John Koukouzelis, Andrew of Crete and Kassiane the Hymnographer.

... which, for reference, are 7th/8th century, 7th century, 9th century, 13th/14th century, 7th/8th century and 9th century, respectively. :)

INXC, Dcn Matthew

[Ryan]

Here's a question: do new hymns get written (and used) for anything besides new saints? For instance, could anyone write a new canon for one of the great feasts, that could be accepted as an alternate to the established one?

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Ryan, you wrote:


Here's a question: do new hymns get written (and used) for anything besides new saints? For instance, could anyone write a new canon for one of the great feasts, that could be accepted as an alternate to the established one?

An excellent question. And the brief response: yes, there is constant hymn-writing ongoing; and no, there is nothing hindering the composition of new hymns for feasts.

The pattern all throughout history (except in the cases of some saints, for whose canonisation hymns were 'commissioned' - in the sense of being requested) is normally that hymns are written out of prayerful devotion and inspiration, and as these become widely known and received, they work their way into the broader life and praxis of the Church until they become 'standard' as 'the' hymns for a given feast, activity, etc. This has certainly been the case with the great feasts. However, there is nothing hindering that continuing -- even if by this point in history the place of certain hymns as the central texts of given celebrations is well established and unlikely to change, in terms of 'mandated practice' (i.e. what's prescribed in the typika, etc.).

Still, new hymns are in some places (such as Mt Athos) quite common.

I hope this is of some help - at least as a first response.

INXC, Dcn Matthew

[Olga]

The most obvious case of a different liturgical text for a major feast is that for the Protection of the Mother of God. The Slavic usage is of the "original" Vigil text, the Greek church has used a rewritten, though theologically and doctrinally correct, service since the early 1950s, when the commemoration of this feast was also changed from October 1 to October 28, to coincide with Greece's secondary national day. There are also differences between Greek and Slavic use in certain places of what is read/sung for the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, though I haven't taken the time to work out when these differences occurred.

[Troy G.]

Success!

With the guidance of everyone here, I was able to find an e-book with the author, St John of Damascus. If anyone else is interested in the source, it can be accessed here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27848/27848.txt.

Thanks!

[Maria Murray]

Troy,

This is a great link. I was also looking for the history of the hymns of Holy Week such as "Behold the Bridegroom". I looked on the page and found what looks like a different Behold the Bridegroom hymn and not the one sung at Bridegroom Matins. Can you show me where you found it?

thank you
Maria Murray

[William Buell]

I knew a young man who attends the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline Massachusetts who has written a number of hymns to various Saints. His name is Ephraim. He is of Mexican ancestry and a convert to Greek Orthodoxy. He was a novice for several years in the mid 1970s but did not take tonsure vows and so continued in the nearby community as a layperson. He wrote in English using Greek Byzantine traditional melodies. I have not been there since 1990 but these are my recollections. I was baptized with the name Basil. I spent 3 months in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville NY and from there went to Brookline and was a novice for 13 months before I realized that I did not have the proper discipline to take lifetime vows.

[William Buell]

I just did a google search and found:

http://www.orthodoxpress.org/prayer_b.htm

MEGALYNARIA OF THE GOSPELS.
by Ephraim Figueroa. Short verses on the themes ofthe yearly cycle of Gospel readings, patterned after hymns chanted on Mt. Athos and other places in honor of the feast or saint of the day. May be chanted in the Liturgy at the end of the Anaphora, at a Supplicatory Canon or with private devotions. Musical types included. Paper 68pp.

I was a novice in 1975 and worked with Ephraim Figueroa who has written some new hymns.

http://www.orthodoxpress.org/prayer_b.htm