Posts Tagged ‘liturgy’
A Byzantine-Style Diskos and Asterisk
It is well known that the early Byzantine church used very large patens and loaves of bread in the Divine Liturgy. Surviving examples of patens from the 6th-century are frequently two feet or more in diameter, compared to the six inch diskos typical today. Interestingly, the Melkite church still uses larger patens, and I recently…
Continue reading »Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated — part IV, in which the question is asked, “Shouldn’t you be at rehearsal?”
This is post 4 of 6 in the series “Notes from The Psalterion” Richard Barrett gives us practical advice for the discipline of liturgical music in a local parish context. Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated – Part I, First Principles Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated – Part II, Getting Started Notes…
Continue reading »Theophany and What Sacred Art Does
You enter a silent museum. Standing at an appropriate distance, you gaze at a piece of art set against a clinically white wall. The art is lit as to leave no glare or shine and you as the viewer leave no shadow on it. Enough space is allotted all around the art so to be admired without…
Continue reading »The Saint John of Damascus Society on NPR’s “Harmonia Early Music”
The mission of The Saint John of Damascus Society is “revealing Orthodox Christianity through its sacred music”, and one part of how we seek to do this to be a collaborative partner for existing arts organizations and entities on projects promoting Orthodox liturgical music. Our first collaboration to reach the public eye is a segment…
Continue reading »‘Memory Eternal’ — A New Recording from St. Tikhon’s Mission Choir
Memory Eternal: an Orthodox Christian Requiem, my most recent recording with St. Tikhon’s Mission Choir, was just released this month. The CD is a recording of the entire Panikhida (Orthodox memorial service), plus two extra pieces—one at the beginning and one at the end—and is based completely on arrangements of Russian Chant melodies. Many of the…
Continue reading »The Recovery of Symbolism
“Symbolism” is a term that has become quite diluted in the past 500 years. Since the middle ages, the notion of the symbol has undergone a deep mutation due to the immeasurable changes in our experience of knowledge and meaning. Symbolism has been progressively reduced from underlying our very cosmological world view, to now being a…
Continue reading »The Creation of a Christian Culture
This is post 1 of 2 in the series “The Creation of a Christian Culture” Nicholas Kotar shows us how liturgical art and traditional forms can inspire the creation of para-liturgical and secular works of art. The Creation of a Christian Culture The Creation of a Christian Culture, Part 2 “Christianity has a great calling,…
Continue reading »An Icon of the Kingdom of God: The Integrated Expression of all the Liturgical Arts (pt. 2)
This is post 2 of 12 in the series “An Icon of the Kingdom of God” Andrew Gould gives a unifying vision of how all the liturgical arts complement each other to create a living icon of the Kingdom of God. An Icon of the Kingdom of God: The Integrated Expression of all the Liturgical…
Continue reading »The Icon: Sign of Unity or Division? (pt. 2)
This is post 2 of 5 in the series “The Icon: Sign of Unity or Division?” Fr. Steven Bigham Explores the icon as a universal language of Christianity through scripture, councils and tradition. The Icon: Sign of Unity or Division? The Icon: Sign of Unity or Division? (pt. 2) The Icon: Sign of Unity or…
Continue reading »The Holy Ascension Choros
The Holy Ascension choros, which was completed Pascha 2012, has been a project eight years in the making. In 2004, my wife and I were on our way to Charleston, SC for my first job out of architecture school – to design Holy Ascension Orthodox church. On our way, we stopped in New York…
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