Phrase - a musical sentence that lasts a single "breath", with a beginning, end, and a clear shape, usually melodic. Phrases in music are most often four or two measures in length

Triad - consists of three notes (the root, the third, and the fifth) on top of one another and all on either lines or spaces. The bottom note is the root, the middle note is the third and the top note is the fifth. When choir directors give pitches for "plain" litanies, most often they are giving them in the form of a triad consisting of the notes F (root), A (third) and C (fifth). These notes are given from the top down (fifth, third, root).

Kathisma Hymn - A Kathisma is a division of the Psalter (Book of Psalms). During the reading of the Kathisma the congregation may sit (Kathisma means "seat" in Greek). The Kathisma Hymn is sung immediately before or after the Kathisma reading.

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 Tips on Phrasing and Pronunciation

The Orthodox parish choir is responsible to convey "essential doctrines" of the church, but it sometimes seems to me that our American parish choir tradition prevents us from clearly conveying the meaning of the words we sing. Consider the following:

1. Much of the music we sing was written for a language other than English. Music written for other languages has emphases and phrasing for those languages. Translations are seldom "perfect," and they must preserve the doctrinal message. As a result, our translated hymns are fraught with emphases on unimportant words, and places where the music pushes us to breathe in the middle of words and phrases, leading us to interrupt and destroy the message we’re trying to convey.
   
   
2. We sing a capella (without ‘help’ in the form of instrumental accompaniment), one of the mostdifficult of musical endeavors. A group of people must sing together unassisted by instruments; our efforts to do so are exposed. Inconsistent sounds, ragged starts and stops, irregular tempos, and other mistakes are obvious to the listener.
   
   
3. The English language is hard to sing beautifully and clearly. It has potentially unpleasant vowel sounds such as the nasal "ow" and the "eeeee" like chalk on a blackboard. Some of our parish choir responses and hymns seem to exploit those sounds: how many times have you heard, "Noowww lay aside," "Lord have Merceeee"?
   
   
4. The volume of music and the complexity of services sung by the parish choir seem to militate against work on basic pronunciation and phrasing. It’s all we can do to develop a good liturgical repertoire and prepare for feast days. Rehearsal time for choral technique seems an unaffordable luxury.
   
5. Choir directors and members may be pressed into service with little or no training. They may spend most of their time trying to master the order of service instead of listening to their choirs and working to correct choral flaws.

Here are a few tips for dealing with those daunting problems:

 

• Sensitize yourself to problem sounds. Common errors can often be corrected by just a few techniques. For example:

 

• Use "dark" vowel sounds, which are achieved by relaxing the jaw, slightly pursing the lips, and making a larger space toward the back of the mouth. This makes the following happen.

So, the big service is here and you’ve developed a whopper of a cold. What do you do? The germs that cause colds are always around and constantly washing your hands only makes you wrinkly and avoiding contact with others is simply not possible. The best defense is to keep your immune system strong by eating right, drinking plenty of fluids (two liters of water per day is recommended), sleeping (at least six hours each night) and exercising for better circulation. Staying warm is also an important factor. In frigid conditions, your body works hard to retain heat. Dressing in layers, with a hat, waterproof boots and a scarf allows your body to focus energy on fighting off incoming infections. However, stress, of all the causes of illness, is number one. Juggling work or school with rehearsals and services, eating on the run with zero sleep, disrupts metabolism and forces the body to run on adrenaline. Anxiety saps vitamins, dehydrates, and leaves you vulnerable to whatever is around. That’s why colds always arrive right as your preparing for the holiday services. Adopting healthy habits now will pay off in spades in the future.

Now let’s pretend that, despite your best efforts, you’ve come down with a nasty, aching, head clogging cold three days before an important service. To minimize the effect a cold has on the voice you’ve got to act quickly. Keep in mind that congestion –mucus -- is what your body produces to flush out toxins. Over-the-counter medications (antihistamines) dry up congestion but prohibit the necessary house cleaning. They also dry mucous membranes, like your vocal chords, which will cause you to lose your voice. So, reach for the decongestants as an absolute last resort. If you have time, instead of squashing the symptoms, help speed up the process. Flood yourself with water and real juices to thin the congestion, lubricate your chords and flush your body. An important benefit of hydrating is that it may keep a cold from reaching your lungs. Throat clearing and coughing, which normally accompanies a cold, is very irritating to the vocal chords. The delicate membranes in and around the larynx become swollen and rigid, which is why your voice gets so deep and restricted. Inhaling steam will help loosen congestion in the lungs as well as soothe the vocal chords. Gargling with warm salt water will also help draw phlegm away from your larynx.

PSALM, Inc., Annual Meeting – will occur at the end of the St. Vladimir’s Summer Liturgical Institute, on June 28 and 29. This organization’s mission is to bring Orthodox musicians together to increase knowledge. The 2002 Annual Meeting will include interactive opportunities to explore and shape PSALM’s projects, which include a web-based musical resource program, as well as music publishing and PSALM Notes, a biannual publication of articles on Orthodox liturgical Music. For info: www.orthodoxpsalm.org

Antiochian Archdiocese 17^th Annual Sacred Music Institute, July 24 – 28, Antiochian Village Heritage and Learning Center, Ligonier, PA. Agenda includes workshops in Byzantine Chant, pitch-giving, conducting, and phrasing. This year’s program is dedicated to the memory of Raymond George. Additional info and registration forms accessible at http://aaron.org/Music

What information would you like us to include in future issues?

Editors:

Carol Wetmore
Doreen Bartholomew