(Gk. hē theia leitourgia).
The Eucharist in the Eastern Christian rites, corresponding to the Mass of the Roman rite. In the strict sense the term ‘liturgy’ is confined to the anaphora, or consecration prayers, followed by the communion and dismissal rites. The Greek rite, unlike the Roman, has three liturgies in normal use; other Eastern rites, especially the Syriac, use dozens of early anaphoras. Of the three Byzantine liturgies, two are regularly used and contain anaphoral prayers attributed to St Basil and St John Chrysostom respectively; the St Basil liturgy was predominant until about 1000, after which it was celebrated only at major feasts. Except for their anaphoras, these two rites are practically identical in content and structure; they are thus treated together in this article. The third liturgy, that of the Presanctified (‘previously consecrated’) Host, represents the ceremonial for days in Lent when no consecration takes place.
Most of the music for these liturgies is transmitted in the Akolouthiai manuscripts dating from the 14th century onwards, but notated melodies also survive in the Constantinopolitan asmatikon and psaltikon (respectively, the choirbook and soloist’s book containing florid chants) as well as in other early chant collections. The following account concerns the musical content of the Byzantine liturgies in the late Middle Ages.
See also Byzantine chant.
The chants occurring in the first part of the Divine Liturgy, the Mass of the Catechumens, are as follows:
(i) Three opening antiphons or three typika (‘typical’ psalms). The former consist of selections from the Psalter, normally Psalms xci, xcii and xciv, and the latter of Psalms cii and cxlv together with the hymn Ho monogenēs huios (‘O only-begotten Son’) and the Beatitudes. The following procession with the Gospel lectionary (the Little Entrance – hē mikra eisodos) is accompanied by the Ordinary eisodikon (invitatory formula), ‘O come let us worship’, from Psalm xciv.
(ii) A Proper Troparion, or a series of troparia, of the feast and/or saint of the day and the proem of a Kontakion.
(iii) The Ordinary Eis polla ta etē acclamations at the entrance of the celebrant. During the Byzantine Empire imperial acclamations naming members of the ruling house were also sung.
(iv) The Trisagion and its two substitutes: Hagios ho Theos, the Ordinary Trisagion (cf the Western Improperia); Hosoi eis Christon (‘Who in Christ is baptized), sung on feasts of the Saviour; and Ton stauron sou proskynoumen (‘The Cross do we adore’), sung on feasts of the Holy Cross. Originally a processional troparion, the Trisagion was first introduced in the Constantinopolitan liturgy in the 6th century.
(v) Chants before the Epistle: the announcement Psalmos tō Dauïd, and the florid responsorial Prokeimenon (corresponding to the Roman gradual or the Ambrosian psalmellus), whose text is drawn from the Psalter. A yearly cycle of Proper prokeimena is found in the old Constantinopolitan psaltikon; choral refrains (dochai) for the ‘great’ prokeimena are contained in the asmatikon; and series of Ordinary prokeimena are found in the akolouthiai manuscripts.
(vi) Chants before the Gospel: the announcement Allēlouïa, psalmos tō Dauïd; and the alleluia and florid responsorial verse, the allēlouïarion (corresponding to that of the Roman and Ambrosian rites). A yearly cycle of some 60 chants is found in the psaltikon.
(vii) Dismissal of the catechumens and invocation of the faithful, Hosoi katechoumenoi proelthete, corresponding to Latin formulae such as ‘Si quis catechumenus est’.
The Mass of the Faithful follows:
(viii) Offertory – the Cheroubikon and its substitutes (sung at the Great Entrance): Hoi ta cherubim (‘We who mystically represent the cherubs’), the Ordinary Cheroubikon; Sigēsatō pasa sarx (‘Let all mortal flesh keep silence’), for Holy Saturday and a few other occasions; and Tou deipnou sou tou mystikou (‘Of thy mystical supper’), sung on Maundy Thursday.
(ix) The Creed. It was added to the liturgy in the 5th century, but after the Iconoclastic period (c725–842) seems only to have been spoken. Nevertheless, Greco-Latin creeds found in 9th- and 10th-century Western manuscripts may indicate that it could have been sung earlier in the East. The ‘Nicean’ and ‘Constantinopolitan’ creeds were sung to simple music (notated in 11th-century ekphonetic neumes) in association with annual commemorations of the Acts of ecumenical councils. A setting of the Creed by Mark of Corinth, in the plagal mode on E, dates from the mid-15th century; an anonymous, ‘new’, late 15th-century melody is in the authentic mode on G. The Creed is sometimes preceded (at the Kiss of Peace) by Patera huion kai hagion pneuma (‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’).
(x) Chants with the anaphora. The anaphora of St Basil may be preceded by a sung introduction, Axion kai dikaion estin (‘It is worthy and right’). Hagios, hagios, hagios (the Sanctus) is the chief anaphoral chant in both East and West, but unlike the Western version the Eastern exists in a single, main melodic tradition, occasionally elaborated in a florid manner in manuscripts from southern Italy in the 13th century and from the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th. Elaborated melodies for the Hagios, hagios, hagios are used with the liturgy of St Basil, whereas the simpler, traditional music is sung for the ‘Amen’ responses following the words of Institution and for Se hymnoumen se eulogoumen (‘We praise thee, we bless thee’), the hymn at the anamnesis. Hymns in honour of the Virgin may also be inserted: Epi soi chairei Kecharitōmenē pasa hē ktisis (‘All creation rejoices in thee’), in the liturgy of St Basil; and Axion estin hōs alēthōs (‘It is very meet to bless thee’), in the liturgy of St John Chrysostom.
(xi) Communion chants (see Koinōnikon). An early cycle of some 30 Proper koinōnika for the year occurs in the moderately florid style of the asmatikon. This Constantinopolitan collection also transmits sets of melodies in each of the eight modes for two Ordinary koinōnika: one for Saturdays, based on Psalm xxxii.1, and one for Sundays, based on Psalm cxlviii.1. The koinōnika were incorporated in the akolouthiai manuscripts at the beginning of the 14th century.
(xii) Post-communion hymns, sacerdotal benediction and incidental hymns. The Ordinary post-communion, Plērōthētō to stoma hēmōn (‘Let our mouth be filled’), exists in settings from the 13th century. The benediction, Eie to onoma Kyriou (Psalm cxii.2) is also sung, as is another early hymn, Eidomen to phōs to alēthinon (‘We have seen the true light’). Incidental hymns sung at the dismissal are the Trisagion; the Proper troparion (apolytikion, ‘dismissal hymn’); the Proper kontakion; and the 9th ōdē of the Good Friday kanōn, Tēn timioteran tōn cherubim (‘You who are more honourable than the cherubim’).
The third Byzantine liturgy is attributed in some Byzantine sources to ‘St Gregory the Dialogist’, that is, St Gregory the Great. Its framework differs in a number of respects (besides the absence in it of a consecration prayer) from that outlined above; there are links with Hesperinos (Vespers), and although the origin of this liturgy is usually considered to be late, its theme of light reflects the early rite of Lucernarium and gives it an archaic aspect.
Five Ordinary chants particularly distinguish this liturgy. The Hesperinos hymn Phōs hilaron (‘O gladsome light’) is sung at the Entrance and follows the opening set of Hesperinos psalms. The Lenten Ordinary Prokeimenon Kateuthynētō hē proseuchē mou (‘Let my prayer be set forth’, Psalm cxl.2) precedes the Epistle. There are Ordinary Lenten versions also of the Cheroubikon (Nyn hai dynameis tōn ouranōn, ‘Now the celestial powers’) and the archaic koinōnikon Geusasthe kai idete (‘O taste and see’, Psalm xxxiii.8). The oldest settings of the latter chant are in the plagal mode on E; the asmatikon also transmits an early cycle of settings in each of the eight modes. Finally, there is a distinctive post-communion, Eulogēsō ton Kyrion (‘I will bless the Lord at all times’, Psalm xxxiii.1).
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KENNETH LEVY/CHRISTIAN TROELSGÅRD