St. Maximus the Confessor Orthodox Church
Diocese of the South, Orthodox Church in America
Denton, Texas
A parish of the Orthodox Church in America | Orthodoxy in America
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Orthodox Music Appreciation Class

A class on Orthodox Music is currently being designed, possibly to meet in Fall 2009.  Below is a very preliminary syllabus of course material.  Subjects may change as necessary.  Please contact Subdeacon Anthony Stokes with any questions.

Orthodox Music Appreciation

Week 1 – History of Christian Music
                Synagogue vs. Temple Worship
                Hebraic Chant
                Church Fathers on Singing
                St. Gregory Dialogus (Gregorian Chant)
                Ambrosian Chant
                Syriac/Coptic Chant
                Islamic Chant

Week 2 – Fundamentals of Orthodox Music
                Singing and the Liturgy     
                Terminology
                Services
                Performance Practice
                Hymnography/Composition
                System of Eight Tones

Week 3 – Byzantine Chant
                Introduction & History
                Notation & the Three Teachers
                Tonal System      
                Different Styles (Athonite, Great Church, Arab)

Week 4 – Byzantine Chant
                In Depth Examples of Different Styles
                Famous Hymns
                Influence on Russian Chant
                Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian Styles

Week 5 – Medieval Russian Chant
                Early Chant
                Notation
                Znamenny Chant
                Old Believers
                Other Chant Systems (Kievan, Valaam, etc.)
                Prostopinije 

Week 6 – Russian Polyphony
                Italian Period
                Borniansky
                Censorship of Church Music
                Court Chant
                Golden Age of Russian Choral Music
                Tchaikovsky

Week 7 – 20th Century and American Orthodox Music
                Rachmaninoff
                Organs?
                Modern Greek Choral Music
                American Composers
                Future Trends in Orthodox Music

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