MUSIC RESOURCES
SCORES AND AUDIO
Sources for Galician Chant
In Church Slavonic
Irmologion (Suprasl, 1598–1601) on the website of the Vernadsky Library in Kyiv
Irmologion (Lviv, 1709) pdf
Irmologion (Lviv, 1816) zip
Kiprian, Matins of Pascha (Lviv, 1883) pdf
Kiprian, Liturgy of St. Basil the Great and Great Lent (Lviv, 1893) pdf
Dolnytsky, Hlasopisnets (Lviv, 1894) zip
Polotniuk, Napivnyk Tserkovnyj (Przemyśl, 1902) pdf
Irmologion (Lviv, 1904) pdf on the page of Andrew Protopsaltes (Andriy Shkrabiuk)
Ostheim-Dzerowycz, Napivnyk Tsekovnyj (Rome, 1959) pdf
In Ukrainian
Roll, Music of the Ukrainian Catholic Church for Congregational Singing (Stamford, 1980) pdf
General Resources for Galician Chant
Unmercenary Sacred Music Galician Chant page by Fr. Silouan Rolando
Scanned books and articles by Jopi Harri, including his thesis on the origins of St. Petersburg Court Chant (“Obikhod”) with many references to Kievan and Galician chant.
Article and lecture by Deacon Daniel Galadza on church singing in Galicia
Oktoechos – the Eight Tones
The Octoechos, A Kliros Handbook for the Eight Tones
A DRAFT VERSION of Reader Ilya Galadza’s summary of the eight tones in Galician, Kievan, and Znamenny Chant, in English, which includes sticheron (“samohlasni”), troparion (“resurrectional”), prokeimenon, and alleluia melodies, including the Dogmatikon and Bulgarian melodies. The notes are written in “Kievan notation” or “square notation”, which was common notation of the liturgical music books of our Church in from roughly the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. For more on Kievan notation, read this primer by Nikita Simmons here. If you find any typos or have corrections, please send them to the SingCon e-mail address.
Tone 1 Tone 2 Tone 3 Tone 4 Tone 5 Tone 6 Tone 7 Tone 8
Galician Tones Cheat-Sheets
Seminarian Julian Savaryn’s three-page summary of the eight tones in Galician chant. Download it here.
A table by Deacon Daniel Galadza with introductory texts of the hymnography for Troparia, Kontakia, and Prokeimena for the eight tones. Download it here. It prints on US Legal size paper.
Octoechos Guide for Galician Chant
A complete overview of the eight tones in Galician Chant by Fr. Silouan Rolando that includes Troparion, Kontakion, and Prokeimenon melodies as well as Sticheron melodies for the Samohlas, Podoben, and Bulgarian melodies, some even in four-part harmony. Download it here.
Sticheron (Samohlas) Melodies: “O Lord, I have cried to You” (Psalm 140)
A helpful resource for the stichera melodies can be found at the Unmercenary Sacred Music page of Fr. Silouan Rolando. These recordings were made in October 2020 by the Kliros of St. Elias Church in Brampton, Ontario, directed by Reader Ilya Galadza.
Tone 1
Melody and verses for Psalm 140 at Vespers pdf
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
SATB harm. Fr. C. Dachuk pdf audio
SATB harm. D. Galadza pdf audio
Tone 2
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Tone 3
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Tone 4
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Tone 5
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Tone 6
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Tone 7
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Tone 8
St. Elias Church, Brampton pdf audio
Theotokia Dogmatika
The eight Dogmatika for Vespers are sung while the clergy process from the sanctuary into the nave of the church before the culmination of Vespers with the entrance and the hymn “Tranquil Light” (Phos hilarion, Світе тихий). They are sung as the final sticheron at Psalm 140 on Saturday evening, depending on the tone of the week, as well as on Friday evening (as the “leave-taking” of the tone of the week) and usually for Vespers for polyeleos rank commemorations.
The Church Slavonic originals are from the Lviv Irmologion (1904), Ukrainian translations and adaptations are available from Andrew Protopsaltis (Andriy Shkrabiuk), and the English translations from Byzantine Daily Worship arranged by Fr. Roman Galadza, with his own audio recordings.
Vespers
Great Vespers With Propers for Saturday Evening, 4th Edition – Supplemented, ed. Fr. Peter Galadza (Ottawa: The Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, 2013) – order here.
Psalm 103
“Blessed is the man” (First Kathisma)
Saturday evening is the beginning of Sunday and the beginning of the weekly cycle of the Psalter, which is read once in its entirety (twice a week during Great Lent) in the Byzantine Rite. Psalm 1 begins with the words “Blessed is the man…,” whom Church Fathers explain is Christ, the model of our lives as Christians. In parish practice, selected verses from the first part of the First Kathisma are sung on Saturday evenings and the eves of feasts when “Blessed is the man…” is prescribed.
Kievan Obikhod Chant: SATB pdf audio SAA/TTBB pdf audio
Kievan Obikhod Chant, harm. N. Kedrov Jr.: pdf audio
Pochaiv Lavra Chant
“O Lord, I have cried to You” (Psalm 140) and Dogmatika
See above.
Tranquil Light
One of the most ancient hymns of the Byzantine tradition, “Tranquil Light” (Phos hilarion, Світе тихий) is sung every day of the year at Vespers. The hymn, or at least certain phrases from it, was known by St. Basil the Great already in the fourth century. The text praises Christ, the “tranquil light” Who is the glory of the Father, Whom we praise as we come upon the sunset at the end of the day.
Galician Chant, harm. Fr. Conrad Dachuk: English pdf audio Church Slavonic pdf
Kievan Chant, (arr. S. Dvoretsky: English pdf Church Slavonic pdf
Chant of St. Elias Skete, Mount Athos: English pdf Church Slavonic pdf
Prokeimena
A helpful resource for Prokeimena can be found at the Unmercenary Sacred Music page of Fr. Silouan Rolando
Galician Chant, harm. St. Elias Church: English pdf audio
Canticle of Symeon
Galician Bulgarian Chant, Tone 5, harm. Fr. Roman Galadza, English trans. Fr. Conrad Dachuk: pdf audio
Galician Bulgarian Chant, Tone 3, harm. Metropolitan Ionafan (Eletskykh): pdf audio
Matins
Polyeleos
Chant of the Yablochynsky Monastery: English pdf audio
Lviv Irmologion (1904), arr. Ilya Galadza: Church Slavonic pdf audio
Divine Liturgy
Just as with Vespers and Matins, there are numerous chants and melodies for the Divine Liturgy. The most common melodies sung in the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church are Galician Chant “Samoilka” (audio examples; article on Galician Chant “Samoilka”) which are well suited for congregational singing. There are also many choral arrangements, provided in the list below, that are sung by a choir or kliros and often imitated by congregations as well.
Great Litany
Antiphons
“Only-begotten Son”
“Holy God” (Trisagion)
M. Berezovsky (1745–1777): English pdf audio
Cherubic Hymn
“No. 5,” D. Bortniansky (1751–1825): English pdf audio
Congregational adaptation found in Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship (Ottawa: Sheptytsky Institute, 2004), p. 275 and p. 280
Staro-Simonov Chant, also attributed to H. Skovoroda (1722–1794), harm. P. Chesnokov (–1944): English pdf audio
Congregational adaptation found in Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship (Ottawa: Sheptytsky Institute, 2004), p. 221 and p. 224
B. Ledkovsky (1895–1975): English pdf audio
“The mercy of peace” (Anaphora)
D. Christov (1875–1941): English pdf audio
A. Arkhangelsky (1846–1924): English pdf audio
“It is truly right to Bless you” (Hymn to the Mother of God)
Galician Chant, harm. M. Leontovych (1877–1921): English pdf audio
Congregational adaptation found in Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship (Ottawa: Sheptytsky Institute, 2004), p. 151
Galician Chant (Funeral Variant), harm. Metropolitan Ionafan (Yeletskykh): English pdf audio
Our Father
Galician Chant (Samoilka): SATB English pdf audio
N. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908): English pdf audio
Congregational adaptation found in Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship (Ottawa: Sheptytsky Institute, 2004), p. 301
Post-Communion
“Blessed be the name of the Lord”
D. Sichynsky (1865–1909): Ukrainian/English/French pdf audio
D. Bortniansky (1751–1825): Ukrainian/English/French pdf audio