Historical Prospective of the Liturgy

THE VARIABLE HYMNS:TROPARIA & KONTAKIA

ipodiakonos zoran j. bobic

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • Cantors hymns of the day:

• Troparion;• Kontakion;• Theotokion (sometimes);

• Proper in any following:• The patron of the Church;• The day of the week;• The saint of the day;• The dead:• A special intention;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • “Troparia” comes before the “Kontakia”

• If we have “theotokion” then “kontakia” is last;

• “Troparia” = honor of our Lord = always first;

• “Kontakia” = follows the same order as Troparia;

• “Troparia” & “Kontakia” = are both hymns;

• They are both from Hebrew sources;

• Inspiration is from OT, from Psalter;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • When the number of Gentiles converts increased to Christianity, new

types of hymns modeled on Hellenistic poetry began to appear;

• First 2 centuries: Church favored free composition of hymns;

• In 3rd century original compositions were discouraged, due to heretical ideas;

• They were inconsistent with Christian dogma;

• They spread heretical beliefs;

• In A.D. 363 Council of Laodicea forbid singing of private “psalms”;

• If the hymn was not based on some scriptural passage it was excluded;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • After 3rd century antiphonal technique came to be developed;

• The refrains gradually expended into complete stanza or “troparion”;

• Hymnographers prepared a series of different textual stanza to be sung according to the melody of the first stanza = “hirmos”;

• They were composed by monks and clergy;

• Complete series of stanzas = “Ode”;

• Next step = drop most of the psalm and retain only enough of the original text;

• This text must correspond with the “stanza” (“Troparia”);

• Biblical canticles disappeared = replaced with short “stikhoi”; = poetical canon;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • Poetical canon (verse) = Troparia

• 5th century = they were composed in strophic form, and much longer;

• They were sung between last 3, 4, 5 or 6 verses of a psalm;

• 6th century = evidence of Troparia sung in Canonical Hours;

• First authors: (no documents survived)• Anthimus the Poet; (author of “All-night Vigils”)• Timocles the Monophysite;• Auxentius (the only preserved Troparia in his “Vita”)

• All above were inspired by Hebrew poetry;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • Poetical form of hymn = “kontakion”;

• Consists 18, 30 or more structural stanzas;

• 6th century evidence that they used “kontakion”;

• First written evidence occurs in 9th century;

• Romanos = inventor of the “kontakion”; (6th-7th centuries);

• Melodoi – beginning of 8th century;

• Some could originated from Syriac liturgical poetry;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • ½ of the 7th century = begins the 3rd period of Byzantine hymnography;

• It begins in school called “Melodoi”;

• Some of the writers were:• Andrew of Crete;• John Damascene;• Cosmas of Jerusalem;• Joseph of Thessalonica;• Heguman Theodore;• Theophanes (759-c 842);• Theodorus;• St Methodius Patriarch of Constantinople;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • “Melodoi” = created “canon” = as introduction to “Orthos”;

• “Orthos” = Morning Service;

• “Canon” = 9 Odes (songs);

• Each song has several tropariars (stanzas);

• 1st troparion of each Ode is called “hirmos”;

• Depending on their position in Ode, Troparia are also called:• Kontakion;• Ikhos;• Katabasia;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • Some of these tropariars were incorporated as variables into Liturgy;

• Original position was Divine Office and NOT Liturgy;

• They were introduced to Liturgy;

• To instruct the faithful …;

• To urge them to imitate the virtues of Christ…;

• To imitate His Mother and/or saint(s) …;

• Authors in “Melodoi” were pre-eminently theologians;

• They were expressing dogmatic truth in poetic form;

The Variable Hymns: Troparia & Kontakia • The technique was:

• To produce in listeners a religious mood;• Which was intensified by both the solemn ritual;• And the visual richness of the icons;

• In Canons the mood is often joyful & eschatological;

• Dogmatic content is beautifully expressed;

• Repeating the same idea over and over again…