Irmologion ( grc-gre, τὸ εἱρμολόγιον ) is a
liturgical book of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
and those
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...
which follow the
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
Th ...
. It contains
''irmoi'' () organised in sequences of odes (, sg. ) and such a sequence was called
''canon'' ( 'law'). These canons of nine, eight, four or three odes are supposed to be chanted during the morning service (Orthros). The book ''Irmologion'' derives from ''
heirmos The irmos (or heirmos from grc-x-koine, εἱρμός) in the Byzantine liturgical tradition is the initial troparion of an ode of a canon. The meter and melody of an irmos is followed by the remaining troparia of the ode; when more than one canon ...
'' () which means 'link'. The is a melodic model which preceded the composition of the odes. According to the etymology, the book 'collects' ( ) the .
The melodic irmos and the odes of the canon and its use during the morning service
An important portion of
Matins
Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning.
The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated by ...
and other services in the Orthodox Church is the
canon, a long liturgical poem divided into nine strophes with a sophisticated meter called
ode. Each ode and its prosodic meter is made according to a certain
irmos The irmos (or heirmos from grc-x-koine, εἱρμός) in the Byzantine liturgical tradition is the initial troparion of an ode of a canon. The meter and melody of an irmos is followed by the remaining troparia of the ode; when more than one canon ...
, and concerning its celebration during Orthros it is followed by troparia called . Sometimes certain longer irmoi are sung which are called
katabasia
Katabasia or Katavasia (Greek καταβασία, from καταβαίον, "descend") is a type of hymn, and the last troparion of an ode of a canon, chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byza ...
i because of their descending melos.
The
troparia sung with the canon are performed out of a textbook (
Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
,
Menaion
The Menaion ( el, Μηναῖον; Slavonic: Минїѧ, ''Miniya'', "of the month") is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox Churchand those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite containing the propers for fixed ...
) according to
avtomela
(Medieval Greek: from , 'unique' and , 'melody'; Church Slavonic: , )—pl. ''idiomela''—is a type of sticheron found in the liturgical books used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, ...
, but the irmoi and are chanted by the choir according to the model of the irmoi. Since the Irmologion was invented as a chant book provided with musical notation, it only contained the smaller number of heirmoi with those texts which identified them. The other canons and were usually collected in a separated text book, and the incipit of a certain or, in case of troparia the , indicated the melody which had to be applied for the recitation of the hymns.
Since the Byzantine period, there already developed a soloistic way to perform just one certain ode during more important religious feast, if the celebration took more time than usual, but the genre became even more popular and innovative during the Ottoman period following the example of Balasios the Priest. The printed edition of the (
1835
Events
January–March
* January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist.
* January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history.
...
) is dominated by Ottoman era composers like
Chrysaphes the Younger Panagiotes the Protopsaltes or Panagiotes the New Chrysaphes ( el, Παναγιώτης Χρυσάφης ὁ Νέος; c. 1622 – 1682) was a Greek composer, ''protopsaltes'' (first cantor) and poet in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Emp ...
, Germanos of New Patras, Balasios, and later generations like
Petros Bereketis
Petros Bereketis ( el, Πέτρος Μπερεκέτης) or Peter the Sweet (Πέτρος ο Γλυκής) was one of the most innovative musicians of 17th-century Constantinople (Ottoman period). He, together with Panagiotes the New Chrysaphes, ...
and even later the school founded by Panagiotes Halacoğlu and his followers at the New Music School of the Patriarchate (Daniel the Protopsaltes,
Petros Peloponnesios Petros Peloponnesios ("Peter the Peloponnesian") or Peter the Lampadarios (c. 1735 Tripolis–1778 Constantinople) was a great cantor, composer and teacher of Byzantine and Ottoman music. He must have served as second ''domestikos'' between his arri ...
, Georgios of Crete).
Organisation of the irmologion
The earliest sources with heirmoi were the tropologion (
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
) which organised hymns of different genres with modal signatures according to the calendar, beginning with the Christmas and Theophany cycle. The book irmologion developed not earlier than during the 10th century (
GR-AOml Ms.
β.32 is probably the oldest fully notated irmologion).
![Heirmologion from Sinai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Heirmologion_from_Sinai.jpg)
Within the Irmologion, the new chant book of the
Stoudites' reform, the irmoi are usually arranged according to the
eight tones
The Octoechos (from the Greek: ; from ὀκτώ 'eight' and ἦχος 'sound, mode' called echos; cu, Осмѡгласникъ, from о́смь 'eight' and гласъ 'voice, sound') is a liturgical book containing a repertoire of hymns ...
of
Byzantine chant
Byzantine music (Greek: Βυζαντινή μουσική) is the music of the Byzantine Empire. Originally it consisted of songs and hymns composed to Greek texts used for courtly ceremonials, during festivals, or as paraliturgical and liturgical ...
either according to the odes (order of the odes, OdO, divided into eight parts according to the echoi, but within each echos all odes are ordered beginning with all first odes of each canon, all second or third odes etc.) or according to the
canon (canon order, KaO, divided into eight parts according to the echoi, but the odes within each echos are organised according to the canon of each irmos).
As example for the ode order (OdO), one might study the earlier irmologia of the Greek collection at the library of Saint Catherine's Monastery at the food of Mount Sinai: the manuscripts
929
Year 929 ( CMXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* January 16 – Emir Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba proclaims himself caliph and create ...
and
1258
Year 1258 ( MCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Mongol Empire
* February 10 – Siege of Baghdad: Mongol forces (some 150,000 men) led b ...
are organised, that the first, second, third, etc. odes are together. Since the second ode is only sung during Lent, there were much less second odes than first or third odes.
As example for the canon order (KaO), one might study the very early fully notated manuscript of the Great Lavra on Mount Athos (
GR-AOml Ms.
β.32 written about 1000 with Chartres notation), the standard example for Coislin notation (
F-Pn Ms.
Coislin 220), or the later manuscripts of the Sinai collection (ET-MSsc Sin. gr.) such as Ms.
1256
Year 1256 (Roman numerals, MCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Mongol Empire
* Spring – Mongol forces (some 80,000 men) under Hulagu Khan cr ...
and the first half of
1257
Year 1257 (Roman numerals, MCCLVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – The Epirote–Nicaean conflict (1257–59), Epirote–Nicae ...
. Here each ode has an ode number, such as ωδ α᾽ for the first ode, usually followed by a modal signature corresponding to the echos section.
The next ode is mostly ωδ γ᾽ for the third ode, because according to the more common canon the second one is left out. Thus, one canon follows the preceding one until the order is fulfilled. These canons usually follow within each echos section according to the calendaric order. There is no real chronology between both orders, both existed already in the oldest heirmologia and they persisted until the current print editions.
It also seems that the earlier manuscripts which still numbered the canons within the canon order, sorted them according to ascribed authors, Ms.
Coislin 220 has also more or less concrete descriptions of the festive occasion, and still provides a choice of several canons in different echoi and composed by different authors for the very same feast. The number of canons is higher than in the later heirmologia of the 14th century, and it should be mentioned that certain schools like the one of
Germanus I of Constantinople
Germanus I (c. 634 – 733 or 740) was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. He is regarded as a saint, by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, with a feast day of 12 May. He had been ecumenically preceded by Patriarch J ...
had been completely abandoned in the current print editions of the Orthodox church.
Concerning the Slavonic reception, first by Cyril and Methodius' students around
Clement of Ohrid and
Constantine of Preslav
Constantine of Preslav () was a medieval Bulgarian scholar, writer and translator, one of the most important men of letters working at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. Biographical evidence ...
, the translators did not very close translations of the Greek hymns, they rather tried to preserve the sophisticated system of the melodic models such as avtomela and irmoi without changing the melodies. Within Slavonic manuscripts, the separation between Irmolog and the Oktoich and other books of the sticherarion was less common, usually the Oktoich books were so voluminous, since they included the irmoi (similar to the composition of the older tropologia which persisted until the 12th century), that they were separated into two volumes—one for Glas I-IV (the authentic modes) and a second for Glas V-VIII (the plagal modes). But there are irmologs provided with znamennaya notation since the 12th century—the Irmolog preserved at the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RUS-Mda / ргада fond 381 Ms.
150 150 may refer to:
*150 (number), a natural number
*AD 150, a year in the 2nd century AD
*150 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
*150 Regiment RLC
*Combined Task Force 150
See also
* List of highways numbered 150
The following highways are numbered ...
), for instance. All Old Church Slavonic irmologs are organised in ode order.
Today the Irmologion is often replaced by another chant book which is called "Anthology of the Orthros" ( or ) which replaced the earlier Akolouthiai used since the 14th century. Some of these Anthologies do also contain the odes of the canon, but also many other hymns of the
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
ion (especially the more elaborated compositions the Polyeleos psalms) and of the book
Octoechos which are sung during the morning service (Orthros, Utrenna). Already Codex sinaiticus graecus
1257
Year 1257 (Roman numerals, MCCLVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – The Epirote–Nicaean conflict (1257–59), Epirote–Nicae ...
dating back to 1332, has a second part dedicated to the recitation of psalm verses (psalmody) during Orthros and Hesperinos, including the Polyeleoi.
These additional hymns sung during Orthros are:
* Antiphons () which should not be confused with the Latin
Antiphon (even if they are often reduced today to a few short troparia which were once sung as a refrain), since it is a rather elaborated form, usually organised in three sections (they usually follow the Great Ectenia at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy and of the Orthros)
*
Dogmatica, hymns in honour of the Mother of God (
Theotokos
''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...
) which are also chanted during the
Little Entrance of
Vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...
* Theotokia, troparia in honour of the Mother of God, but not as specific as the Dogmatica
* Orthros psalm "Theos
kyrios
''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' ( grc, κύριος, kū́rios) is a Greek word which is usually translated as "lord" or "master". It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures about 7000 times, in particular translating the name ...
" () (Ps. 117:27a) three times and Evlogetaria Anastasima in Echos Plagios Protos (, Ps. 118:12)
*
Troparia of the
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
in the
eight tones
The Octoechos (from the Greek: ; from ὀκτώ 'eight' and ἦχος 'sound, mode' called echos; cu, Осмѡгласникъ, from о́смь 'eight' and гласъ 'voice, sound') is a liturgical book containing a repertoire of hymns ...
* The full text of the
Polyeleos The Polyeleos is a festive portion of the Matins or All-Night Vigil service as observed on higher-ranking feast days in the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran, and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches. The Polyeleos is considered to be the high point of ...
(
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
134 and 135; also Psalm 136, which is used during the
Pre-Lenten Season
Shrovetide, also known as the Pre-Lenten Season or Forelent, is the Christian period of preparation before the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent.
Shrovetide starts on Septuagesima Sunday, includes Sexagesima Sunday, Quinquagesima Sunda ...
), which is chanted at Matins on Sundays and
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
s
* Songs of praise for feasts and saints
*
Anabathmoi
Song of Ascents is a title given to fifteen of the Psalms, 120–134 (119–133 in the Septuagint and the Vulgate), each starting with the superscription Shir Hama'aloth ( ''šîr ha-ma‘ălōṯ'', meaning "Song of the Ascents"), or, in the cas ...
, or "Hymns of Ascent", based upon Psalms 119–133
*
Prokeimena
In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite, a prokeimenon (Greek , plural ; sometimes /; lit. 'that which precedes') is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or ...
preceding the Gospel
* Doxologiai ()
History
The oldest manuscripts which contained canons, were tropologia which are composed according to a calendaric order. There were also types like the Georgian and the Armenian
Šaraknoc'. The book Irmologion was created later as a notated chant book by the reformers at the
Stoudios Monastery
The Monastery of Stoudios, more fully Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner "at Stoudios" ( grc-gre, Μονή του Αγίου Ιωάννη του Προδρόμου εν τοις Στουδίου, Monē tou Hagiou Iōannē tou Prodromou en to ...
, although not all Irmologia have musical notation. Concerning the traditional repertoire of these books, a Studites edition can be distinguished from the one at
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
.
The earliest notated Irmologion can be dated back to the 10th century in Byzantium. A full version of the Russian Irmologion, in
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
includes about 1050 irmoi.
Earlier examples provided only the written text; later, the "hooks" and "banners" of
Znamenny Chant were added above the text. The first printed edition of a notated Irmologion in Russia, the , using
neumes (square notes) on a
staff, was published in 1772. Today, most Russian Irmologia are printed using modern
musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
(with the exception of some
Old Believer communities, which continue to use the older znamenny neumes
[See the Rozniki Irmolog at the National Library of Petrozavodsk.]), although elsewhere,
Byzantine music
Byzantine music (Greek: Βυζαντινή μουσική) is the music of the Byzantine Empire. Originally it consisted of songs and hymns composed to Greek texts used for courtly ceremonials, during festivals, or as paraliturgical and liturgical ...
al notation is nearly universally used.
See also
*
Andrew of Crete
*
Cosmas of Maiuma
*
John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
*
Joseph the Hymnographer
Saint Joseph the Hymnographer ( el, Όσιος Ιωσήφ ο Υμνογράφος) was a Greek monk of the ninth century. He is one of the greatest liturgical poets and hymnography, hymnographers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is also known for ...
*
Octoechos system
*
Octoechos and parakletike
*
Sticherarion
*
Theodore the Studite
Theodore the Studite ( grc-x-medieval, Θεόδωρος ό Στουδίτης; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. H ...
*
Theophanes the Branded
Theodorus (ca. 775–ca. 842) and Theophanes (ca. 778–845), called the ''Grapti'' (from the Greek graptoi, "written upon"), are remembered as proponents of the veneration of icons during the second Iconoclastic controversy. They were bro ...
References
Chant books
Tropologia (6th to 12th centuries)
*
Office Menaia, Fasten and Flower Triod with Akrosticha
*
*
*
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*
*
Slavic irmologs with znamennaya notation (12th to 16th centuries)
*
*
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Slavic irmologs with kryuki notation (16th to 20th centuries)
*
Old Byzantine notation (10th to 13th centuries)
*
*
*
*
Middle Byzantine notation (13th to 19th centuries)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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Without notation (10th to 18th centuries)
*
Chrysanthine notation (since 1814)
*
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Editions
*
Studies
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External links
*
Selections from the Irmologion(in English)
{{Eastern Orthodox liturgical books
Eastern Orthodox liturgical books