Isaiah the Serb ( sr, Исаија Србин/Isaija Srbin) was a Serbian Orthodox

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and E ...

and composer of chants who flourished in the second half of the 15th century. Along with Kir Joakim,

Kir Stefan the Serb Kir Stefan the Serb (second half of the 14th and 15th century) was a Serbian monk, protopsaltos, musicologist, choirmaster and more importantly, composer of the chants developed within the sphere of the activities of Byzantine culture in the Serb ...

, Nikola the Serb he faithfully followed Byzantine musical tradition, writing in the late kalophonic style of the 14th and 15th centuries.

Life and works

Isaiah worked in the

Matejče Monastery The Monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God ( sr, Манастир Пресвете Богородице, Macedonian: Жеглиговски манастир), commonly known as Matejče (Матејче) or Matejić (Матејић), is a 14th-c ...

, near

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia by population, largest municipali ...

(in modern

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

). He was a prolific author of

acolouthia Acolouthia ( el, ἀκολουθία, "a following"; cu, последование, posledovanie) in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, signifies the arrangement of the Divine Services (Canonical Hours or Divine Office), perhaps be ...

s (in

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...

''послѣдованиѥ''). Each ''acolouthia'' was an anthology of liturgical chants and

psalm 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 ...

settings, both his own and others'. Isaiah was a very well-educated composer of both bilingual and purely

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

hymns. His masterpiece, ''Serbian Polyeleos'', appears in two manuscripts, one version with a Serbian recension of the text, the other with a Greek. The existence of Greek and Slavonic settings in his works shows that Serbian services were commonly bilingual. He was also the author of the bilingual ''

Trisagion The ''Trisagion'' ( el, Τρισάγιον; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its opening line ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholi ...

''. Many of his works are short syllabic hymns honouring the Serbian saints. Isaiah's melodies, some syllabic, others more melismatic, show his inventiveness, and his ability to introduce new and original elements, especially from the Serbian tradition, within the compositional framework of the Byzantine chant, thus creating a new and distinctive style: the Serbo-Byzantine school. His works represent two thirds of preserved Serbian Medieval music. He was also immensely popular after his death, with his compositions being copied until the late 18th century. His works are also included in the ''Anthologion'' 928 from the

National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Partial list of works

*''Bilingual Trisagion'' (, ) *''Greek Trisagion'' *''Serbian Polyeleos'' (), one Greek and one Serbian version *''Christos Anesti'' ("Christ is Risen"; ), a

Paschal troparion The Paschal troparion or ''Christos anesti'' (Greek: Χριστός ἀνέστη) is the characteristic troparion for the celebration of Pascha (Easter) in the Byzantine Rite. Like most troparia, it is a brief stanza often used as a refrain bet ...

*''Ѱаломникь’'' *Four different ' *''Въскликнѣте Богови'' *''КрьстȢ ТвоемȢ'' *''Прїидѣте Въси Землънородны''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaiah the Serb 15th-century Serbian people Christian hymnwriters Medieval Serbian Orthodox clergy Serbian composers 15th-century composers 15th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy Serbian monks 15th-century Christian monks

Life and works

Partial list of works

See also

References