George Rhaedestenos II (; ''Georgios Rhaeestenos II''; 1833 in

Rhaedestus Bisanthe () was a great city in ancient Thrace, on the coast of the Propontis, which had been founded by the Samians. About 400 BCE, Bisanthe belonged to the kingdom of the Thracian prince Seuthes II. At a later period its name was changed int ...

– 1889 in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

) was acting

Lambadarios A lampadarius, plural ''Lampadarii'', from the Latin ''lampada'', from Ancient Greek "lampas" λαμπάς (candle), was a slave who carried torches before consuls, emperors and other officials of high dignity both during the later Roman Republic ...

of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

, when Stephen the Lambadarios was old and weak. He was an unimmitable performer of psaltic art, and second to none of his contemporary cantors; he was especially renowned for his ancient-like patriarchal chanting style.

Biography

He was born in 1833 at

, where his first learned music; but later became proficient in

by the Archcantor of the

Great Church The term "Great Church" () is used in the historiography of early Christianity to mean the period of about 180 to 313, between that of primitive Christianity and that of the legalization of the Christian religion in the Roman Empire, correspond ...

Constantine Byzantios, at the proposal of the retired in Antigone former Patriarch of Constantinople

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

from Sinai. He served as a cantor in various churches of the Greek Orthodox Archbishopric of Constantinople. In 1863, under Patriarch Sophronios III, he was made Lambadarios of the Great Church, when Archcantor was John Byzantios. On 2 February 1871, under the patriarchy of Gregory VI, he became Archcantor in succession of Savrakes Gregoriades. He stayed at this service until 1875. In October 1876, he retired from the patriarchate and lead the choir of the church of St John of Chios in Galata, of St. Nicholas and the Saviour Christ, the church of the Holy Trinity at Peran, and towards the end of his life in the church of St. Nicholas at Tzivali. For four years (1880 to 1884), he presided over the Hellenic Musical Association, which was based in

Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...

, and directed and taught at this Musical School (1882). He had few, but distinguished students. He died at

in August 1889.

Works

George Rhaedestenos II beautified and metered all the lessons of the yearly service. He composed several hymns which stand out for their honey-sweetness. He published two music books, in which one can find the chanted services of the

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

and the Pentecostarion together with remarks from the

Typikon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; , "that of the prescribed form"; Church Slavonic: ') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite office and variable hymns of the Divine Liturgy. Historical de ...

. Some of his beautiful hymns were published in the ''"Music compilation"'' by Demetrios Kyphiotes (1894), and by Agathangellos Kyriazides in the 1896 book ''"One blossom for our church music"'', as well as in ''"Forminga"''Φόρμιγγα: Musical volume of the 1st year, pages 3 and 129. an Athenian musical newspaper.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhaedestenos II, George 19th-century Greek male singers Greek musicologists 1833 births 1889 deaths Greeks from the Ottoman Empire People from Tekirdağ Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople 19th-century musicologists