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Irmologion ( ) is a
liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official Church service, religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of ...
of the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
and those
Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
which follow the
Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...
. 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'' () 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 (between midnight and dawn). The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which w ...
and other services in the Orthodox Church is the
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
, a long liturgical poem divided into nine strophes with a sophisticated meter called
ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...
. Each ode and its prosodic meter is made according to a certain irmos, and concerning its celebration during Orthros it is followed by troparia called . Sometimes certain longer irmoi are sung which are called katabasiai because of their descending melos. The troparia sung with the canon are performed out of a textbook ( Reader, Menaion) according to avtomela, 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) is dominated by Ottoman era composers like Chrysaphes the Younger, Germanos of New Patras, Balasios, and later generations like Petros Bereketis 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, Georgios of Crete).


Organisation of the irmologion

The earliest sources with heirmoi were the tropologion ( Georgian ,
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 around 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). Within the Irmologion, the new chant book of the Stoudites' reform, the irmoi are usually arranged according to the eight tones of
Byzantine chant Byzantine music () originally consisted of the songs and hymns composed for the courtly and religious ceremonial of the Byzantine Empire and continued, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in the traditions of the sung Byzantine chant of East ...
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 or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
(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 foot of Mount Sinai: the manuscripts 929 and 1258 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 ( MCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Mongol Empire * Spring – Mongol forces (some 80,000 men), under Hulagu Khan, cross the Oxus River, and begin their campaign to ...
and the first half of 1257. 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 of Constantinople (, Greek: Γερμανός; 634 – 742) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. He is regarded as a saint by both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, with a feast day of 12 May. He had bee ...
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 Saint Clement (or Kliment) of Ohrid ( Bulgarian, Macedonian, , ''Kliment Ohridski''; , ''Klḗmēs tē̂s Akhrídas''; ; – 916) was one of the first medieval Bulgarian saints, scholar, writer, and apostle to the Slavs. He was one of the mos ...
and Constantine of Preslav, 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), 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 were ...
ion (especially the more elaborated compositions the Polyeleos psalms) and of the book
Octoechos Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ;The feminine form exists as well, but means the book octoechos. from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́с ...
which are sung during the morning service (Orthros, Utrenna). Already Codex sinaiticus graecus 1257 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 An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely compo ...
(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 or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-beare ...
) which are also chanted during the Little Entrance of
Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...
* Theotokia, troparia in honour of the Mother of God, but not as specific as the Dogmatica * Orthros psalm "Theos
kyrios ''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' () is a Greek word that is usually translated as "lord" or "master". It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) about 7000 times, in particular translating the name YHWH (t ...
" () (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. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...
in the eight tones * 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 calendar of saints, feast days in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran, and Eastern Catholic Churches, Byzantine Rit ...
(
Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...
134 and 135; also Psalm 136, which is used during the Pre-Lenten Season), 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 does n ...
s * Songs of praise for feasts and saints * Anabathmoi, or "Hymns of Ascent", based upon Psalms 119–133 * Prokeimena 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, 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. 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 is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...
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
neume A neume (; sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and some Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff (music), staff notation. The earliest neumes were inflective marks that indicated the gener ...
s (square notes) on a staff, was published in 1772. Today, most Russian Irmologia are printed using modern
musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...
(with the exception of some Old Believer communities, which continue to use the older znamenny neumesSee the Rozniki Irmolog at the National Library of Petrozavodsk.), although elsewhere, Byzantine musical notation is nearly universally used.


See also

*
Andrew of Crete Andrew of Crete (, c. 650 – July 4, 712 or 726 or 740), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was an 8th-century bishop, theologian, homilist,A list of forty of his discourses, together with twenty-one edited sermons, is given in ''Patrologia Gr ...
*
Cosmas of Maiuma Cosmas of Maiuma, also called Cosmas Hagiopolites ("of the Holy City"), Cosmas of Jerusalem, Cosmas the Melodist, or Cosmas the Poet (d. 773 or 794), was a bishop and an important hymnographer in the East. He is venerated as a saint by the East ...
*
John of Damascus John of Damascus or John Damascene, born Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr ibn Sarjūn, was an Arab Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and apologist. He was born and raised in Damascus or AD 676; the precise date and place of his death is not know ...
* Joseph the Hymnographer * Octoechos system * Octoechos and parakletike * Sticherarion *
Theodore the Studite Theodore the Studite (; 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. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantin ...
* Theophanes the Branded


References


Chant books


Tropologia (6th to 12th centuries)

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Office Menaia, Fasten and Flower Triod with Akrosticha

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Slavic irmologs with znamennaya notation (12th to 16th centuries)

* * *


Slavic irmologs with kryuki notation (16th to 20th centuries)

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Old Byzantine notation (10th to 13th centuries)

* * * *


Middle Byzantine notation (13th to 19th centuries)

* * * * * * * *


Without notation (10th to 18th centuries)

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Chrysanthine notation (since 1814)

* * * * * *


Editions

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Studies

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External links

*
Selections from the Irmologion
(in English) {{Eastern Orthodox liturgical books Eastern Orthodox liturgical books