I suppose in this entry touching on various influences on my musical culture, I should first address my exposure to church music. I am an Orthodox Christian—and no, I’m not Greek. There is much musical diversity within the Orthodox church, among the various ethnicities. Until I was around five years old my family attended a Carpatho-Russian church in Connecticut. When we moved to New Orleans for four years, we attended an Antiochian church. Since moving to South Carolina nine years ago, our home parish is OCA, which descended from the Russian church. I have also attended a number of services in the Greek church. Though obviously there is an ethnic difference, both in the makeup of many of the parishioners and subsequently in the overall style of music, they all have somehow combined in my memory and current outlook to form a common Orthodox experience that transcends cultural differences. It has also helped that the great majority of services have been sung in English, with the exception of the Greek one where English may be used only half the time. (On the other hand, if you get to hear Orthodox hymns sung in their native tongues, you don't need to understand the language to appreciate their beauty). In my current parish, the liturgical hymns we sing throughout the church year are collected from all of the Eastern traditions.
Though I am very much American and have no ethnic ties to the historically Eastern church, its musical traditions are nonetheless still a part of my musical culture. In a way, the traditional Western hymns, spirituals, etc. that prevail in the Bible Belt are more foreign to me than Byzantine chant and Russian polyphony, as strange as that may seem.
Another major influence in my “musical makeup” is traditional Irish music. It has had a continuous presence in my life since early childhood and is a genre close to my heart. When I was younger I was also involved in Irish dance, which I have since stopped (but would love to pick up again someday), and so was acquainted with the larger context of the music. On campus here at Converse, my sister and I have been a part of a group she founded, the Bards of Eireann, in order to enjoy the repertoire. Though I am pursuing a degree that focuses on classically trained viola, there is still nothing quite the same as the carefree experience of playing jigs, reels and hornpipes with friends who share my love of the rich musical tradition.
That is amazing that you have experienced so much eastern music. I have never more than peeked in a Greek Orthedox church. Are most of the members of the congregation at least partly Greek or is it mixed? Then if a hymn is sung in Greek can you sing with it? It would seem much less aproachable to anyone who doesn't speak Greek and then if the community can't sing the music it would cease to be a hymn as defined in my hymnology class,(a poem intended to be set to music and sung by a group) but then again that is not often what is often intended by someone using the word hymn.
ReplyDeleteThe church that I attend now is in the OCA branch, which is made up of mostly American converts, so it may be more approachable than the Greek church, as all of the liturgy and hymns are translated into English. I agree, the language of the people should be used. I suppose the reason Greek is still used, more or less, in the Greek branch is because of the majority of parishioners there.
ReplyDeleteYou have been involved in alot, young one!;) I like the fact that you took your experiences from all of the different churches and formed your own opinions based on your time in each one.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear more about your Orthodox liturgy--it's an area that I'm only passingly familiar with. Your blog is very well-written. And I love the picture--is it your own work?
ReplyDeleteyes, it's a self-portrait that I drew a couple of years ago :)
ReplyDelete