Collage on FMR 101.3 FM
Tuesday 7 July 2009, 20:00 - 22:00
Programme notes on
Serbian Orthodox Divine Liturgy
Stevan Mokranjac, born in 1856, was a Serbian composer, ethnomusicologist and an outstanding choir master and composer. He is as beloved in Serbia as Smetana is in Bohemia or Dvorzak in the Czech Republik.
Mokranjac was a collector of secular and sacred folk songs and the first to research these songs, thus laying the foundations for musicology in Serbia.
Today we are going to listen to the Serbian Orthodox Divine Liturgy composed by Stevan Stevanovic Mokranjac. On a general level this work is similar to the sacred works of Rachmaninoff - Serbian Orthodox Church music has a lot in common with Greek and Russian Orthodox church music.
Serbian church music consists only of a cappella singing. This is a very interesting contrast to Serbian folk music which has lots of brass, accordion, violin and percussion with complex rhythms.
Performing this kind of liturgical music requires professionals or devoted amateurs and throughout the country there are singing societies that sing this complex music for church services. As music student in Belgrade I sang this liturgy many times.
In the Serbian Orthodox church the choir is placed on a balcony, which gives the singing a lofty, ethereal quality. The soloist who is a priest stands in front of the iconostasis. There is a whole crowd of them actually, but just the one sings.
Mokranjac wrote The Serbian Orthodox Divine Liturgy in 1895 based on a Serbian folk chant from the end of the 18th century.
His ability to harmonize and stylize this melody has resulted in an archaic and very distinctly Slavonic sound. You will hear his ingenious use of polyphonic elements which enhance the expressiveness of the melodic line in each voice. I hear some Wagnerian harmonies here as well.
Tonight I will play four sections from the 45 minute liturgy:
the calm opening canticle, Svjati Boze (holy God), the Alleluia and the most elaborate and important part of the Liturgy, the impressive Cherubic Hymn (Ize Heruvimi ) which means – we who mystically represent the Cherubim). My selection finishes with Otca I Sina (The Father and the Son).
The soloist Vlada Mikic, is an Othodox priest. Besides being an important church figure he is also a well-know concert soloist.
His solo line is melodically very restricted and serves as a harmoic anchor to the melody. The choir is Hor Radio Televizije Beograd conducted by Mladen Jagust.
Stevan Mokranjac, born in 1856, was a Serbian composer, ethnomusicologist and an outstanding choir master and composer. He is as beloved in Serbia as Smetana is in Bohemia or Dvorzak in the Czech Republik.
Mokranjac was a collector of secular and sacred folk songs and the first to research these songs, thus laying the foundations for musicology in Serbia.
Today we are going to listen to the Serbian Orthodox Divine Liturgy composed by Stevan Stevanovic Mokranjac. On a general level this work is similar to the sacred works of Rachmaninoff - Serbian Orthodox Church music has a lot in common with Greek and Russian Orthodox church music.
Serbian church music consists only of a cappella singing. This is a very interesting contrast to Serbian folk music which has lots of brass, accordion, violin and percussion with complex rhythms.
Performing this kind of liturgical music requires professionals or devoted amateurs and throughout the country there are singing societies that sing this complex music for church services. As music student in Belgrade I sang this liturgy many times.
In the Serbian Orthodox church the choir is placed on a balcony, which gives the singing a lofty, ethereal quality. The soloist who is a priest stands in front of the iconostasis. There is a whole crowd of them actually, but just the one sings.
Mokranjac wrote The Serbian Orthodox Divine Liturgy in 1895 based on a Serbian folk chant from the end of the 18th century.
His ability to harmonize and stylize this melody has resulted in an archaic and very distinctly Slavonic sound. You will hear his ingenious use of polyphonic elements which enhance the expressiveness of the melodic line in each voice. I hear some Wagnerian harmonies here as well.
Tonight I will play four sections from the 45 minute liturgy:
the calm opening canticle, Svjati Boze (holy God), the Alleluia and the most elaborate and important part of the Liturgy, the impressive Cherubic Hymn (Ize Heruvimi ) which means – we who mystically represent the Cherubim). My selection finishes with Otca I Sina (The Father and the Son).
The soloist Vlada Mikic, is an Othodox priest. Besides being an important church figure he is also a well-know concert soloist.
His solo line is melodically very restricted and serves as a harmoic anchor to the melody. The choir is Hor Radio Televizije Beograd conducted by Mladen Jagust.
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