Title: An Introduction to psalticnotes [v2.0] →

psalticnotes is a web page originally published over seventeen years ago (Wilmington, North Carolina), yet today, over 50,000 visits and 140,000 page views later it persists as a web presence dedicated to being a resource for students and practitioners of the blessed Psaltic Art, otherwise known as Byzantine Music or Byzantine Chant. The related fields of Byzantine musicology, hymnology, liturgics and typikon are also thoroughly represented here. Readers in the Church will also enjoy the offerings. Continue reading.→

psalticNotes objective

Author: Rev Dr Konstantinos Terzopoulos

Title: Singing with the Angelic Choir: Anagogy
—The Prototype for Orthodox Worship and the Place of the Psaltic Art →

Abstract: The first in a series of papers introducing various aspects regarding the breadth and depth, history, development, evolution and circumstance of the treasured heritage of the Psaltic Art, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Chant and Hymnography. The present paper introduces the general ethos of Orthodox worship and the place the Psaltic Art holds within that larger whole. Early hymns used especially in the Divine Liturgy, such as the Angelic, Triumphal Hymn and Trisagion, together with the Mystagogical interpretations of the Divine Service are used to illustrate the depth of the chant heritage and tradition, while showing how the Church raises us to participate in the eternal, constant worship and glorification that takes place “at all times and at every hour” at the presence of God (Isaiah 6,1-7 and Revelation 4,5-8). This understanding of Orthodox worship as expressed in the word anagogy offers the backdrop from which to procede toward a deeper understanding of the treasures of the Psaltic Art and Sacred Orthodox Christian Hymnography. →

Keywords: Anagogy, Byzantine Hymnography, Christian Hymnography, ancient worship, Trisagion, Sanctus, Tresanctus, Orthodox worship, Divine Liturgy, Mystatogy, Byzantine Chant