Jonathan Jackson: a Secret full of music
Pemptousia brings you excerpts from the presentation of the book “Το Μυστήριο της Τέχνης. Η γέννηση του Καλλιτέχνη κατ’ εικόνα Θεού” (Athens 20 November 2016), by the actor and musician Jonathan Jackson. In the excerpts,...
The Holy Trinity, Me and Glorifying God Through Music
I was once listening to a talk in which the speaker provoked the audience with the following statement: “By watching your actions for a day, I can tell if you believe in the Holy Trinity or not.” The statement took everyone aback, including me. I was asking myself, “What does...
Building Musical Bridges: Part II
More than a year ago, I wrote a piece for The Sounding titled “Building Musical Bridges in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese”. In that article, I expressed my belief that we need to start thinking of “choir people” and “chanters” as all being church musicians who are serving the same purpose...
Rachmaninoff’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) is one of the best known Russian composers of the 20th century. His works, especially for piano and orchestra, are regular features in many concert halls. He also composed two major a cappella choral works—the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the All-Night Vigil—that display...
A Thing of Beauty: An 18th Century Russian Version of “Hallelujah”
The poet John Keats wrote, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” So it is with much of Orthodoxy’s liturgical music: delicate, serene, able to combine compunction with silence, and passion with apatheia. The recording embedded above, featuring an 18th...
