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St.
Andrew Orthodox Church Choir is directed by Jeanette Gallaway. The
Choir is made up mixed voices that sing liturgical settings from
the Slavic tradition in four-part polyphony. From the Byzantine
tradition, the Choir sings the monophonic and diaphonic arrangements
of troparia, kontakion, and other moveable elements in Orthodox
worship.
The music of
the Orthodox Church is Her evangelism, and the choir, Her primary
evangelistic instrument. Sermons, church schools and Bible studies
are important and good for Christian formation. But this is not
how She draws near to the soul; it is through the depth of Her poetry
as possessed in Her services. The fullness of Orthodox theology
and preaching is expressed in hymnography. When sung within the
context of worship, the words of Sts. Basil the Great, John Chrysostom,
Ephrem the Syrian, John Damascene, and Romanos the Melodist give
form to our experience with the visible and unseen worlds. After
witnessing the beauty of Orthodox worship, the emissaries of Prince
Vladimir returned from Constantinople to report, "We knew not
whether we were in heaven or on earth."
This nearness
[association] between heaven and earth, evoked in Orthodox worship,
is not the musical "prettiness" found in the concert hall.
Dostoevsky has said, "Beauty will save the world." Through
beauty, truth enters the heart and awakens our spiritual senses.
It is the responsibility of the liturgical singers and chanters
to convey, with all clarity and "sweetness," the Beauty
of God's revelation to man, as extolled in the liturgical poetry
of the Orthodox services. By not imposing the unique personalities
of their individual voices or sounding forth above the company,
the singers humbly strive to become one breath, one voice, allowing
the redemptive words to take precedence over any necessity to be
heard as separate singers. Thus, the liturgical voices are anonymously
integrated into the rubrics of worship, so as not to disturb the
prayer of the people but to carry their hearts, as it were, from
earth to heaven. In this sense, Orthodox singing is prayer that
assists the praying congregation. It is an aural icon which is both
didactic (instructive) and pleasing (nourishment-giving) to the
souls of the worshippers as they unite with the choir in the praise
of the Holy Trinity.
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