Amy Hogg and Richard Barrett continue their conversation with cantor and composer Samuel Herron, who talks more about his experiences chanting throughout the United States in cities like Nashville, Chattanooga, Boston, and Phoenix. He also tells us about his choir, the Dynamis Ensemble, and previews their new all-English recording of Byzantine chant for St. George.

Samuel Herron, protopsaltis of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Scottsdale, AZ and founder and director of the Dynamis Byzantine Ensemble, is one of the new generation of cantors and composers whose work is part of the flourishing of English-language Byzantine music. In this first of a two-part interview, Amy and Richard talk to Sam about his initial exposure to Byzantine music, his experiences studying in Greece, and how he put his experience and education to use once he returned to the United States.

Solfege is a familiar concept to many of us thanks to the famous song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music; it’s the practice of “sounding out” a melody by singing pitch names, and it’s one of the oldest and most important musical teaching techniques we have. Byzantine chant has its own version of solfege: paralaggi. Amy and Richard talk about what paralaggi is, how it helps you to learn Byzantine music, and why it’s important for the beginner as well as the experienced cantor to do “paralaggi a hundred times” when learning to sing a new piece. Recordings of the Resurrectional Hymns in English: Ages Digital Chant Stand: http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/dcs.html Recordings of the Resurrectional Hymns in Greek: Father Panaretos: https://www.imdleo.gr/diaf/2016/Byz_Panaretos.htm For recordings of the Anastasimatarion on melos, go to: 5.2.2. MELOS.zip For recordings of the Anastasimatarion on parallage, go to: 5.2.1. PARALAGH.zip Score of the 1st Mode Resurrection Hymn used as an example: in Byzantine notation: http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Vespers/b2160_Apolytikion.pdf In western notation: http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Vespers/Finale%202003%20-%20%5B2160_Apolytikion%5D.pdf

Solfege is a familiar concept to many of us thanks to the famous song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music; it’s the practice of “sounding out” a melody by singing pitch names, and it’s one of the oldest and most important musical teaching techniques we have. Byzantine chant has its own version of solfege: paralaggi. Amy and Richard talk about what paralaggi is, how it helps you to learn Byzantine music, and why it’s important for the beginner as well as the experienced cantor to do “paralaggi a hundred times” when learning to sing a new piece.

Recordings of the Resurrectional Hymns in English:

Ages Digital Chant Stand: http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/dcs.html

Recordings of the Resurrectional Hymns in Greek:

Father Panaretos: https://www.imdleo.gr/diaf/2016/Byz_Panaretos.htm

For recordings of the Anastasimatarion on melos, go to: 5.2.2. MELOS.zip

For recordings of the Anastasimatarion on parallage, go to: 5.2.1. PARALAGH.zip

Score of the 1st Mode Resurrection Hymn used as an example:

in Byzantine notation:

http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Vespers/b2160_Apolytikion.pdf

In western notation:

http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Vespers/Finale%202003%20-%20%5B2160_Apolytikion%5D.pdf

Alexander Khalil is a musician-scholar in whom many worlds come together -- among many other things, he is an ethnomusicologist, neuroscientist, cantor, and multi-talented performer and researcher of musics from China, Japan, and Indonesia. Dr. Khalil's PhD dissertation, "Echoes of Constantinople: Oral and Written Tradition of the Psaltes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople" is one of the foundational works of English-language scholarship for understanding the chant practices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Amy and Richard had a wide-ranging conversation with him in which he reflected on several aspects of the development of English-language Byzantine chant. Part 2 of 2.

Alexander Khalil is a musician-scholar in whom many worlds come together -- among many other things, he is an ethnomusicologist, neuroscientist, cantor, and multi-talented performer and researcher of musics from China, Japan, and Indonesia. Dr. Khalil's PhD dissertation, "Echoes of Constantinople: Oral and Written Tradition of the Psaltes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople" is one of the foundational works of English-language scholarship for understanding the chant practices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Amy and Richard had a wide-ranging conversation with him in which he reflected on several aspects of the development of English-language Byzantine chant. Part 2 of 2.

Alexander Khalil is a musician-scholar in whom many worlds come together -- among many other things, he is an ethnomusicologist, neuroscientist, cantor, and multi-talented performer and researcher of musics from China, Japan, and Indonesia. Dr. Khalil's PhD dissertation, "Echoes of Constantinople: Oral and Written Tradition of the Psaltes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople" is one of the foundational works of English-language scholarship for understanding the chant practices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Amy and Richard had a wide-ranging conversation with him in which he reflected on several aspects of the development of English-language Byzantine chant. Part 1 of 2.

Alexander Khalil is a musician-scholar in whom many worlds come together -- among many other things, he is an ethnomusicologist, neuroscientist, cantor, and multi-talented performer and researcher of musics from China, Japan, and Indonesia. Dr. Khalil's PhD dissertation, "Echoes of Constantinople: Oral and Written Tradition of the Psaltes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople" is one of the foundational works of English-language scholarship for understanding the chant practices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Amy and Richard had a wide-ranging conversation with him in which he reflected on several aspects of the development of English-language Byzantine chant. Part 1 of 2.

In June, Richard and Amy traveled in opposite directions, with Amy heading to Minneapolis for the International Society of Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM) Conference and Richard heading to Crete for the International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care. Amy recounts the presence of Byzantine chant at ISOCM, including an English-language concert by the Byzantine choir YPHOS, and Richard discusses the very different landscapes Greece and the United States represent in terms of Orthodox concerns about digital media (and yes, that includes chanting).

Automela, or model melodies, have historically been an important part of Byzantine chant. Their use in English is becoming more prevalent as we have more and more metered text. Richard and Amy explain how model melodies make chanting services easier as well as discuss the complications that arise due to the circulation of multiple English translations.