Liturgical-singing collection
Chants of the All-Night Vigil, the Divine Liturgy and the Sunday Octoechos (download sheet music)
This collection is intended for studying at the regency and singing courses of the Kharkiv Theological Seminary the main chants of the Octoechos, the unchanging chants of the All-Night Vigil and the Divine Liturgy in order to further use them in liturgical singing practice. The composition of the collection includes mostly simple everyday chants presented for a four-part mixed choir. Publicly available collections distributed on the Internet and in liturgical and singing everyday life were used as sources of chants. With rare exceptions, the choral texture maintains a tertiary ratio between the parts of soprano and alto for the convenience of one- or two-voice performance of chants in case of a shortage of singers. For monophonic singing, it is recommended to use the alto part or, if there is a nethertz ratio in soprano and alto chants, the soprano part.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that in modern worship the artistic and semantic emphasis has shifted to unchanging chants. They can be found in a wide variety in a variety of musical interpretations, and often the main attention of the choir director and choristers is switched only to musically diversify the services. In reality, it is precisely the “changeable” hymns that carry a much greater semantic and theological load, that is, the texts of the Octoechos, the Menaion, and the Triodion, which are mostly read in churches, sometimes even indistinctly and hastily. Therefore, for the sake of the correct balance of the semantic load in the service, unhurried, articulatory clear and intelligible singing of all stichera filling the service with deep spiritual content is highly recommended. For this purpose, the texts of Sunday stichera on the Lord have been written out, verse and laudatory. Power antiphons can also be performed on the model of verse chants.
Thank you for the blessing for the creation of the collection and the prayerful support of our Rector, His Eminence Metropolitan Onufry. Thanks to everyone who contributed their creative and technical efforts to this creation. I hope to soon record an audio aid for learning chants on the material of the collection. I am aware that there is already a need to supplement and expand this publication, so I ask everyone who wants to express their comments and suggestions, send them to me at
Head of the Regency Department
Kharkov Theological Seminary
Archpriest Fyodor Voskoboynikov