No post today. Time for a wee break for Bright Monday.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Fairouz – Wa Habibi
As today is Good Friday, as celebrated by the Julian Calendar, I will be taking tonight off for late-night prayers. I leave you with a track by Lebanese singer Fairuz (or Fairouz) celebrating the darkest day of the year. Have a blessed Paschal season.
Orthodox Outcast – Bright Sadness
I never expected to encounter a band of devout Christians like Orthodox Outcast, whose sound evokes the demo tapes of early New Order, the Cocteau Twins, or a much more stripped-down version of the Human League. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This is my surprise of the year.
The Genius Orthodox Composer You’ve Never Heard Of – Sir John Tavener
Time is precious these days, so there won’t be a post today. Instead, I’d like to share an article about the late Sir John Tavener. He was a composer who gained the attention of the Beatles but later turned away from avant-garde music to embrace Orthodox hymnody, focusing on creating Continue Reading
Happy Easter
In honor of the Paschal Feast of the Resurrection, we will be offline today. May you and yours enjoy your Easter!
For God is with us (Appalachian Orthodox chant)
Merry Christmas to my friends on the Julian Calendar! This version of “For God Is With Us,” is done in an Appalachian choir style. I can’t think of anything more American or more Orthodox that this organic piece of work.
Trio Mandili – Psalm 50
There will be no reviews either today or tomorrow as Orthodox Christians observe Christmas Eve and the Nativity on what was always the Ecumenical Church Calendar until the devising of the modern Gregorian Calendar, so for those who hold to the Councils, today is December 24. We wish you a Continue Reading
St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church: Chanters and Choir – Pascha: The Feast of Feasts
We celebrate Eastern Orthodox Holy Week and today is Good Friday according to the Julian Calendar. May your Paschal season end peacefully. Thanks to St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the wonderful and timely hymns.
DÜNYA – A Sacred Music Celebration: Greek Orthodoxy and Turkish Sufism
For my friends in the West, today is Good Friday, and I wish you a wonderful, blessed and prosperous Paschal celebration. I send you a gift in the form of the ensemble DÜNYA offering Christian and Islamic chants in celebration of Holy Weekend and Easter.
Various Artists – Fly, Fly, You Hardened Arrow: Round Dance Songs of “Polish” Old Believers from Altai
The now-legendary Antonovka Records have done astounding work documenting music from Russia’s myriad of ethnic communities. This one is from the so-called “Polish” Old Believers in the Altai region. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “The ancestors of the Altai “Polish” Old Believers were peasants of the Vetka-Starodub territory of the Continue Reading