CAPPELLA ROMANA
+ Alexander lingas
Hear ancient chants from Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, including music by Kassía the Nun, the oldest female composer in the world from whom we have music. When Greek communities established themselves in California, American composers including Frank Desby, Theodore Bogdanos, and especially Tikey Zes reimagined ancient forms while honoring their ancestral tradition. Works by contemporary masters—Tavener, Moody, Pärt, and Kyr—draw from Byzantine wells, feeding a living river that still touches the heart with deeply mystical and contemplative music.
Program
The Byzantine Legacy in Europe
Kontakion for Great and Holy Friday, Prologue
St Romanos the Melodist (6th c.)
MS St. Petersburg gr. 674 (13th c.)
Ed. Ioannis Arvanitis
Sticheron for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
St Kassia the Nun (9th c.)
MS St. Petersburg gr. 674 (13th c.)
Ed. Ioannis Arvanitis
Passion Sticheron “Already the Pen”
- 2-voice setting (melos and “ison”)
- Melody of the Old Sticherarion
Ed. Alexander Lingas
Manuel Gazes the Lampadarios (15th c.)
MS Duke, K. W. Clark 45, copied by Angelos Gregoriou, pupil of Gazes
Standing by the Cross
Tenor voice from Corfu, MS Platytera Monastery 31 (17th c.) / Polyphony reconstructed by Eustathios Makris
Megalynarion for the Meeting of the Lord
Ioannis Ch. N.Chaviaras (1802–1875) and Benedict Randhartinger (1802–1893)
From The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom:
Ordinary Megalynarion (Mode Plagal 4)
Elias P. Κ. Logothetis and Louis Albert Bourgault-Ducourdray (1840–1910)
Kontakion of the Annunciation
Manolis Kalomiris (1883–1962)
Apolytikion for St. Demetrios
Michael Adamis (1929–2013)
The Greek Orthodox Choral Music of California
Apolytikion of Pentecost
Frank Desby (1922–92)
Communion Verse for the Sunday after Easter
Desby
Ordinary Megalynarion (Mode Plagal 4)
Tikey Zes (1927–2025)
Kontakion of the Dead
Theodore Bogdanos (b. 1932–2019)
From The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom:
- 2nd Antiphon and Troparion “Only-begotten Son”
- “Of Thy Mystical Supper”
Peter Michaelides (1927–2017)
Lord, I Cry unto Thee
Steven Cardiasmenos (b. 1958)
Cherubic Hymn (Mode Plagal 4)
Zes
The Byzantine Tradition Reimagined
Love Bade Me Welcome
Sir John Tavener (1944–2013)
The Troparion of Kassianí
Ivan Moody (1964–2024)
From Triodion: Ode II: O Most Holy Birth-giver of God, Save Us
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
From All-Night Vigil: “Blessed is the Man” (First Kathisma of the Psalter)
Robert Kyr (b. 1952)
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