In the Byzantine liturgical system, characterized by various cycles, each week (except for Great and Holy Week) is assigned to one of the eight tones, or Octoechos. The liturgical week begins with Sunday - more specifically, with the service of Vespers on Saturday evening. So each Saturday at Vespers, we begin chanting the proper hymns for each service in a new tone, in order, for a whole week. The tone applicable for any given week is thus often referred to as "the tone of the week".
The tone of the week can be quickly determined by reference to our church calendar (listed in bold text in the upper right hand corner of each Sunday date). We are also publishing the propers for Sunday and feasts days on the For the Faithful resource page. Below is some further, detailed discussion on how the cycle of the eight tones is applied in our liturgical worship.
Each particular Church which uses the Byzantine Rite has developed its own system of liturgical chant, much of which is related to chanting of hymns in the eight tones. While the tone assigned to a given proper liturgical hymn (e.g. troparion or kontakion) for a Sunday or feast day is usually the same in different churches of the Byzantine tradition (e.g. Ukrainian; Melkite; etc.), the actual melody used may be quite different. Those who have visited other Eastern Christian churches following the Byzantine Rite will have noted great similarity in the structure and text of the Divine Liturgy, yet recognize that it is set to the distinctive chant of that particular Church's own tradition.
In our own [Ruthenian] Byzantine Catholic Church, the most common form of chant is the Carpathian Plainchant known as Prostopinije, which provides melodies in each of the eight tones for use in the Divine Liturgy for liturgical propers: the troparion, kontakion, prokeimenon and alleluia. Melodies are also provided for proper hymns used in other services (e.g. stichera) or on certain feasts (e.g. irmosy).
The assignment of tones to specific weeks begins on Pascha, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. The cycle of the eight tones comes to an end with the conclusion of the Great Fast. For the Great and Holy Week of the Lord's suffering and Resurrection (from Lazarus Saturday to Great and Holy Saturday), the hymns of the Octoechos are completely replaced with those specific to Great and Holy Week. Only on Pascha do we begin again - with the Sunday hymns in Tone 1.
Bright Week, the week following Pascha, is the most joyous of the year. To emphasize the universal nature of the Resurrection, we sing through the Sunday proper hymns (which commemorate the Resurrection) in all eight tones, one tone per day. Thus, for Bright Monday, we sing the Sunday hymns in Tone 2; on Bright Tuesday, the Sunday hymns in Tone 3; and so on, ending with Tone 8 on Saturday. Tone 7, traditionally considered the most somber of the tones, is omitted in order to fit the eight tones into seven days.
On the Sunday after Pascha (Thomas Sunday), we come back to Tone 1, beginning with Vespers on Saturday evening. For the rest of the liturgical year, the tones follow one another in regular procession, repeating after the cycle of the eight tones is complete.
The Sunday after Pentecost is the Sunday of All Saints (Tone 8). With the second Sunday after Pentecost, we come back to Tone 1, and continue in an uninterrupted cycle of the eight tones until the next Great and Holy Week. It is in this period, the Sundays after Pentecost (up until the Lenten Triodion is used - see below), that the cycle of the eight tones becomes most discernible, as there are fewer feasts and other special commemorations for which proper hymns are added (often times in tones different than the tone of the week, which sometimes causes confusion).
Around the 32nd week after Pentecost, we begin preparing for the coming celebration of Pascha, and follow the Lenten Triodion. For the preliminary Sundays of the Triodion, and the Sundays and weekdays of the Great Fast, we combine the hymns of the Triodion with those of the eight tones (as is also done for various feast days and commemorations throughout the liturgical year). Irrespective, each week keeps the tone it would have based on the number of weeks since the previous Pentecost.
[adapted from: The Eight Tones, Metropolitan Cantor Institute, Pittsburgh, PA (http://metropolitancantorinstitute.org)]
The tone of the week can be quickly determined by reference to our church calendar (listed in bold text in the upper right hand corner of each Sunday date). We are also publishing the propers for Sunday and feasts days on the For the Faithful resource page. Below is some further, detailed discussion on how the cycle of the eight tones is applied in our liturgical worship.
Each particular Church which uses the Byzantine Rite has developed its own system of liturgical chant, much of which is related to chanting of hymns in the eight tones. While the tone assigned to a given proper liturgical hymn (e.g. troparion or kontakion) for a Sunday or feast day is usually the same in different churches of the Byzantine tradition (e.g. Ukrainian; Melkite; etc.), the actual melody used may be quite different. Those who have visited other Eastern Christian churches following the Byzantine Rite will have noted great similarity in the structure and text of the Divine Liturgy, yet recognize that it is set to the distinctive chant of that particular Church's own tradition.
In our own [Ruthenian] Byzantine Catholic Church, the most common form of chant is the Carpathian Plainchant known as Prostopinije, which provides melodies in each of the eight tones for use in the Divine Liturgy for liturgical propers: the troparion, kontakion, prokeimenon and alleluia. Melodies are also provided for proper hymns used in other services (e.g. stichera) or on certain feasts (e.g. irmosy).
The assignment of tones to specific weeks begins on Pascha, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. The cycle of the eight tones comes to an end with the conclusion of the Great Fast. For the Great and Holy Week of the Lord's suffering and Resurrection (from Lazarus Saturday to Great and Holy Saturday), the hymns of the Octoechos are completely replaced with those specific to Great and Holy Week. Only on Pascha do we begin again - with the Sunday hymns in Tone 1.
Bright Week, the week following Pascha, is the most joyous of the year. To emphasize the universal nature of the Resurrection, we sing through the Sunday proper hymns (which commemorate the Resurrection) in all eight tones, one tone per day. Thus, for Bright Monday, we sing the Sunday hymns in Tone 2; on Bright Tuesday, the Sunday hymns in Tone 3; and so on, ending with Tone 8 on Saturday. Tone 7, traditionally considered the most somber of the tones, is omitted in order to fit the eight tones into seven days.
On the Sunday after Pascha (Thomas Sunday), we come back to Tone 1, beginning with Vespers on Saturday evening. For the rest of the liturgical year, the tones follow one another in regular procession, repeating after the cycle of the eight tones is complete.
The Sunday after Pentecost is the Sunday of All Saints (Tone 8). With the second Sunday after Pentecost, we come back to Tone 1, and continue in an uninterrupted cycle of the eight tones until the next Great and Holy Week. It is in this period, the Sundays after Pentecost (up until the Lenten Triodion is used - see below), that the cycle of the eight tones becomes most discernible, as there are fewer feasts and other special commemorations for which proper hymns are added (often times in tones different than the tone of the week, which sometimes causes confusion).
Around the 32nd week after Pentecost, we begin preparing for the coming celebration of Pascha, and follow the Lenten Triodion. For the preliminary Sundays of the Triodion, and the Sundays and weekdays of the Great Fast, we combine the hymns of the Triodion with those of the eight tones (as is also done for various feast days and commemorations throughout the liturgical year). Irrespective, each week keeps the tone it would have based on the number of weeks since the previous Pentecost.
[adapted from: The Eight Tones, Metropolitan Cantor Institute, Pittsburgh, PA (http://metropolitancantorinstitute.org)]
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