Tuesday, December 03, 2024

A Choral Concert Featuring Rediscovered Early Eastern and Western Polyphony

Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel, Princeton, New Jersey, December 5th, 8 pm: non-ticketed, entrance is free.

In what promises to be a wonderful concert, the choral group Demestvo will present “Lost Polyphonies,” a program showcasing the earliest traditions of vocal polyphony from Europe, performed alongside contemporary compositions that engage with these chant traditions. The concert will feature music from Russia, Georgia, Byzantium, France, and England, including world premieres of newly transcribed chants that have not been heard for over 300 years. Alongside these pieces, Demestvo and guest artists will perform new works by Princeton graduate composers Justin Wright, Lucy McKnight, and Caroline Shaw.

Named after a Slavic polyphonic chant tradition, Demestvo is a quartet founded by Princeton University musicology PhD student and soprano Anastasia Shmytova. Conceived as part of her dissertation research on medieval Slavic chant and early polyphony, Demestvo is committed to bringing the unique sound world of this unheard music to contemporary audiences. 

This event is co-sponsored by scalafoundation.org (for whom I am Artist-in-Residence). I hope to see you there!

More recent articles:


The Ascension of the Lord 2025
Men of Galilee, why do you wonder looking up to heaven? alleluia. As you have seen Him going into heaven, so shall He come, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Ps 46 All ye nations, clap your hands: shout unto God with the voice of joy. Glory be... Men of Galilee... (The Introit of the Ascension)The Ascension, 1495-98, by Pietro Perugino (1448-1523); pub...

How Medieval Christians Celebrated the Rogation Days (with a Dragon)
The following description of the Rogation Processions comes from a canon of the cathedral of Siena named Oderico, who in the year 1213 wrote a detailed account of the liturgical texts and ceremonies used in his church. “Mindful of that promise of the Gospel, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive,’ (John 16, 24; from the Gospel of the Sunday which precedes t...

Why Louis Bouyer Is Delightful and Frustrating to Read
One experience I think many of us have had with liturgical authors who wrote prior to the Council and/or the imposition of the Novus Ordo is that we find in their works so many wonderful insights, mingled with passages of excruciating naivete, baffling optimism about the possibilities of reform-in-continuity, strange flights of reformatory fancy, e...

The Crazy Liturgy of the Lesser Rogations in the Gallican Rite
The Lesser Rogations which we keep on the three days before the Ascension are actually older than the Greater Rogations kept on April 25th. They are called “lesser” because they were instituted in Gaul ca. 470 AD, by St Mamertus, the bishop of Vienne, and only adopted into the Roman Rite about 300 years later.Two leaves of the Farnese Hours, showin...

The Symbolism of Mary in Images of the Hospitality of Abraham
Here is a hymn to the Virgin Mary, a ‘Theotokion’ from the Canon of Sunday Orthros, tone 1, in the Byzantine Rite: Rejoice, O well-spring of grace! Rejoice, O ladder and door of heaven! Rejoice, O lampstand and golden jar, thou unquarried mountain, who for the world gavest birth unto Christ, the Bestower of life!And from the great hymn to the Virg...

Durandus on the Minor Litanies
The following excerpts are taken from book VI, chapter 102 of William Durandus’ treatise on the Divine Offices. On the three days before the feast of the Lord’s Ascension, the Rogations, which are also called the Litanies: the Greek word “litania” in Latin is “supplication”, or “rogation” (from ‘rogare – to ask’), on which the Holy Church asks God...

The Fifth Sunday after Easter 2025
Benedícite, gentes, Dóminum, Deum nostrum, et obaudíte vocem laudis ejus: qui posuit ánimam meam ad vitam, et non dedit commovéri pedes meos: benedictus Dóminus, qui non amóvit deprecatiónem meam et misericordiam suam a me, allelúja. (The Offertory of the Fifth Sunday after Easter.)Bless the Lord our God, ye nations: and harken to the voice of His ...

A History of the Popes Named Leo, Part 4: St Leo IX, and the Gregorian Reform
This is the fourth installment of a series on the thirteen papal namesakes of our new Holy Father Leo XIV; click these links to read part 1, part 2 and part 3. The church of Rome and the papacy have usually been late-comers to the great movements of reform and renewal in the Church, and have just as often been themselves in dire need of reform and ...

The Orate fratres and Suscipiat
Lost in Translation #126After praying the Suscipe Sancta Trinitas, the priest kisses the altar and turns clockwise towards the people, saying Orate fratres while opening and closing his hands. He completes the prayer as he continues his clockwise movement, finishing both at the same time. When he is done, the prayer Suscipiat is said. The Orat...

Theological Censorship in the 1969 Lectionary (Part 2): Guest Article by Dr. Agnieszka Fromme
This is the second part of an article by Dr Agnieszka Fromme about the theological censorship of certain ideas in the lectionary of the post-Conciliar rite; the first part was published yesterday. Our thanks once again to Dr Fromme for sharing her interesting work with NLM.4. Comparing the LectionariesThe following analysis is part of a broade...

For more articles, see the NLM archives: