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The Mid-Eastern Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians Sixty-First Annual Convention in Akron, Ohio, July 24-27, 2008 VESPERS FOR JULY 26 ON THE SAINTS HERMOLAOS AND PARASKEVI

This Vespers service was unique for the Greek Orthodox Church in that the musical responses were not made by a chanter or group of chanters, but by the congregation of convention attendees, most of whom are not trained chanters, but members of their church lay choirs. They were given a booklet of the music before the service and were sight reading during the recording. Since most of the congregation were new to the music, there are some understandable errors, but for the most part, they sang very well. Missing, of course, is the traditional style of execution of Byzantine chant, which include special tunings, ornaments, and nuances that only a trained chanter would know how to do. But the purpose of this service was to familiarize the convention attendees with the structure of Vespers and to gain an appreciation of the preparations that must be made to chant a Vespers service. In this, the performance was a total success.

Music Composed by N. Takis (Translations by N. Takis) and Hieromonk Ephraim (Translations by Holy Transfiguration Monastery) Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh presiding, Fr. Jerry Hall, Proistamenos Recorded at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron, Ohio, on the evening of July 25, 2008 To see the service booklet or listen to the MP3 files, click on each underlined title with left mouse button. To save a file, use a right button click and select "Save as..." from the context menu. Average file size is 2-4 MB. A few files are as large as 12 MB.

Service Booklet (This is the book that was used by the congregation. It contains the entire service, including the sheet music. Use this book to follow along with the recordings.) MP3 Files: Opening Prayers Litany (N. Takis) Lord, I Have Cried Out (N. Takis) Stichera - Hermolaos (N. Takis) Stichera - Paraskevi (N. Takis) 1st Doxastikon (H. Ephraim) Dogmatic Theotokion (H. Ephraim) O Joyful Light (Sakellarides) Prokeimenon (H. Ephraim) Litany of Fervent Supplication (N. Takis) Aposticha (N. Takis) 2nd Doxastikon (H. Ephraim) Theotokion (H. Ephraim) Closing Prayers Apolytikion - Martyrs (H. Ephraim, chanted by N. Takis) Apolytikion - Paraskevi (H. Ephraim) Theotokion (N. Takis) Dismissal Remarks from Metropolitan Maximos BONUS TRACK FROM SUNDAY: Orthros: The Great Doxology (N. Takis)

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