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Protone Music
Year of Composition
2018
Duration
9'
Instrumentation
Piano
Categories
Keyboard Works
Program Note
Simeron Kremate by composer Victoria Bond was written in the fall of 2018/spring of 2019 and is based on the Greek Orthodox crucifixion chant from the Holy Thursday service during Orthodox Holy Week. Its opening five-note melody in the plagal of the second mode features the augmented seconds that are characteristic of this musically compelling mode.
The text “Simeron kremate” opens the hymn emphasizing the liturgical truth that “today” (simeron), we mystically participate in this great act of love from the past. Ms. Bond also decided to incorporate a Jewish Passover chant “Tal” (dew) whose opening melody bears an uncanny similarity to the opening of the Greek chant. This Jewish prayer for the blessing of dew is sung on the first day of Passover, the date of which the Greek Orthodox always consider for the timing of their own celebration of Pascha, the Greek word for “Passover.” Just as the Jewish community liturgically asks God for the gift of dew, so the Greek Orthodox community contemplates the gift of God in Christ, who today is suspended on a cross.
The work opens with the traditional apichima of the plagal of the second mode which aurally establishes the mode. Ms. Bond follows this with a Jewish style cantillation which leads to the first statement of the “Simeron” chant. This opening of the chant is then developed in multiple ways before the intimate entry of the “Tal” melody. The work concludes with a ‘tranquillo’ passage of rare beauty. The work ends tentatively as the opening notes of the chant dissipate into eternity.
The work was jointly commissioned by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and the University of Nebraska and the Soli Deo Gloria Music Foundation in Chicago.
— Paul Barnes
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Commission & Premiere Info
Commissioned by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and the University of Nebraska and the Soli Deo Gloria Music Foundation in Chicago
Premiered by Paul Barnes at the Kimball Recital Hall at the Glenn Korff School of Music, Lincoln, NE on March 3, 2019
Publisher
Protone
Year of Composition
2021
Duration
24'
Instrumentation
Solo Piano
Video
Simeron Kremate by composer Victoria Bond was written in the fall of 2018/spring of 2019 and is based on the Greek Orthodox crucifixion chant from the Holy Thursday service during Orthodox Holy Week. Its opening five-note melody in the plagal of the second mode features the augmented seconds that are characteristic of this musically compelling mode. The text “Simeron kremate” opens the hymn emphasizing the liturgical truth that “today” (simeron), we mystically participate in this great act of love from the past. Ms. Bond also decided to incorporate a Jewish Passover chant “Tal” (dew) whose opening melody bears an uncanny similarity to the opening of the Greek chant. This Jewish prayer for the blessing of dew is sung on the first day of Passover, the date of which the Greek Orthodox always consider for the timing of their own celebration of Pascha, the Greek word for “Passover.” Just as the Jewish community liturgically asks God for the gift of dew, so the Greek Orthodox community contemplates the gift of God in Christ, who today is suspended on a cross. The work opens with the traditional apichima of the plagal of the second mode which aurally establishes the mode. Ms. Bond follows this with a Jewish style cantillation which leads to the first statement of the “Simeron” chant. This opening of the chant is then developed in multiple ways before the intimate entry of the “Tal” melody. The work concludes with a ‘tranquillo’ passage of rare beauty. The work ends tentatively as the opening notes of the chant dissipate into eternity. The work was jointly commissioned by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and the University of Nebraska and the Soli Deo Gloria Music Foundation in Chicago. ——Paul Barnes
Three Illuminations on Byzantine Chant (2021)
This work represents over twenty years of creative collaboration with my dear friend Victoria Bond. Chanting in Orthodox churches for the last quarter of a century, I wanted to select byzantine hymns that reflected the wide emotional range and spiritual message of Orthodox Christianity. I’m thrilled with the final result and excited to give the world premiere tonight here at Symphony Space on Victoria’s beloved series Cutting Edge Concerts.
Potirion Sotiriu (1999)
The idea for the Potirion Sotiriu began as a fragile melody I sung for Victoria, on a foggy hillside in the Czech city of Zlin. I was recording Victoria’s first piano concerto “Black Light” and we were on our way to a recording session where I related my ecstatic experiences chanting in the Greek Orthodox Church. She asked me to sing one of my favorite melodies and I sang the communion hymn Potirion Sotiriu, “The Cup of Salvation,” which is sung on the feasts of the Theotokos. Victoria was moved by the hymn and thus began her exploration into the mystical world of Byzantine chant.
The work begins with a beautifully voiced statement of the original melody in its entirety and then goes through a fascinating journey and discovery of the various components of the chant. In a loosely constructed set of variations, the work concludes with an exciting coda revealing the innate power of the chant itself. Potirion was eventually transformed by Victoria into the piano concerto “Ancient Keys” which I recorded on my second volume of American Piano Concertos released on the Albany label in 2006.