Special melodic formulas in the Psalm cycles of the Vigil in Russian manuscripts of the 16th to 18th centuries

Abstract

This paper discusses the melodic formulas of psalmodic cycles of the Vigil in Russian manuscripts of the 16th to 18th centuries. It shows that some special formulas are used in the melos of the psalmody, along with the formulas of znamenny and putevoy chant. They are found in the eight-mode cycles, such as “Lord, I have cried” and “God is the Lord”, and in the cycles with one melodic model (according to the Jerusalem Typicon tradition; sometimes without indication of modes), such as the Polyeleos, the ainoi, or the first antiphon of the first kathisma and the seventeenth kathisma. Similarities between special formulas in various psalmodic cycles, including eight-mode and non-octomodal Psalms, suggest the presence of remnants of the archaic eight-mode psalmodic system in the cycles of the Vigil.

Keywords

• medieval Russian chant
• Russian liturgical tradition
• psalmody
• octomodal system
• alleluiaria