POTIRION
SOTIRIU Ps. 116 (LXX 115)
Potirion sotiríu
lípsome,
ke to ónoma Kiríu epikalésome.
The cup of
salvation I will receive,
and call upon the name of the Lord.
"I
first encountered the Greek Orthodox
hymn "Potirion Sotiriu" as the chanter of
the
Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's
simplicity of line
and mystical drone or "ison" made a most powerful impression
on me as a recent
newcomer to the spiritual vision of Byzantine Chant. The text is
taken from Psalm 115
of the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint
which was done
in Alexandria at the request of a third-century BCE Egyptian Pharaoh
desiring to have all
of the world's greatest spiritual treasures available to him in his
library. During a recording
session in Budapest with composer Victoria Bond, I happened to sing
the chat as she and
I were in the glorious St. Matthias Church. At that moment, she said
she would compose
a piano piece for me based on that chant. Ms. Bond had the formidable
challenge of writing
a large scale work for piano that on one hand effectiviely utilized
the resources of the
piano but at the same time preserved the unique mystical aura generated
by the chant
itself. After the piece was composed last year, we decided that the
most appropriate
format for the performance would be to sing the chant both before
and after the work so
the spiritual world from which the piece emerged was chear. It also
communicates to the
audience what I have come to embrace as a champion of new music:
namely that one
of the most profound uses of
music is to give the listener the ability to leap artificial
temporal boundaries and embrace the totality of human expression
in both the present
and in past ages. Making the past a present reality is also paramount
in the liturgical
theology of the Orthodox church where through ancient ritual, twentieth
century believers
are mystically united to the past in ways that illumine the eternal
significance of our
spiritual ancestors."
(Notes by Paul Barnes)
This recording of Potirion
Sotiriu was enginneered by Tom Larson and recorded
in Kimball
Recital Hall during the summer of 2000. The solo version of the chant
is performed by
Dr. Barnes with the choral version done by Dulces Voces,
an early music vocal group
based in Lincoln, Nebraska
™