Everyone who has been to Orthodox services more than once has heard the deacon proclaim the name of the chant to be performed by the choir and indicate the number of the voice. If the first is mostly understandable and does not raise questions, then what is a voice, not everyone knows. Let's try to figure this out and understand how it affects the nature of the work being performed.
Church Singing Feature
Church singing and reading are the most important components of worship, and the difference between them is only in melodic breadth. This is quite obvious, since Orthodox singing is nothing more than reading - expanded and laid on a specific musical basis. At the same time, the reading itself is singing - melodically abbreviated in accordance with its content and the requirements of the Church Charter.
In church singing, the task of the melody is not the aesthetic decoration of the text, but a more in-depth transfer of its internal content and the disclosure of many features that cannot be expressed in words. In itself, it is the fruit of the inspired works of the Holy Fathers, for whom chants were not exercises in art, but a sincere expression of their spiritual condition. They own the creation of the Charter of chants, regulating not only the sequence of performance, but also the nature of certain tunes.
The meaning of the word “voice” as applied to church singing
In the Russian Orthodox Church, liturgical singing is based on the principle of “octagonal consensus,” authored by Rev. John of Damascus. According to this rule, all chants are divided into eight voices in accordance with their content and the semantic load enclosed in them. Each of them is characterized by a strictly defined melody and emotional color.
The law of octopus came to the Russian Orthodox Church from Greece and received a certain creative processing from us. This was expressed in the fact that, in contrast to the Greek original, where church voices serve to indicate only the fret and tonality, in Russia they primarily indicate a certain melody assigned to them and not subject to change. As already mentioned, there are only eight votes. Of these, the first four are primary (atentic), and the subsequent are auxiliary (plug-in), the task of which is to complete and deepen the core. Let's analyze them in more detail.
Voice of the Resurrection and Great Saturday
At Easter services, where all the chants are of a luminous, majestic color, the service is built in the first voice and the auxiliary heel parallel to it. This gives the overall sound the character of an appeal to Heaven and allows you to adjust the soul to an elevated mood. Reflecting heavenly beauty, these chants inspire us with spiritual joy. This example clearly shows what a voice is that gives a sense of celebration.
On the Great Saturday before Easter, when everything in the world stood still waiting for the miracle of the Resurrection of Christ, and the souls of people were filled with tenderness and love, gentle and touching tunes sounding in the temples of God reflect the subtle nuances of the inner condition of the worshipers. On this day, the church service is built entirely on the second voice and the sixth supplementing it. What is the second voice, is also illustrated by the funeral services, where all the chants are built on its emotional color. This is, as it were, a reflection of the transitional state of the soul from the mortal world into eternal life.
Two voices, very different in frequency of performance
With regard to the third voice, it should be noted that very few chants were built on its basis. According to the frequency of its use in worship, it takes the penultimate place. Powerful, but at the same time firm, full of courageous sound, he kind of introduces listeners into thoughts about the secrets of the High World and the mortality of earthly existence. The most vivid example is the well-known Sunday kondak “The Resurrection of Christ”.
Very characteristic is the sound of chants built on the fourth voice. They are distinguished by solemnity and speed, prompting fun and joy. They filled the content of the melody and emphasized the meaning of the word. The fourth voice is one of the most popular in the Orthodox services. The shade of repentance laid in it invariably reminds us of our sins.
Fifth and sixth plug-in (auxiliary) voices
The fifth is a plural voice. Its significance is very great: it serves to give greater depth and completeness to chants performed on the basis of the first voice. His intonations are filled with a call to worship. To verify this, just listen to the Sunday troparion of the Resurrection of Christ or the greeting "Rejoice." Both of these works carry simultaneously shades of sadness and joy.
The sixth voice is ancillary to the second and emphasizes sadness, which has repentance for the committed sins and at the same time overwhelms the soul with tenderness and hope for God's forgiveness. It is sorrow dissolved by comfort. As already mentioned, the second voice gives the sensation of a transition to another world, and therefore is filled with light, the sixth is more associated with burial. For this reason, the chants of the second half of the Great Week are performed on its basis.
Completion of the list of octagonism
Less often than not, in Orthodox churches you can hear chants laid on the seventh voice. The Greeks - the authors of the law of octopus - called it "heavy." The character of the chants performed on its basis is important and courageous, which fully explains the name given to him. Behind the outward simplicity of these melodies lies a whole world - deep, great and incomprehensible. This is a kind of narrative of Heavenly Jerusalem and the Future Age.
Having listened to such high examples of church singing as “It rejoices about Thee ...” and “On the glorious miracle ...”, one can easily get an idea of what a voice is. The eighth voice is the last, it completes the list of elements that make up the octagon. He is full of royal height, perfection and calls for hope in the Beginning Father, who created the visible and invisible world. At the same time, listening to him, it is impossible not to notice a certain shade of sadness caused by the thought of one's own sinfulness.