Layout Provided By CodeMyLayout.com - Myspace LayoutsThis page was started as a way for us to share the beloved ancient hymns of the Orthodox Church with others. Although our name is "Byzantine Girls", our style could probably be called Byzantine with an American flair. While true Byzantine chanters throughout Greece and the Middle East learn their craft by studying under an accomplished psalter (or chanter) and sing from memory adding their own personal interpretation to the hymn, we use sheet music. The Antiochian Archdiocese of North America undertook and completed what they call "The Byzantine Project", which was done by a wonderful man named Basil Kazan. He essentially put volumes of Byzantine chants to Western musical notation so the art of Byzantine chanting could be carried to the new mission churches in the US, as well as established churches that wanted to rediscover that style of music. We have also done several hymns with Russian settings, meaning Western harmonies instead of the Byzantine 1-line melody and an "ison", which is a sustaining note sung to give the chanter a reference point...the ison in our chants move occasionally, which is a relatively recent development in Byzantine chant. We hope you enjoy our hymns...we are working on several other ones as well, which will be added to our page at a later date.The Byzantine Girls
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