Celebratory Heirmoi in Dimitrie Cuntanu's Private Collection and Their Relationship to Byzantine Chant

The stylistic features of Transylvanian church music today differentiate it from psaltic singing as practiced in other regions of Romania. Published in 1890 in linear (guidonic) notation by Dimitrie Cuntanu, Transylvanian church music yet preserves certain characteristics that are common to the songs in the Romanian psaltic liturgical repertoire. To illustrate both differences and similarities the paper offers a detailed analysis of the heirmoi included in D. Cuntanu's collection based on a comparison of their melodic formulae with those of the heirmoi printed in 1823 by hieromonk Macarie in the Chrysanthic notation.

Elena Chircev