19th Century Romanian-Language Anastasimataria – a General Approach

This is a comparative study of the main Romanian-language musical works printed and published in the first half of the 19^th century, namely the three anastasimataria by hieromonk Macarie (1823), Anton Pann (1847), and Dimitrie Suceveanu (1848). A comprehensive approach and stylistic analysis of the chants contained in each work constitutes the main body of the study. Included in the comparison are references to the Greek anastasimataria of the time, and to their respective authors, especially Dionysios Photeinos, Petros Peloponnesios, Petros Vyzantios, Gregorios Protopsaltes, Khourmouzios Khartofilax, Theodoros Phokaeus, etc. The study demonstrates the visible efforts made by the Romanian authors to keep the standards and style of Romanian church music as close as possible to those of the music sung in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which they considered to represent the traditional music of the universal Orthodox Church of their time.

Costin Moisil