Why does Orthodox music often sound “sorrowful”?
Orthodox music is dynamic and its style varies, depending on the liturgical cycle, the liturgical calendar and the text being sung or chanted. It also varies according to the culture from which it developed! Some music is written to lead us to repentance and is therefore somber. Other music is celebratory and joyful. Orthodox music expresses the Orthodox “ethos”, which has been described as “joyful sorrow”. Like The Psalms from which much of our musical text derives, there is a full range of human emotion expressed in Orthodox liturgical music. For a sample of Orthodox liturgical music click here… For a sample of Orthodox chant click here…
