Prostopinije (meaning Plain Chant inChurch Slavonic) is a type ofmonodic churchchant, closely related to other East Slavic chants such as GalicianSamoilka,Kievan Chant andZnamenny chant. Prostopinije is used in theRuthenian Greek Catholic Church,Slovak Greek Catholic Church,Hungarian Greek Catholic Church, and by theCarpatho-Russian Orthodox.
The tradition of Prostopinije chant is used in the lands ofGalicia,Volhynia andRuthenia.[1] The Prostopinije traces its roots to theSlavic traditions ofOld Kievan chant andBulgarian chant, both stemming from the ancientByzantine chant tradition. It was also affected by the local folkCarpathian music.[2] The Prostopinije chant is purelymonodic, lackingison or any other support, as well as folk choralpolyphony.[2] Melodically, Prostopinije resemblesZnamenny Chant and is closely related to it historically.[3] Compared to Znamenny chant, however, most prostopinije sources feature much morechromatic movement.
By the end of the 18th century, the first attempt to systematize and write down the body of Prostopinije melodies was undertaken by cantorJohn Juhasevich (1741–1814). In 1793, aPreparatory School for Cantors and Teachers was established inUzhhorod by BishopAndrew Bachinskyj.[2]
In the 19th century and earlier, in liturgical practice, the chanting was performed by the trainedcantor soloist; however, by the end of the 19th century, through the efforts of FatherAndrew Popovich (1809–1898,Velika Kopanya,Ugocha district), the tradition was changed drastically.[2] The whole congregation present in the church was encouraged to participate in the singing. This strong participation of lay people in the church singing was and still remains a relatively unique phenomenon among the similar chanting traditions.[1]
In the beginning of the 20th century, some efforts to unify the Subcarpathian chanting traditions were also undertaken under supervision of BishopJulius Firczak ofMukachevo by fatherJohn Bokšai (or Bokshai, 1874–1940) and cantorJoseph Malinič. They published the first manual for the Carpathian Plain Chant[2] inUzhhorod in 1906.[4]
After some of theRusyn parishes converted from Byzantine Catholicism to the RussianOrthodox Church in America, inspired by FatherAlexis Toth, the use of Prostopinije was discriminated against by Russian leaders, who replaced it with theObikhod. Since the early 21st century, however, a gradual revival of this traditional singing has taken place, just as ancient chants have been reintroduced in other churches and denominations.[5]
Unlike the practices of some other chanting traditions, Prostopinije remained a primarily aural, unwritten tradition for the major part of its history.[3] Some leaders attempted to notate the chant, however, primarily as a means to systematize and unify it: first inZnamenny chantneumes, then (as of about year 1600) in "square and diamond" notation.[6] Neither of these systems became widespread, however.[2] In the contemporary practice, the chant is written in standard Western staff notation.[7]
Due to the predominantly oral nature of the Prostopinije tradition, the majority of melodies exist in various local variants, and are sometimes different in even relatively close villages. The two largest branches of the tradition originate from thecathedral towns ofMukachevo andPrešov. Due to the geography of the region, the Mukachevo tradition became the main tradition of theByzantine Rite Catholic Churches (through theByzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh), while the latter has been relatively more common in theAmerican Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese.[8]
The Prostopinije chant was traditionally performed either inChurch Slavonic, or inHungarian (Hungarian-language parishes musically followed the tradition of Mukachevo).[4] In the modern practice in the United States, this chant is performed in English as well.[7] InSlovakia it is also performed inSlovak.
