Romanos | |
|---|---|
 Icon of Romanus the Melodist (1649) | |
| The Melodist | |
| Born | Late 5th-century[1] Emesa (modern-dayHoms,Syria) |
| Died | After 555[1] Constantinople (modern-dayIstanbul,Turkey) |
| Venerated in | |
| Feast | 1 October (14 OctoberN.S.)[2] |
| Attributes | Young man vested as a deacon, standing on a raised platform in the middle of a church, holding a scroll with hisKontakion of the Nativity written on it. He is surrounded by the Patriarch, the Emperor, and members of the congregation. His icon is often a combined with that ofThe Protection of the Mother of God, which falls on the same day. Sometimes he is depicted as a deacon holding a censer in his right hand and a small model of a church in his left. |
| Patronage | Music |
Romanos the Melodist (Greek:Ῥωμανὸς ὁ Μελωδός; late 5th-century – after 555) was aByzantinehymnographer and composer,[1] who is a central early figure in the history ofByzantine music. Called "thePindar of rhythmic poetry",[3] he flourished during the sixth century, though the earliest manuscripts of his works are dated centuries after this.[4] He was the foremostKontakion composer of his time.[5]
The main biographical source for Romanos is theMenaion for October. Elsewhere, he is only mentioned byGermanus I of Constantinople in the 8th-century, and in the 10th-centurySouda (where he is called "Romanos the melodist"). According to the sources, Romanos was born some time in the late 5th-century, in a site inSyria known asEmesa, to a Jewish family. He was baptized as a young boy (though whether or not his parents also converted is uncertain). He moved toBerytus (Beirut) where he wasordained as adeacon in the Church of the Resurrection. Later, he moved toConstantinople, where he died and was buried in the Church of the Virgin.[6]
According to legend, Romanus was not at first considered to be either a talentedreader or singer. He was, however, loved by thePatriarch of Constantinople because of his great humility. Once, around the year 518, while serving in theChurch of the Panagia atBlachernae, during theAll-Night Vigil for theFeast of the Nativity of Christ, he was assigned to read thekathisma verses from thePsalter. He read so poorly that another reader had to take his place. Some of the lesser clergy ridiculed Romanus for this, and being humiliated he sat down in one of thechoir stalls. Overcome by weariness and sorrow, he soon fell asleep. As he slept, theTheotokos (Mother of God) appeared to him with a scroll in her hand. She commanded him to eat the scroll, and as soon as he did so, he awoke. He immediately received a blessing from the Patriarch, mounted theambo (pulpit), and chanted extemporaneously his famousKontakion of the Nativity, "Today the Virgin gives birth to Him Who is above all being…." The emperor, the patriarch, the clergy, and the entire congregation were amazed at both the profound theology of the hymn and Romanos' clear, sonorous voice as he sang. According to tradition, this was the very first kontakion ever sung. The Greek word "kontakion" (κοντάκιον) refers to the shaft on which a scroll is wound, hence the significance of the Theotokos' command for him to swallow a scroll, indicating that his compositions were by divine inspiration. The scene of Romanos's first performance is often shown in the lower register ofPokrov icons (example above).[7]
In theEastern Orthodox Church, Saint Romanos is thepatron saint of music; he is celebrated yearly on 1 October.[1]
TheArmenian Apostolic Church commemorates Saint Romanos on the Saturday before the third Sunday of theExaltation of the Cross. This is a remarkable fact given that Saint Romanos lived after theCouncil of Chalcedon and the Armenian Apostolic Church isnon-Chalcedonian. Nevertheless, his music significantly influenced Armenian hymnography.[8]
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According to the hagiographicalSynaxarion of Constantinople, Romanos is said to have composed over 1,000hymns orkontakia. Of the corpus of surviving manuscripts, 89 works are attributed to Romanos, nearly 60 of which are widely accepted as genuine.[9]
Romanos wrote in an Atticized literarykoine—i.e., he had a popular, but elevated style—and abundant Semiticisms support the view that he was of Jewish origin. Arresting imagery, sharp metaphors and similes, bold comparisons, antitheses, coining of successful maxims, and vivid dramatization characterize his style.
By the ninth-century, the types of works that Romanus composed came to be known as cantica (kontakia, sing.kontakion). Wendy Porter describes the form of these Kontakia:[10]
These are versified sermons set to music, each with a number ofmetrically identicalacrosticstanzas using a commonrefrain, preceded by a prelude in a different metre. The metre is not classical but relies on accentuation, with its rhythm established through the syllables in each metrical unit.
Today, usually only the firststrophe of each kontakion is chanted during thedivine services, the full hymn having been replaced by thecanon. A full kontakion was a poeticsermon composed of from 18 to 30 verses orikoi, each with a refrain, and united by anacrostic. When it was sung to an original melody, it was called anidiomelon. Originally, Saint Romanos' works were known simply as "psalms", "odes", or "poems". It was only in the ninth century that the term kontakion came into use.
His Kontakion of the Nativity is still considered to be his masterpiece, and up until the twelfth century it was sung every year at the imperial banquet on that feast by the joint choirs of Hagia Sophia and of theChurch of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Most of the poem takes the form of a dialogue between the Mother of God and theMagi, whose visit to the newbornChrist Child is celebrated in the Byzantine rite on 25 December, rather than on 6 January when Western Christians celebrate the visit (in the Orthodox Church, January 6, theFeast of the Theophany, celebrates the Baptism of Christ).
Of his other Kontakia, one of the most well-known is the hymn, "My soul, my soul, why sleepest thou..."[11] which is chanted as part of the service of the "Great Canon" ofAndrew of Crete on the fifth Thursday ofGreat Lent.
Romanos is one of many persons who have been credited with composing the famousAkathist Hymn to the Theotokos, which is still sung duringGreat Lent. Most recent scholarship has asserted that he is not the author of the hymn, although there is significant dissent among scholars.[12]
The earliest complete manuscripts of his works are dated centuries after his lifetime, akin to those of his successorsAndrew of Crete andKassia.[4] The oldest editions of full texts are dated to the 11th century.[1] However, the earliest papyri of any sort date close to when he lived. Two (P.Vindob G 29430 recto and P.Amst. I 24) date to the 6th–7th centuries, and another one (P.Vindob. G 26068 flesh side) dates to the 7th–8th centuries.[13]
Karl Krumbacher published in Munich several previously unpublished chants of Romanos and other hymnographers, from manuscripts discovered in the library of the Monastery of St John the Theologian inPatmos. There exists in the library ofMoscow a Greekmanuscript which contains kontakia and oikoi for the whole year, but does not include all compositions of Romanos. Krumbacher says of his work:
In poetic talent, fire of inspiration, depth of feeling, and elevation of language, he far surpasses all the other melodes. The literary history of the future will perhaps acclaim Romanos for the greatest ecclesiastical poet of all ages.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Romanos".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 576–577.
Media related toRomanos the Melodist at Wikimedia Commons
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