The tradition of Prostopinije chant is used in the lands of Galicia, Volhynia and Ruthenia.[1] The Prostopinije traces its roots to the Slavic traditions of Old Kievan chant and Bulgarian chant, both stemming from the ancient Byzantine chant tradition. It was also affected by the local folk Carpathian music.[2] The Prostopinije chant is purely monodic, lacking ison or any other support, as well as folk choral polyphony.[2] Melodically, Prostopinije resembles Znamenny Chant and is closely related to it historically.[3] Compared to Znamenny chant, however, most prostopinije sources feature much more chromatic movement.
History
By the end of the 18th century, the first attempt to systematize and write down the body of Prostopinije melodies was undertaken by cantor John Juhasevich (1741–1814). In 1793, a Preparatory School for Cantors and Teachers was established in Uzhhorod by Bishop Andrew Bachinskyj.[2]
In the 19th century and earlier, in liturgical practice, the chanting was performed by the trained cantor soloist; however, by the end of the 19th century, through the efforts of Father Andrew 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 Bishop Julius Firczak of Mukachevo by father John Bokšai (or Bokshai, 1874–1940) and cantor Joseph Malinič. They published the first manual for the Carpathian Plain Chant[2] in Uzhhorod in 1906.[4]
After some of the Rusyn parishes converted from Byzantine Catholicism to the Russian Orthodox Church in America, inspired by Father Alexis Toth, the use of Prostopinije was discriminated against by Russian leaders, who replaced it with the Obikhod. 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]
Notation
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 in Znamenny 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]
The Prostopinije chant was traditionally performed either in Church Slavonic, or in Hungarian (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] In Slovakia it is also performed in Slovak.