5/10/2005 Presentation of a volume in memory of the late Metropolitan of Servia and Kozani Dionyssios My dear brothers and sisters, The Grace and the blessing of God and the duty we owe to the memory of a modest, educated, learned and outstanding Hierarch of our Church, the late Dionyssios, Metropolitan of Servia and Kozani, are behind the convocation of today’s ecclesiastic and musical gathering. This gathering is carried out on the occasion of the formal presentation of his voluminous musicological work under the title 183 Church hymns in Byzantine and European notation, which the Foundation of Byzantine Musicology of the Church of Greece has with justified pride offered to the ecclesiastic and more broadly scholarly and musical community, thus satisfying, even now, his fervent sacred desire to see the publication of this work of a lifetime, composed with a sense of devotion and responsibility. In this respect, our satisfaction, too, is justified by the printed edition of the aforementioned musicological work and is increased by the fact that the presentation of this editorial achievement is taking place today in this capital of Western Macedonia, the well-known town of Kozani, which was lucky to have the late Dionyssios as its Shepherd and Father and Bishop for almost 40 whole years; the late Metropolitan loved it and was loved by it and by all Kozanites the world over, who embraced their late Bishop, a brilliant jewel of our Church, with the due respect and honour. This is why may I too express my great joy of being amongst you on the occasion of the presentation of the volume, and my thanks to the Most Reverend Pavlos, your Pastor, and to the Right Honourable Mr Paris Koukoulopoulos, your Mayor, for their kind invitation, which I gladly accepted, considering it my duty and obligation to attend this event. I also thank all of you, who have filled this hall, for honouring the late Dionyssios by your presence and for proving that you love and respect both your Church and your Hierarchs. The figure and personality of the late Metropolitan Dionyssios comes back to the minds of us all whenever we search for support, for an unshakeable landmark of sound judgment, an accurate model and example of wisdom in Christ, a rule of pastoral ministration, a standard of liturgical accuracy and a spirit of courage thanks to the innovative initiatives undertaken within the framework of the liturgical process. The late Dionyssios combined the unrivalled faith in the imperatives and the requirements of tradition with the ability to go beyond the dead letter ministering the essence of the Orthodox liturgical life, following the example of the Holy Fathers of the Church, who always found ways of preserving tradition alive and topical, bearer of sound rules and models and not a graveyard of memories of times past, beautiful times yet dead. We have mentioned the above because it is reasonable for one to wonder about the reason for which a Hierarch of the authority, austerity and range of the late Dionyssios of Kozani should have transcribed a great number of hymns of the Orthodox Church into European notation, even though they are widely known in their excellent Byzantine notation. What reason was there to risk being branded “an innovator or even forgetful of the sacred traditions of our spiritual fathers” by self-called “defenders” and self-appointed “protectors” of our authentic liturgical reality? The answer is given by himself in the Preface to his work, where he notes tellingly: “The chants are presented in double notation, Byzantine and European, in two parallel horizontal lines, according to the editing practice of Byzantine Church hymns that has also prevailed in the Church of Romania. The reason is clear, despite the difficulties encountered in the transcription of Byzantine Church melodies onto a staff. However, these difficulties must be surmounted at any rate, because otherwise the so-called Byzantine music will remain unknown and like “a book sealed by seven seals” not only to foreigners but also to Greeks. The double notation of the hymns is to some extent a solution to the problem, while providing the opportunity and the possibility of their being learnt through a comparative study of the two notations in use”. The explanation given by his musical learnedness the late Dionyssios is twofold. Its first aspect is his love and attachment to our ecclesiastic music, of which he proved to be an accomplished expert. This love of his pushed him to compose liturgical hymns and indeed in our vernacular spoken language and to adapt his composition to the framework of our musicological prayer tradition, in his wish to contribute to the emphasis on Byzantine chant as choral song to be used in worship. It was his love of Byzantine chants that led him to study them in depth, and to the culmination of his artfully depositing his experience in the 183 hymns contained in the published volume of a unique simplicity peculiar to the Byzantine ecclesiastic chant. In this manner he also contributed to the purification of ecclesiastic chants from alien elements adulterating their authenticity and to a large extent canceling the Greek character of Church music assigning an Ottoman or Arabic-Persian or broadly Oriental or rather Orientalising origin to it. The second aspect of Dionyssios’ explanation is his wish to make Byzantine chants familiar to many other people who, though part of the art of music, do not know Byzantine music. The reason, therefore, was and is purely pastoral and hieromissionary. It reminds of the work of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Hieromissionaries, Enlighteners of the Slavs, who did not hesitate to create a new language and to transfer to it the truths of the Gospel and of the Orthodox faith, so as to speak directly unto the hearts of the Slavs and to catechize them in Christ. The Hierarch, deeply versed in Byzantine church music, which he had studied in the recognised conservatory “Mandolinata” of Athens in the late 1930s, was concerned about the possibility of its transmission and teaching both to the musicians in Greece and to lovers of our musical tradition from abroad. He thought, and in part rightly so, that the obscure and inflexible, yet intelligent manner of the notation of Byzantine music would constitute an insurmountable obstacle to people who studied and lived music through the staff. Although he was unshakeable in the conviction that Byzantine music was liturgical and, as a result, should be rendered authentically and genuinely within Divine Liturgy, he was not oblivious of everyone’s right to partake of its artistic aspect, whether Orthodox Christians or not, and whether their approach was of a liturgical or scholarly nature. The Hierarch opened up a window of knowledge to all this musical public and enabled it to approach, through the European notation and the staff, the precious pearl of Orthodox Hymnography, to partake of the supra-rational inspiration of the great saints and the modern hymnographers of the Orthodox Church and to taste the grandeur of Byzantine music, which would otherwise have been entirely strange to this public. He also enabled it to understand the grandeur of Byzantine notation, teaching that that the art of Damaskenos cannot be rendered accurately by any musical instrument of the secular musical heritage other than the human larynx created through Divine inspiration. Apart from the late metropolitan Dionyssios’ magnificent scholarly work, which is remembered in the volume presented today, it is worth pausing also with respect and thought on the memorandum he submitted to the Holy Synod more than twenty years ago under the title “Of Divine Worship or some necessary reforms in the Holy Services and the Divine Liturgy”. In the foreword to that memorandum, also published in the book, the great and courageous Hierarch noted: “We think that the matters touched upon in the present memorandum cannot pass unnoticed. We expect to face objections and reservations —very reasonably— but we shall consider them a proof of great success in our effort to open a dialogue in good faith on the matters raised. After fifty-one years in the ministration of the Church, experience has taught us that we cannot ignore the spirit and the needs of the people of our times; we must pay heed to them not at the price of denying the faith and the order of the Church but in order to get closer to them. Getting closer to men is the greatest need of our times”. This approach should be effected through modern means, in modern language, by innovative initiatives, ruptures and ground-breaking insights, as opposed to inflexible, barren and entrenched powers of “ignorant zeal” that are unable to face the spiritual needs of our people. All that this people asks of its shepherds is that we live in our times and not in the past. The above observations that come from the thought and the pen of a wise and traditional Hierarch of our times also set the framework of the initiatives that need to be taken by the leadership of the Church for the so-called “liturgical rebirth”. The old Fathers of the Church taught that tradition is not static and therefore can and must become the foundation and the basis for regenerative initiatives within the Church leaving out doctrine. Saint John Chrysostom was traditionally-minded, when he abridged the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great. Saint Mark Eugenicus was also traditionally-minded, when he took part in the dialogue with the Catholics. The Holy Photius was traditionally-minded, when he admitted an influx of ordinations to all grades of ecclesiastic orders within a week. Saint Cosmas the Aetolian was traditionally-minded, when he ranked the salvation and the freedom of our nation as first priority. The Church was traditionally-minded, when She raised an iconostasis to hide the holy of holies from the eyes of the faithful, when She replaced lamps with electricity in the churches, and when She allowed the use of oath and the dissolution of marriage by dispensation. Yes, the saints could distinguish topical from eternal, secondary from primary, form from essence, lie from truth, modernisation from decline. Moreover, the Church Herself was able to accept or to reject, depending on the case, to adopt or to disown, to impose or to give ground aiming at the spiritual interest and the salvation of Her children and not at opportunist or utilitarian choices. Nowadays, many are those who cover themselves behind the veil of traditionalism, so as to be able to reject any new and responsible initiative without further ado. They are in favour of the principle of not altering the status quo, whether good or bad. The late Dionyssios, though of serious and great standing, dared, however, to suggest and to introduce reversals and ruptures for whatever reforms he deemed necessary. Those that grumble will never cease to exist. Nonetheless, the duty of authentic shepherds is to convince good-willed people of the correctness of the measures they suggest and to dare to take initiatives that respond to the needs of the times without touching on the core of faith. Closing this brief address, I consider it my duty to thank and congratulate some persons who laboured for the publication of this monumental work of the late Metropolitan of Kozani. First, the Director of the Foundation of Byzantine Musicology of the Church of Greece, Prof. Gregorios Stathis, who assumed the task of gathering, analysing, presenting and introducing the musical texts; then, the Most Rev. Nikolaos of Karpenission and dear brother in Christ, a musical Hierarch and spiritual child of Dionyssios, who, on June 19, 2001, submitted a proposal to the Board of the Foundation regarding the “scheduling of publication of the book of the late Dionyssios, Metropolitan of Servia and Kozani, containing church hymns in double notation: Byzantine and European”; thirdly, the late Dionyssios’ sister, philologue, who preserved the manuscripts of the present work; and, last but not least, the Municipal and Prefectural Local Government in Kozani for their generous financial support. Kozani already boasts of the sense of honour of its inhabitants, the active involvement of its authorities, its rich Greek and Orthodox tradition, its former and new noble children that have loved it and are now part of the dear company of great national benefactors, its heroes who fought for the freedom of Macedonia, and its fighters who today stand up bravely against social injustice, exploitation and unemployment. It can also boast of the personality of the late Hierarch Dionyssios, whose work marked an entire epoch, supported the Church and stood by the people. May his memory be eternal. Thank you. [Transl. into English by Dr Nikolaos C. Petropoulos, M.St., D.Phil. (Oxon.)]