On this episode of “Icons in Sound” Vlad Morosan explores some of the musical and hymnographic highlights of Great and Holy Week, featuring beautiful hymns from the Byzantine and Slavic traditions sung, for the most part, in English.

Click Read More below to listen to the program.

This episode of “Icons in Sound” focuses on the hymnography of Great Lent, particularly some of the special commemorations and services that take place during the fourth and fifth weeks and several different musical settings of “Open to me the doors of repentance”--the series of Matins hymns that encompass the central theme of Great Lent.

Click Read More for the rest of this article and to listen to this program.

Editor's note: This is an updated version of this program which originally ran in March 2008.

This episode of "Icons in Sound" explores the richness of the hymnography for the great Feast of the Annunciation, which the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates on March 25th. This glorious and radiant feast, which typically falls in the midst of Great Lent, celebrates the events described in the First Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, verses 26-38: Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she has found favor with God, and will conceive the Word of God Incarnate in her womb. When she agrees to this amazing and miraculous plan, saying “I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said,” it is the Church's understanding that at that very moment the Holy Spirit came to her, as the Angel said, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. Thus, this feast is also regarded as the conception of the Lord Jesus Christ, 9 months before his birth, which is celebrated on December 25.

Click below for the audio program and the continuation of the article.

Like every Orthodox feast, the Nativity of Christ has its special period of preparation -- the 40-day Nativity fast and a five-day pre-feast. “Icons in Sound” invites you to explore the rarely-heard special hymns of the pre-feast of the Nativity, which help prepare our hearts and minds for the birth of Christ.

Click Read More below to listen to the program and read the rest of the article.

On November 12, 2008, a significant event occurred in the life of Orthodoxy in North America: the election of a new Metropolitan for the OCA, or Orthodox Church in America. We would like to dedicate this program of “Icons in Sound” to the newly elected Metropolitan JONAH, as we focus on some of the special hymns that are sung when a bishop celebrates the Divine Liturgy. “Many years to you, Master!”

To read the rest of the article and listen to the program, click Read More below.

A brand new CD by the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale draws upon the richness of many Orthodox musical traditions, all adapted into the English Language. From Byzantine and Slavic chants adapted and arranged by graduates of the Seminary, to new compositions by American Orthodox composers, this CD allows listeners to experience the musical breadth and diversity found in the Seminary’s liturgical practice.

Click below to listen to the program and read the rest of the article.

Dr. Tikey Zes has worked in the field of Orthodox Church music for over 55 years, producing numerous compositions and chant arrangements in both Greek and English. This program explores his musical legacy and the beauty it has contributed to the Orthodox musical landscape in North America.

To play this week's program and read the rest of the article, click below.

Celebrate the great feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with a broad selection of hymns in a variety of musical traditions, drawn from a brand new CD, entitled “Life-Giving Wood: The Feast of the Elevation of the Cross,” by the St. Lawrence Orthodox Chorale. On this CD all the hymnography is in English, allowing the sense and meaning of the festal texts to emerge fully.

Click Read More for the program and the rest of the article.

The Church begins its New Year on September 1, and very soon afterwards, on September 8, celebrates the first major feast of New Testament salvation history--the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Theotokos. This episode of “Icons in Sound” takes listeners on a musical celebration of the feast, with a variety of selections taken from Byzantine, Slavic and contemporary North American roots.

Click below to read more and listen to the program.

The great feast of the Dormition or Falling Asleep of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, which the Church celebrates on August 15th, has some of the richest hymnography of the Orthodox festal cycle. This program samples the vast treasure-house of Dormition hymns in three languages--English, Greek, and Church Slavonic. Direct File Link or click below to listen:

This episode of Icons in Sound; is a musical celebration of the great feast of the Transfiguration of Christ, which the Orthodox Church marks on August 6th. The festal hymns describe the events of the feast, offer praise to the Lord Jesus Christ for His glorious works, exhort and inspire the faithful, and reflect upon the theological depth of the celebration. Direct File Link or click below to listen:

Hear the Divine Liturgy like you've never heard it before!

On this week's "Icons in Sound" we are delighted to bring you a preview of Cappella Romana's newest CD, which is being launched at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese's Clergy-Laity Congress. This is truly a history-making recording, on which the complete Divine Liturgy, in the English translation of the Thyateira Diocese, is chanted in authentic Byzantine style by expert, professional-caliber chanters, whose native language is English.

Direct File Link or listen below.

Orthodox worship in the English language requires musical settings of hymns that “sing” and “pray” in English. For over 50 years, Father Sergei Glagolev has been composing liturgical music in English, and teaching and inspiring others to do the likewise. It is fitting, therefore, that our first program in a series devoted to Orthodox composers in America be devoted to his pioneering works.

Direct File Link or listen below.

Click here to read additional biographical information on Fr. Glagolev.

This episode of "Icons in Sound" celebrates "All the Saints of North America," featuring hymns in honor of such saints as St. Herman of Alaska, St. Innocent, Enlightener of North America, and St. John, the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco. Although this is a relatively recent tradition in the life of the North American Churches, the musical selections, drawn from a variety of chant styles and sung in English, demonstrate that the practice of commemorating the American saints is becoming increasingly widespread. Direct File Link or listen below.

Extending this tradition into our present American reality, this week's episode of "Icons in Sound" (No. 013) celebrates "All the Saints of North America," featuring hymns in honor of such saints as St. Herman of Alaska, St. Innocent, Enlightener of North America, and St. John, the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco. Although this is a relatively young tradition, the musical selections, drawn from a variety of chant styles and sung in English, demonstrate that the practice of commemorating the American saints is becoming increasingly widespread.

This week's episode of "Icons in Sound" celebrates "The Sunday of All Saints," presenting a number of hymns in praise of such saints as Equal-to-the-Apostles SS Constantine and Helen, SS Cyril and Methodius, and St. Nino, Enlightener of Georgia; the great Hierarchs St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom; and great women saints, including St. Thekla and St. Elizabeth, Grand Duchess of Russia.

Just as Christ's Apostles were enabled on the Day of Pentecost to proclaim the Gospel in many different languages, so this episode of "Icons in Sound" proclaims the message of the feast in a variety of languages -- Greek, Church Slavonic, and English, and features a variety of musical styles, offering "praise with one voice." Direct File Link or listen below:

This program celebrates the great feast of the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -- one of the 12 major feasts of the Church, which is always observed 40 days after Pascha. Direct File Link or click below to listen.

This program focuses on one of the most beloved hymns of the Paschal season--the festal Hymn to the Theotokos “The Angel Cried," and features 10 beautiful settings, ranging from chant to choral polyphony, sung in Greek, Church Slavonic, and English. Direct File Link or click below to listen:

Why does the style of liturgical singing in some Orthodox churches differ so greatly from that heard in other churches? This is a question that has probably puzzled many newcomers to the Church, perhaps even without their realizing it. Click below to listen: