За богослужебната музикална интерпретация на псалмите в средата на IV век
On the Musical Interpretation of the Psalms in Christian Worship Around the Middle of the Fourth Century

Summary/Abstract: Around the middle of the fourth century Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (ca. 293 – 373), wrote a didactic letter (epistle) known as The Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms (Προς Μαρκελλίνον εις την ερμηνείαν των Ψαλμών / Ad Marcellinum in interpretationem Psalmorum), which contained valuable information on fourth-century liturgical music. This study focuses on the particular question of how the Psalms were supposed to be performed with music during the time of St. Athanasius according to the letter to Marcellinus. The practices of singing the Psalms like spiritual songs and reciting them with melody like intoned biblical readings are described by St. Athanasius as synonyms. Most probably, for the Christians in the fourth century both singing the Psalms and reciting them with melody were accepted as an undeniable unity (existing since the Apostolic Age), which was later abandoned for the purpose of the Church’s public worship.

• Details
• Contents