Music for the Orthodox Western Rite: An Unofficial Compendium

Music has always been an integral element of Orthodox worship, and St. Columba’s is no exception.  Most of the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days is sung by the choir and congregation.  It might seem as if we sing everything except the Sermon and the announcements!

At sung Matins and Vespers, we sing Gregorian Psalms, Canticles and Responses from St. Dunstan’s Plainsong Psalter.

Both the choir and the congregation at St. Columba’s have shown a marked interest in singing as much of the Liturgy in harmony as possible.  This collection of liturgical music reflects that interest: most of the selections on this site are intended to be sung in parts, with organ accompaniment.  

Our approach to the organ in the Liturgy is to reinforce, as much as possible, the sense of the texts being sung by the particular stops used at any given time.  We would not be very likely, for example, to accompany a congregational hymn all the way through with 8′ and 4′ flute stops!

We have endeavored to determine the copyright status of every text and piece of music on this site.  We apologize for any omissions, and will correct errors brought to our attention.