Byzantine Prosomia

Review

A hymn is called a prosomion – meaning in Greek “similar to” – when hymns modeled after the Original Melody match it note for note, syllable for syllable, and accent for accent. By learning the prosomia one will be able to chant thousands of hymns in the Menaion, Triodion, Pentecostarion, Octoëchos, and all the service books of the Church. Prosomia appear in almost every service of the Orthodox Church, as hymns for “Lord, I have cried”, the Aposticha and the Praises, and as Dismissal Hymns, Kontakia, Exapostilaria and Sessional Hymns.

To make it easier for those who are going to use this section to learn Byzantine Music chant, we attached with each hymn the music notation file to help follow the chanting and and practice along while listening.