The year 2023 will be an occasion to commemorate hymnographers and church chanters (psaltes) in the Romanian Patriarchate, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided this December.
The Reverend Archdeacon Mihail Bucă, founder and conductor of the Tronos Byzantine Choir of the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, welcomed this decision.
“I feel that the work of those who contributed and those who were destined by God to compose and perform church hymns is honoured,” the protopsaltes of the Patriarchal Cathedral told the Basilica News Agency.
He noted that the composition work of hymnographers is the result of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the interpretation is in fact theologizing through hymns.
“The chanter is both a theologian and a confessor. He becomes an apostle,” the archdeacon said. “Theology is transmitted through chanting.”
Archdeacon Mihail Buca turned this thought in particular to Anton Pann and Hieromonk Makarios, “who worked very hard in that era of transition to Romanianize the chanting.”
“In ancient times in churches chanting was in Greek, but they brought the word to our understanding,” archdeacon Mihail Bucă said.
He said the two hymnographers Pann and Makarios are a bridge between the old and the new in Romanian church chanting.
“Some composers or teachers say that we Romanians have a different style. But it only refers to language and melodic phrases. The interpretation remains the same, regardless of whether you are Greek, Serbian or Romanian psaltes,” the protopsaltes of the Patriarchal Cathedral also explained.
Archdeacon Mihail Bucă has played an important role in the development of Romanian Byzantine music, especially in the last two decades.
At his initiative, the Tronos Byzantine choir of the Patriarchal Cathedral was founded in 1997, consisting mainly of young theologians passionate about Byzantine music of the Byzantine tradition. The name was given to the group by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel in 2007.
For the entire missionary activity, Archdeacon Mihail Bucă received from Patriarch Daniel the Order of the Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs in 2014, and the Order of Saint John Chrysostom in 2016.
The Protopsaltes of the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest was also awarded by Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina with the Cross of the Holy Hierarch Dositheus.
Photo: Facebook / Mihail Bucă
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