This, as you note, is my 500th Post! I had no idea I’d be blogging this long. I can think of no better way to celebrate than with music.
The Nativity of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ
For any here present who are not Orthodox: Here is a typical Orthodox icon for the Feast of Christ’s Nativity – very different from popular pictures of the Lord’s Birth. Here the Virgin Mary looks sad, Joseph is off in the corner brooding, Jesus is depicted twice, and to the left are the Magi arriving on their horses. (Who says they rode on bumpy cantankerous camels all the way from Persia?) Finally, note that Jesus was born not in a wooden stable, but in a cave.l
Here’s my point: In a similar way Orthodox music for Christ’s Nativity also is very different from “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “O Holy Night” and the like. If you’re not accustomed to it, it may take some getting used to.
Again this year, I’ve searched for some of the best Orthodox Christmas music I can find. Some of it is a repeat from last year. Much is new. I’ve had an especially good time this year searching for Orthodox Christmas carols out of many traditions. For the benefit of any non-Orthodox folks here present, I’ve added a few explanatory notes.
We’ll take this more or less in chronological order: Preparation for the Nativity, then the Feast of the Nativity. Except for the carols, all are appointed texts for the liturgical worship of the Church.
Unless you have a lot of time today, don’t try to listen to all of it at once. Come back tomorrow. We’ll still be here.
Any Old Calendar Orthodox: Why don’t you use this Post as preparation for your celebration of Christmas on January 7.\?
Enough talk. Let’s get to the music.
Orthodox Liturgical Music for the Nativity of Christ
Let’s begin with a bang – from the Vigil before Divine Liturgy for of Nativity (in the Slavic tradition).
Orthodox choral music such as this has been developed in the past few hundred years, based on earlier chants. This is sung by the choir at Saint Symeon’s Orthodox Church (OCA), Birmingham Alabama.
Kontakion before Christmas. This is sung at services during the latter weeks of the Advent Fast, chanted here by Father Apostolos Hill, senior pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona, in Greek Byzantine style which almost certainly derives from the Jerusalem Temple chanting which our Lord Jesus and the Apostles knew.
A Hymn from the Ninth Hour of the Service of the Royal Hours for the Nativity.
This is normally served on the day before the Nativity. Despite the title on the video, this is definitely not a “Christmas Carol”. This is Byzantine chant, powerfully sung in Middle Eastern style.
The Feast of the Holy Nativity
Nativity Matins Prokeimenon
This is sung immediately before the Holy Gospel at Matins/Orthros for the Nativity, here again by the choir of Saint Symeon’s Church in Birmingham.
This is from the Nativity Canon – a series of hymns sung at Matins.
I think this is Alleluia Psalm sung before the Holy Gospel in the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which is very unfamiliar to me.
The Christmas Troparion/Apolytikion is the “keynote” hymn, sung at all services during the Feast of the Nativity. Below you hear in order the Troparion sung in: Church Slavonic, English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Albanian, Hungarian, Greek, Ukrainian, Romanian and Japanese.
“Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone to the world the Light of knowledge; or by it, those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to worship You, the Sun of Righteousness,1 and to know You, the Dayspring from on High. O Lord, glory to You!”
This takes a while, and it doesn’t seem to have a pause button on it! If you don’t want to watch to the end, just move the red “slider” at the bottom to the the far right, and the music will stop.
courtesy of domkov.com
The Kontakion for the Nativity
Megalynarion (Hymn to the Mother of God) sung towards the end of the Anaphora (prayer of consecration of the Holy Gifts of bread and wine)., also by the choir of Saint Symeons’, Birmingham/
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Orthodox Christmas Carols
A Ukrainian Carol
A Greek Carol.
It is the custom for childen to go from door to door singing on Christmas Eve.
English translation: Good evening Kings, if it’s your will, at the divine birth of Christ I’ll sing in your mansion. Christ is born today, in the city of Bethlehem. The heavens are rejoicing, all nature rejoices. Inside the cave is being born, in a manger of horses, the King of heavens, The Creator of all. In this house we’ve come to, may no stone ever crack, and may the master of the house live for many years!
A sweet Serbian Carol. Sorry – I can find neither the words nor the source. It looks like a television production.
“Angelic Chant of Nuns from Camarzani Monastery in Romania.” Here is their description: The Song is called “Din Cer Senin” (From the Clear Blue Sky). The Song is enriched by an insight in a men’s Monastery in Abkhazia: 
• Служба в соборе Святого Пантелеймона … Lyrics: From the Clear Blue Sky (x2)”
Here’s the text. Be sure watch the video, which is extraordinarily beautiful.
From the clear blue sky, a divine choir Can be heard sweetly singing. (x2) Gifted shepherds appear on the hill Bringing white lambs as gifts. (x2) A star on the horizon watching over the paths, Shining in the distance (x2) Leads the magi with their precious gifts Carried in white bags. (x2) And a frail infant with a holy face Sits quietly smiling. (x2) And His Mother was cradling Him And everbody was joyous. (x2) And the holy sky and this earth Were illuminated by the Infant. (x2) And they became holy and they received God’s grace Those who let Him in. (x2) And us, having seen this, we pray And we kiss His face. (x2) Yearning to devote our lives to Him And to praise Him forever. (x2) From the clear blue sky, a divine choir Can be heard sweetly singing.”
Georgian Christmas song and Procession
Alilo Georgian Christmas Procession: January 2018 ალილო ქართული საშობაო მსვლელობა
From the Coptic Orthodox Church: ”A New Christmas Song” from America in the Egyptian tradition, found on thejr Coptic “Christian Youth Channel”. (They also have a channel for converts called “Copticated”. The Copts have long been ahead of the rest of us in the use of audio-visuals. And now they’re writing new Christmas carols!
A Carol from Ethiopia: “The Savior of the World is Born Today”. Just in passing, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has 36 million members.
Let’s conclude with what I think is the most lovely of ancient (and therefore still Orthodox) Western hymns: “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” (in the original Latin: “Corde natus ex parentis”), written in the Fourth Century by Clemens Auxentius Prudens, a Spanish poet, philosopher and lawyer. I cannot discover the name of the choir which sings it so beautifully.
(Courtesy of life-incessant.blogspot.com)
And that’s it.A continuing Merry, Blessed, Happy, Holy Christmas to you!
Next Week: January 3 is New Year’s Day.
Week after Next: “In the Fullness of Time”