LOOK: Crucifixion by Natalya Rusetska
LISTEN: “Σήμερον Κρεμάται” (Simeron Kremate), an antiphon for Great and Holy Friday, in plagal second mode, from the Greek Orthodox Church
>> Chanted in English by Vassilis Hadjinicolaou:
[Greek]
Σήμερον κρεμᾶται ἐπὶ ξύλου, ὁ ἐν ὕδασι τὴν γῆν κρεμάσας.
Στέφανον ἐξ ἀκανθῶν περιτίθεται, ὁ τῶν Ἀγγέλων Βασιλεύς.
Ψευδῆ πορφύραν περιβάλλεται, ὁ περιβάλλων τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐν νεφέλαις.
Ῥάπισμα κατεδέξατο, ὁ ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ ἐλευθερώσας τὸν Ἀδάμ.
Ἥλοις προσηλώθη, ὁ Νυμφίος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας.
Λόγχῃ ἐκεντήθη, ὁ Υἱὸς τῆς Παρθένου.
Προσκυνοῦμέν σου τὰ Πάθη Χριστέ.
Προσκυνοῦμέν σου τὰ Πάθη Χριστέ.
Προσκυνοῦμέν σου τὰ Πάθη Χριστέ.
Δεῖξον ἡμῖν, καὶ τὴν ἔνδοξόν σου Ἀνάστασιν.[Transliterated Greek]
Símeron kremátai epí xýlou, o en ýdasi tín gín kremásas.
Stéfanon ex akanthón peritíthetai, o tón Angélon Vasiléfs.
Psevdí porfýran periválletai, o perivállon tón ouranón en nefélais.
Rápisma katedéxato, o en Iordáni eleftherósas tón Adám.
Ílois prosilóthi, o Nymfíos tís Ekklisías.
Lónchi ekentíthi, o Yiós tís Parthénou.
Proskynoúmén sou tá Páthi Christé.
Proskynoúmén sou tá Páthi Christé.
Proskynoúmén sou tá Páthi Christé.
Deíxon imín, kaí tín éndoxón sou Anástasin.[English translation]
Today he who hung the earth upon the waters is hung on the tree.
The King of the angels is decked with a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped on the face.
The Bridegroom of the church is affixed to the cross with nails.
The Son of the virgin is pierced by a spear.
We worship thy passion, O Christ.
We worship thy passion, O Christ.
We worship thy passion, O Christ.
Show us also thy glorious resurrection.
This is the fifteenth antiphon (short hymn) from the Matins service of Great and Holy Friday (as the day is called in the Orthodox tradition), celebrated on Thursday evening.
>> Arranged by Fr. Seraphim Dedes, chanted by Paul Barnes, 2019:
(An abbreviated version appears as “Byzantine Chant II: Simeron Kremate” on Barnes’s 2021 album Illumination; see my Holy Week Playlist.)
Paul Barnes is both a pianist and a Greek Orthodox chanter. Here he chants the “Simeron Kremate,” starting out in Greek and then using the following English translation:
Today he who suspended the earth on the waters is suspended on a cross. (×3)
The King of the angels wears a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the sky in clouds is wrapped in a fake purple robe.
He who freed Adam in the Jordan accepts to be slapped.
The Bridegroom of the church is fixed with nails to the cross.
The Son of the virgin is pierced with a spear.
We worship your passion, O Christ. (×3)
Show us also your glorious resurrection.
Seven of his piano majors from the Glenn Korff School of Music provide the ison (drone note).
>> Simeron Kremate, a solo keyboard work by Victoria Bond based on the Greek Orthodox chant, performed by Paul Barnes, 2019:
Paul Barnes and composer Victoria Bond are longtime collaborators. He introduced her to the “Simeron Kremate” chant, and she built a piano composition around its five-note melody. Struck by its similar melodic contour, she incorporated the Jewish Passover chant “Tal” (Dew), a prayer that life-sustaining dew would water the land. This prayer is traditionally chanted on the first morning of Passover (which is tomorrow; the festival begins this evening). Bond, who is Jewish, notes the thematic resonance between the two chants as well: (in my own words) the one a request for fruitfulness and refreshment, the other a lament for the death of the One whose death bears fruit and brings life. She describes the musical elements of the composition as follows:
The work opens with the traditional apichima of the plagal of the second mode which aurally establishes the musical atmosphere of the mode. Victoria follows this with a Jewish style cantillation (based on the cantillation of the great cantor Yosele Rosenblatt) which leads to the first statement of the “Simeron” chant. These opening notes are then developed in multiple ways before the intimate entry of the “Tal” melody. The work concludes with a ‘tranquillo’ passage of rare beauty ingeniously combining both themes. The work ends tentatively and unresolved as the opening notes of the chant dissipate into eternity.
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