I acquired this manuscript from an antique dealer in Atlanta on eBay. The manuscript is an Old Church Slavonic Obikhodnik Chant book, hand written in black with chant notation in both black and red. The cover is gilt tooled calf with two claps, one is broken. There are three raised bands on the spine. Page edges are stained red. Size is 7.5 x 9.5″ and it is 2.5″ thick. There is no title page, content begins immediately.
There are very few page numbers through out and all are still in “pencil”, not yet inked over. A number of pages are incomplete. Some of the ornate work is still in “pencil” some in outline and some text is missing the chant notation. The text is in Cyrillic Church Slavonic and the chant notation is type B neumes.
Sun April 05, 2009, 03:58:52
In all probability this chant book of the Pomortsy branch of Old Believers is of considerably later origin than 1650s; judging from its appearance I would date it to the second half of the 19th century.
Thu March 03, 2011, 09:39:26
Please forgive my ignorance on the topic of Carpatho-Ruysn chuch music. I’ve just joined a mission parish and I’m struggling to understand the music. I’m very familiar with Russian church music – I have the Obikhod and Sputnik Psalomschchika.
I have a basic understanding of Old Believer music and traditions. A friend at the university library when I worked for many years is professor of ethnomusicology and her special interests include both Old Believers and Molokans. I video taped much of a presentation she made at the Smithsonian Institutions’ Festival of American Folklife in 1995. I also have a very limited understanding of Stolp or Krukie notation but I’m not fluent enough to make transcriptions.