The Orthodox Christian Tape/CD FAQ

Table of Contents

• Teaching tapes

• Music tapes

• Music CDs

• New CD/tape of Orthodox music for Christmas in Arabic and English

1. New Valaam Trading Company offers a tape with workbook that teaches The Eight Tones and Special Melodies According to the Russian Usage Here is a partial description of the contents:

   "The Eight Tones and Special Melodies according the usage of the Russian orthodox Church" comprehensively covers all the eight tones, in each melody variation they are sung in. The troparic, sticheric, Irmos and prokeimenon melodies are all covered, with a single voice singing the melody only. The "refrain" melody, used for the psalm verses between the stichera of "Lord I have cried" at vespers and "Let every breath praise the Lord" at matins are also taught. There is a representative selection of each musical piece sung.

   In addition to the standard "Eight Tones" melodies, there is a selection of the 13 most popular "Special Melodies", or "Podobens". If a student were to master the contents of this tape, all of the hymns of Vespers and Matins could be sung, with very few, uncommon exceptions.

   The workbook included has:

   The words to everything that is sung, properly marked for emphasis

   An instructive Preface

   An essay introducing the rudiments of church singing and it's history, including

   Liturgical Chant of the Early Christian Church

   Liturgical Chant of the Russian Orthodox Church

   Construction and Usage of the Eight Tones

   "Guidelines for Choir Singers and Choir Conductors"

   which contains extensive quotes from the Father and Church Councils about church singing and Psalmody

   and an extensive bibliography.

   St John of Kronstadt Press
   Rt 1 Box 205
   Liberty TN 37095
   615 536-5239
   Contact: Fr Gregory Williams
   St. John of Kronstadt Press has tapes from a number of other publishers including a 2 tape set on the raising of children by a pre-Revolution Russian bishop that is quite good and a three tape set on the teachings of the Fathers on the Passions, on the Body, and on Sickness (I think that was the three).

   The Christian Activist has a tape ministry (they'll lend them, or sell at $4apiece)

   St. Herman of Alaska Bookstore
   1315 7th Avenue
   San Francisco, CA 94122
   (415) 664-8161 [DAYS]
   Contact: Matt Kaskanlian
   turns out a series of about 12 tapes that I found very good at $5apiece (some stuff by Fr. Seraphim Rose, a set of two tapes by a missionary to Uganda, a nice two tape set on confession, the Beatitudes, Marriage) (Several more are supposed to be released when he has time to get around to it, but given past experience that may be a long time. Some of his tapes can be acquired through Orthodox bookstores - like Jordanville - but only a subset of them and at a higher cost, since he seems to sell at whole sale prices if you mail order from him.) Here are my comments on the ones that are available written some time back:

   • Our Suffering Church by Alexander Ogorodnikov (mentioned in piece on Russian can onizations-dissident, intellectual, Orthodox layman) Talks about how intellectuals searched for and joined the church. How they fought against the confining of faith to a building during liturgy, and paid for it with their jobs and freedom. Talks about the sufferings in prison camp.

   • Christians Facing the 80's by Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) [2 tape set] Predictions for the 1980's-most of them wrong plus lots of good stuff. I can't remember exact contents b/c listened to a while back and have it mixed up with the next tape.

   • The Orthodox World View by Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) Talks about difficulty and necessity of developing an Orthodox world view in our culture.

     [In one or both of the sets, he talks about New Age stuff that is out there trying to lead us astray.]

   • The Marriage: A Sacrament of Love by Fr. Feodoroff [2 tape set] Talks about building a Christian marriage and how the church can help. Main points included demonic attack on the marriage since the Christian marriage conveys much grace. Talks a great deal about the necessity of self-sacrifice. Highly recommended as it is not limited in practicality to the married, as I the unmarried can attest. Talks about Beatitudes.

   • The Beatitudes in Our Daily Life by. Fr. Feodoroff Talks about the Beatitudes. Also very good.

   • Ugandan Mission by Fr. Gerasimos Kambites [2 tape set] Describes how he returned to church after time as at not-at-all-interested journalist, recovered from a serious illness to become a priest and a doctor. He helped set up a school/church/clinic on an island in Lake Victoria. How the demon worshippers and communists opposed him. Very inspiring. He was expelled from the country and his brother-in-law is taking his place. The Orthodox Benevolent Fund supports him.

   • Confession by Archbishop Antony of Los Angeles [2 tape set] Very helpful treatment of the spiritual benefit of confession. Discusses responsiblity of both the priest and the person confessing.

   Some of the 2 tape sets are really a tape and a half (for instance, Confession)

   St. Nicodemus Hagiorite Publication Society
   6149 Fairway Lane
   Wescosville, PA 18106
   Translator: Constatine Zalalas
   There's a group St. Nicodemus Hagiorite Publication Society that turns out conservative Orthodox tapes from a theologian in the Greek state church named Fr. Athanasios Mitilianaios from Larissa Greece (and some from Father Ephraim of M. Philotheou on the Holy Mountain) for $1.25. My priest likes the theologian. A friend of mine has mixed feelings on him, considering him too conservative (of course, I'm not sure whether to take that as a plus or a minus :)). I just heard about 30 of them of them and will probably listen to them all eventually, D.V. We acquired all 45 or so tapes for our parish library (a variety of practical topics, plus two extensive sets of teaching tapes on the Epistle of James and the book of Tobit). According to the tape, they are working with the blessing of Bp. Maximos. They have several priests, not all of whose names sounded Greek-one I think had a Slavic name, for guidance.

   Orthodox Christian Education Commision
   OCEC
   PO Box 69
   Colvin Station
   Syracuse, NY 13205
   has tape albums on church history/ an overview of the church by Fr. Thomas Hopko/ one on contemporary moral issues. Maybe more stuff.

   Orthodox Voices, an Orthodox periodical on tape, has nice stuff on it-lots of excerpts from good Orthodox sources. (I found out about the very fine series by St. Herman of Alaska Bookstore through an excerpt on Orthodox Voices)

   St Nectarios Press (SNP)
   10300 Ashworth Avenue
   North Seattle, Washington 98133-9410
   http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/resource/nectarios_cat.html

   also carries a variety of tapes including some nice ones on the lives of saints. However, the purchaser should be aware that the tapes contain comments of a polemical and controversial nature that some may find quite offensive, particularly in the Q&Asession. (My priest and myself found both edifying and offensive matters on the tapes personally. Your mileage may vary.) Some of the tapes are conferance tapes that are also available from Holy Transfiguration Monastary, which will sell you individual conferance tapes-St. Nectarios only sells "all the tapes from a conferance" for these tapes. Many of the lives of saints can be bought individually ($5each when last I checked), however. I have found, however, that they will accept back tapes for a full refund within 30 days if for any reason you are dissatisfied, so that limits the risk in trying the material.

   [Someone on the moderated Orthodox list suggested these] The "New Life Series" would be of interest in such a case. It includes -at least- a series of tapes by Fr Thomas Hopko on each of these themes:

   • Prayer - 20 tapes
   • The mother of God - 2 tapes
   • The Creed - 8 tapes

   [Someone on the moderated Orthodox list suggested these] Tapes on other themes by Fr Hopko are available from St Vladimir Seminary Press.

   Orthodox Christian Recorded Books produces tapes on a variety of topics, including the Life of St. Mary of Egypt by St. Sophronius, the Dormition of the Theotokos, St. Seraphim of Sarov's conversation with Molotov, St. Innocent of Alaska's Indication of Way into the Kingdom of God, and others. They can be acquired directly from the publisher or from St. John of Kronstadt Press. I've found the material read to be superb, but the reading style to be somewhat monotonous for some of the tapes. The reading was clear, however.

   Orthodox Mission Center has a number of tapes from a recent mission conferance. We purchased three for our parish library. They were interesting-I particularly liked the one from Fr. Daniel Byantoro who I met personally when he was in NJ.

Music Tapes

• Holy Transfiguration Monastery
  278 Warren Street
  Brookline, MA 02146
  800-227-1629
  also has tapes of chant in English chanted by the nuns of the Holy Nativity convent. Theses are very nice and very simply sung and are a good introduction to Byzantine chant for Americans.
  Catalog
  

• A California monastary of Bp. Chrysosthomos' jurisdiction imports nice stuff from their home monastary in Greece. We have four of these tapes in our church library. The following is the quote that induced us to try them.

  As for high quality Byzantine music, I recommend a series of cassettes recorded by the monks at the Monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina in Fili, just outside of Athens. The archieratical Divine Liturgy is wonderful. The paraklisis to Saints Cyprian and Justina also. They can be purchased from
  Eastern Christian Supply
  P.O. Box 677
  Etna, CA 96027
  Phone: 916-467-5620
  I don't think the recordings are available on compact disk.

• CONCILIAR PRESS
  P.O. Box 76
  Ben Lomond CA 95005-0076
  (408) 336-5118 or (800) 967-7377
  FAX (408) 336-8882
  carries a number of tapes and CDs including one that has music of the monastary of Valaam, purchase of which helps the restoration of the monastary. (The phone numbers are for orders only I believe.)

• Music teaching tape on the 8 tones in the Russian style is available from the New Valaam Trading Company.

Music CDs

• NEW: A Collection of Byzantine Hymns Chanted in Arabic and English in Jubilant Celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ
  Chanted by:
  Frank George, Chanter, St. George Orthodox Cathedral, Worcester, MA
  Lloyd George (Patapius), Reader, St. Stephen the Protomartyr Orthodox Church, South Plainfield, NJ
  is available from
  St. Stephen the Protomartyr Antiochian Orthodox Church
  701 Lane Avenue
  South Plainfield, NJ 07080-3516
  at $12 for cassetes and $18 for CDs by sending a check to St. Stephen the Protomartyr Antiochian Orthodox Church Building Fund
  Email Reader Daniel Lieuwen for more information

• There are lots of sources, however, one of the most complete I have found is
  It's a Classic
  5539 East 41st Street
  Tulsa, OK 74135-6008
  918-663-0405
  The owner is Reader Andrew (David) Honerkamp. He's a bit slow in getting the stuff to you if he has to special order it, but he keeps a relatively large stock of Orthodox (or should I say Eastern-the best Arabic stuff is done by a Melkite nun, some of the Russian stuff comes from a Uniate monastary in Belgium), Gregorian, and even a little Ethiopian chant. He has found me stuff that doesn't show up on the classical CD on-line sources.

  [Deacon Mark Gilstrap added the following] The employees are knowledgeable, but you might want to talk to Drew directly if you are after something specific. His inventory of orthodox books is also growing. If you're calling anyway you might ask if he has what you are looking for. Someone was asking about the Rudder. I saw a new printing of the Rudder just a couple of weeks ago in his store.

• St. Vladamir's Bookstore carries an extensive collection and their catalog gives a nice description.

• St. Tikhon's Bookstore carries some nice tapes and CDs (both instructional and music for tapes), but not as extensive as the previous two sources.

• [From Harry G. Coin] Orthros of Pascha and Liturgy on CD

  The Orthros of Pascha and the following liturgy are available on a CD by "Ekona", three sisters with beautiful voices, and a solo priest. Try Holy Cross Bookstrore in Boston (617) 731-3500. It is almost entirely in English, with a little of four or so other languages. About $14.

• [Someone sent me this] Tambu, the aforementioned Hellenic College bookstore is a good source of tapes of Byzantine Chant. There is a compact disk on Opus 111, a division of Harmonia Mundi, that is simply titled The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysotom by The Greek Byzantine Choir directed by Lycourgos Angelopoulos, disk number OPS 30-78. You could probably order this at any good record store.