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Mykola Dyletsky. «We feast death’s slaughter»

The concerts «God’s forebear David» (3 rd troparion of the 4 th Ode), «Thy boundless compassion» (1 st troparion of the 5 th Ode) and «We feast death’s slaughter» (2 nd troparion of the 7 th Ode) are dedicated to the Easter holiday, their lyrics rest on troparia of the Easter canon of Reverend John of Damascus in the version, common for the Kyiv Metropolitanate. The pieces are accepted as one cycle, since they are close by the subject, choral set (descant–descant–bass–bass, descant–descant–descant–bass) and musical material.

The piece called «We feast death’s slaughter» demonstrates Dyletsky’s virtuoso technique of polyphony and his command of the methods of musical rhetoric. For instance, the words «dancing» and «we praise» are accompanied with a melodic figure, while «the overthrow of Hades» – with multiple «stomping» (repetition) of a harmonic sequence Т – S.

Similarly to the other Easter concerts, Dyletsky resorts to colouristic effects, adapted to temple acoustics: multiple repetition of melodic phrases slows down and enlarges the harmonic structure of the pieces, producing a monumental musical fresco of the bright holiday of Resurrection of Christ.

English translation

We feast death’s slaughter,
the overthrow of Hades,
the first fruits
of a new eternal life:
and dancing we praise the Cause:
the only blessed
and most glorious
God of our fathers.

Paschal canon of St. John of Damascus Ode VII, 2 nd troparion Paschal canon of St. John of Damascus, ode VII. Translation based on the texts used by the Church of Antioch in the United Kingdom and the Church of Antioch in the United States.

Original text

Смерти празднуем умерщвление,
адово разрушение,
иного живота
вѣчнаго начало,
играюще поем виновнаго,
Единаго Благословеннаго
Отцев Бога
и препрославленна.

Paschal canon of St. John of Damascus Ode VII, 2 nd troparion

Track list

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