

Hoorn Byzantine Malechoir on CD
On this moment the Hoorn Byzantine Men's Choir have released five CD's:
The first one, produced in 1992, was a selection from the repertoire that we performed on that
moment. Songs from the Slavian-byzantine ritus
Attention! This CD is sold out!
The second CD, named "The Moleben of the Mother Gods" is made round this theme,
and finished with a number of other Maria-songs.
Grigori S. Sarolea tells this about the Moleben:
In the Christian Churches (both the Roman Catholic and the Byzantine Orthodox church )
the Maria-devotion is important.
In the daily (religian) life of confessed christian members of this churches have Maria a special
place among the other Saints.
In the Maria-devotion comes the difference between the western and the Eastern-church out.
There is a difference to feel and see between the way on which Maria be honoured,
in Russia or in the Roman hemishere
In the Byzantine rite they takes the view that the is a reflection of the heavenly
order and that the liturgy celebrated on earth, also a reflection is from the eternal
heavenly liturgy celibrating in the front of God's throne.
The Byzantine Orthodox way of the Christian believe found his origin in the East-Roman Empire and in Constantinopel
in the neighbourhood of the emperor.
That's the reason why you can find elements of the imperal hierarchy in the Byzantijns rite:
The heaven with the triad (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) God as Emperor and than in the lower position, the Saints.
The position of Maria, as the Mother of God, is a very special place. Mark the place of the Maria-icon in the iconostace (
the wall of icon's, that seperate the altar from the church):
She is the first in the row left of royal gate, opposite Christ, direct left of this gate.
Also in the prayers and hymns is Maria an important subject: Every litany has a prayer to Maria, every feast has in the
liturgy an own Maria-hymn (zadostonjik), the ninth ode in the matins is always devote to her.
In the prayers to the Mother God there is one question always important: Please, remember us in your prayers to God.
This intercession have all the Saint, but through the special place of Maria in the heavenly order, Maria is honoured
than all the Saints together.
She is patroness for all the sincere religious people and in prayers to her they asking, often begging, her
for patronage against all sorts off disaster and misery.
Even the many titles of call let us see that she is not only the Mother of God, but (certainly in Russia)
the spiritual mother of the land.
The Moleben
A
Moleben is a service of prayer, which can celibrated for different opportunities.
In the beginning a short simple service, celibrated without priest. In the church-books, in this time
we can find also more comprehensive forms of the Moleben.
The moleben has a permanent structur (similar to the mats) with regular prayers and songs (ordinarium)
and changing prayers from the Moleben which is celebrating.
Known are the next Moleben:
The Moleben of the Gratitude, Call of the Saviour in Time of War and the Moleben of the Mother of God.
Moleben can be celebrated on every moment and every place and is not dependent of the calender.
This CD from the Moleben of the Mother Gods do fits very well on the strive of the Hoorns Byzantine Men's Choir to sing
in the Russian monastery style.
The HBM has on the 28e october presented the thirth cd in the "Oosterkerk" in Hoorn (Netherlands) in the same time we celebreted our thirth lustrum. On this CD we have recorded the songs of the liturgy of the Holy John Chrysostomos.
The fourth CD is recorded with songs from the Valamo-monastery in the north of Russia, in Karelië, near Finland. We are very proud of the quality of this recording
On the fifth CD, is recorded in December 2007. The theme of this CD is the Good Week and Easter, one of the most important moments of the churchly year of the Byzantine orthodox rite.