Irmos
Encyclopedia
The irmos is the initial troparion
of each individual ode in a canon
as chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church
and those Eastern Catholic Churches which use the Byzantine Rite
. The Irmos is sung by the choir or chanter, whereas the rest of the ode may be either sung or simply read.
The term comes from the Greek
verb "to tie, link" meaning that it poetically connects the Biblical ode to the subject of the canon.
The irmos presents a rhythmic and melodic pattern for all of the troparia which follow within a given ode. It also gives its name to the heirmologic forms of Byzantine chant.
Another irmos, called the katabasia
is sung at the end of an ode, to return to the original biblical theme.
Troparion
A troparion in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos...
of each individual ode in a canon
Canon (hymnography)
A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
as chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and those Eastern Catholic Churches which use the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
. The Irmos is sung by the choir or chanter, whereas the rest of the ode may be either sung or simply read.
The term comes from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
verb "to tie, link" meaning that it poetically connects the Biblical ode to the subject of the canon.
The irmos presents a rhythmic and melodic pattern for all of the troparia which follow within a given ode. It also gives its name to the heirmologic forms of Byzantine chant.
Another irmos, called the katabasia
Katabasia
Katabasia or Katavasia is a type of hymn chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite....
is sung at the end of an ode, to return to the original biblical theme.