Canon (hymnography)

A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and Song of Zechariah from the New Testament.

The canon dates from the 7th century and was either devised or introduced into the Greek language by St. Andrew of Crete, whose penitential Great Canon is still used on certain occasions during Great Lent. It was further developed in the 8th century by Sts. John of Damascus and Cosmas of Jerusalem, and in the 9th century by Sts. Joseph the Hymnographer and Theophanes the Branded.

Over time the canon came to replace the kontakion, a vestigal form of which is still used on several occasions and which has been incorporated into the performance of the canon. Each canon develops a specific theme, such as repentance or honouring a particular saint. Sometimes more than one canon can be chanted together, as frequently happens at Matins.

The nine biblical canticles are:

These biblical canticles are normally found in the back of the Psalter used by Orthodox churches, where they are often printed with markings to indicate where to begin inserting the irmos and troparia of the canons. The original canticles are normally only sung on weekdays in Lent.

As with all other Orthodox church music, a canon is sung by a choir or cantor in a cappella chant. An ode of the canon is begun by singing the Biblical canticle from its beginning. At some point this is interrupted by an introductory stanza called an irmos ("link") which poetically connects the theme of the biblical canticle to the subject of the canon. Following the irmos and sung alternately with the subsequent verses of the Biblical canticle are a series of hymns (troparia), set in the same melody and meter as the irmos, that expand on the theme of the canon. The ode is completed with a final stanza called the katavasia. This might be a repetition of the irmos, the irmos of the last canon when more than one canon is being sung together, the irmos of the canon for an upcoming major feast day, or some other verse prescribed by the service books. (Katavasia means "coming down" and the verse is so called because as originally performed the two choirs would descend from their places on the left and right sides of the church to sing it together in the middle.)

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