The Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian

Attributed to Saint Ephrem the Syrian and used especially during the Triodion, this prayer is often regarded as the most concise expression of the specific spirituality of Great Lent, and is therefore the prayer par excellence of the fasting Christian in Orthodox Christianity. It is recited at the daily services throughout the Fast, at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and many more times in private devotion.

The piece, which I completed in 2011, is written in a predominantly polyphonic style, using Byzantine thematic material and harmonies derived from the scales of the Byzantine echoi, in some measure following the line traced by Paul Constantinescu. It is intended to be sung both on stage and at the Communion hymn during the Divine Liturgy, while the priests receive Communion in the sanctuary. The present version is scored for male choir with a bass reciter; the reciter may also be an actor.

The work is laid out in three sections plus a coda, two of them indebted, at least in principle, to formal structures from Western art music: a free counterpoint (mm. 1-27), a fugue (mm. 28-71), a ciaccona (mm. 72-119), and a recitative (mm. 120-122).

In performance, a covered, warm and velvety timbre is recommended, one capable of producing a sound with relatively few upper partials, so as to favor the close chordal spacing on which the piece relies.