Wikipedia

Cantor (Christianity)

(Redirected fromProtopsaltis)
"Chantress" redirects here. For the Ancient Egyptian prestigious title, seeChantress (Ancient Egypt).

InChristianity,thecantor,femalechantress,sometimes called theprecentoror theprotopsaltes(Greek:πρωτοψάλτης,lit. 'first singer'; from Greek:ψάλτης,romanized:psaltes,lit. 'singer'), is the chief singer, and usually instructor, employed at a church, with responsibilities for thechoirand the preparation of theMassorworship service.The term is also used for asimilar task in Reform Judaismand inAncient Egypt.

Precentor,painting byŠtefan Straka,1927

Generally, a cantor must be competent to choose and conduct the vocals for the choir, to start anychanton demand, and to be able to identify and correct the missteps of singers placed under them. A cantor may be held accountable for the immediate rendering of the music, showing the course of themelodyby movements of the hand(s) (cheironomia), similar to aconductor.

Western Christianity

edit

Roman Catholicism

edit
"A Parish Cantor," comiclithographby C. J. Traviès and Delaunois (1830s)

Before and after theSecond Vatican Council,acantorin theRoman Catholic Churchwas the leading singer of the choir, abona fideclerical role.[1]

The medieval cantor of the papalSchola Cantorumwas calledPrior scholaeorPrimicerius.In medieval cathedrals, the cantor orprecentordirected the music and chant, and was also one of the ranking dignitaries of thechapter.During the 14th century in many churches, the cantor began to delegate his instruction of the singers to amaster of music.After the introduction of harmonized music, some duties naturally fell to the conductor orchoirmaster.Today, the cantor is a role that can be performed by a lay person. In parishes without a choir, the cantor serves to lead the responsorial singing with the congregation.

The cantor's locality in the church is most generally to the right of the choir, and directly to his left is his assistant, formerly called thesuccentor.A common custom for cantors was the bearing of the staff, which was the mark of his dignity and a visual representative of his sacred role inside the church. This custom still survives in some places.

Protestantism

edit

InProtestantchurches, the role of the cantor can be lay or pastoral.[2]InNorthern Europeancities, especially inGermany,the title of Cantor or Kantor survived theReformation,and referred to a musician who supervised the music in several principal churches, taught in the boys'secondary school,and provided music for civic functions.Johann Sebastian Bach(ThomaskantorinLeipzig) andGeorg Philipp Telemann(Hamburg) were among the famous musicians employed under this system.[3]

In cathedral churches in theAnglican Communion,theprecentoror head cantor is a member of the governingchapter,second in rank to thedean.His stall is opposite the dean's and the two sides of the divided choir are accordingly known as "decani" (dean's) and "cantoris" (precentor's).

Evangelical churches

edit

In someEvangelicalchurches, theministryof the worship leader orworship pastoris to direct theworshipduringworship service.[4][5]They also direct rehearsals with the worship team.[6]Training inworshipis offered in someBible colleges.[7]

Eastern Christianity

edit
John Koukouzeles,saint and one of the most famous maistores ofPsaltic Artat Constantinople, leading a choir by thecheironomicgesture ofIson(picture of a 15th-century chant manuscript at theGreat Lavra Monastery,Mount Athos)

In theEastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox,andEastern Catholic Churches,acantor,also called achanter(Greek:ψάλτης,romanized:psaltes,lit. 'singer';Church Slavonic:пѣвецъ,romanized:pievets), is amonkor alay personinminor orderswho chants responses and hymns in the services of the church.[8]There are several titles for thepsaltes,which depend on the recognition of his capabilities as a chanter, sometimes connected with an employment, by the local orEcumenical Patriarchate.In some smaller communities it is also possible, that the community sings within an oral tradition and without any instruction by a protopsaltes, in otherOrthodoxRites, there are various hierarchical offices, which can be passed during a long career, connected with a lifelong process of learning.

Byzantine tradition

edit

Particularly in the Byzantine tradition, the cantor in charge of doing the music for a service is referred to as theprotopsaltes(Gr. Πρωτοψάλτης), a term which may also refer to an office within a diocese or whole jurisdiction (seeDomestikos), but this title was not used before the 12th century.[9]The cantor or chanters sing the many hymns called for during theDivine Servicesand theDivine Liturgy.A chanter must be knowledgeable about theecclesiastical modesas well as the complex structure of the services. AtConstantinoplethe charge of a protopsaltes was prestigious and connected with Byzantine offices. In the tradition of the cathedral rite atHagia Sophia,there was a distinction between the leader of the right choir (Domestikos) and the leader of the left choir (Lampadarios). Still during the last centuries, the usual career was to start (after serving as Protopsaltes of other cathedrals) as the "Second Domestikos of the Great Church" who assisted the first, then to proceed in the office of the teacher, and later even to theLampadarios,who often replaced the left choir as a soloist called "monophonares" (seeKontakarion), and finally this career was sometimes continued by the promotion to the "Protopsaltes or Archon Psaltes (ἄρχοντες ψάλται) of the Great Church" of theEcumenical Patriarchate.[10]

Vestments in Orthodox rites

edit

In the Greek tradition, a chanter will often wear theexorason,a black outer cassock with angel-wing sleeves. The Slavic tradition—which tends more commonly to use achoirrather than a cantor—assigns no specific vestment to the chanters, unless an individual has been ordained aReader,in which case he would wear only the inner cassock (podryasnik) and put on thesticharionwhen he receivesHoly Communion.In the Greek tradition, the chanters are stationed at a psalterion, a chanting podium positioned to the south and sometimes also to the north side of the sanctuary. In the Slavic tradition, the chanters are similarly positioned, and the area is referred to as thekliros.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^John A. Hardon,Catholic Dictionary: An Abridged and Updated Edition of Modern Catholic Dictionary,Image books USA, 2013, p. 72
  2. ^Ian S. Markham, Oran E. Warder,An Introduction to Ministry: A Primer for Renewed Life and Leadership in Mainline Protestant Congregations,John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2016, p. 158, 266
  3. ^New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,s.v. "Kantorat"
  4. ^Pascal Crelier, Claude-Alain Baehler, Dan LuitenPour Dan Luiten, la louange, c'est un auditoire « connecté » à Dieu,lafree.ch, Switzerland, 05 January 2015
  5. ^Dave Hall,Ten Reasons Every Church-Planting Team Needs a Worship Leader,christianitytoday.com, USA, January 17, 2017
  6. ^J. Matthew Pinson,Perspectives on Christian Worship,B&H Publishing Group, USA, 2009, p. 174
  7. ^Christianisme aujourdhui,Formations chrétiennes pour tous les goûts,christianismeaujourdhui.info, France, April 23, 2018
  8. ^Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson,The A to Z of the Orthodox Church,Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2010, p. 199
  9. ^The older titles were identical with those used in Rome, the medieval choir consisted of 12 chanters, among them 4 Kanonarches and 2 Domestikoi (Wolfram 1995,398).
  10. ^In the biographies of some archon cantors, published by the Ecumenical Patriarchate together with some recorded extracts (see theofficial site), their art and career can be studied.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Cantor".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Studies

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cantor_(Christianity)&oldid=1184905032"