The Philippopolis Chamber Choir is one of the best among choirs specialising in Orthodox liturgical chant. Founded by Christo Arabadjiev in 1987, the choir is based in the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv, in ancient times Philippopolis, the capital of the kingdom of Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great.

Notable achievements during the 13 years the choir has been in existence have included prizes at competitions in Moscow, Poland and Cyprus. With the fall of the communist r‚gime in Bulgaria, the choir have been able to make extensive tours in the West and have performed at international festivals such as Edinburgh, Bergamo, and Kavenna , and at festivals of sacred music such as those in Bavaria and at Osnabr_ck. In 1993, the choir gave more than 49 concerts in Germany, including such famous venues as the Philharmonie Gasteig and the Liederhalle, Stuttgart.

In 1994, the "13 men with voices of angels" (to quote an article by a critic) made their first tour of the USA, giving concerts in New York and Chicago. In the summer of 1997, they won acclaim for their performances at the Tarentaise Festival of Early Music, France, and also at the Ravenna Festival, in the presence of Ricardo Muti. In 1998 and 1999 the choir were acclaimed on their tours of Germany, Belgium, France and Switzerland. They have recorded discs for the JMP Records, Arte Nova, and Novalis labels, and have broadcast on national television channels in Bulgaria and Germany. In the year 2000 they performed at venues such as the Philharmonic Hall, Berlin, the Hercules Hall in Munich and the Mozartsaal, Stuttgart.

Christo Arabadjiev, the chorusmaster of the Philippopolis Chamber Choir, was born in 1956 in Parvomay, Bulgaria. He studied at the State Music Academy at Plovdiv. His teacher of choral conducting was Krikor Chetinian. In 1987 he founded the Philippopolis Chamber Choir, with which he has made several concert tours in Europe and the USA. Christo Arabadjiev has recorded choral works for the JMP Records, Arte Nova, Novalis and At 2000 labels.

The bass Diman Panchev is without doubt one of the most outstanding young singers in Europe. With his exceptional talent, he is set on the road to international renown.

After completing his studies at the Bulgarian State Conservatoire, Diman Panchev was immediately offered a contract with the Sofia National Opera, making tours in Belgium, Holland, Germany, France and Spain. Since 1995 he is also guest soloist of the Philippopolis Chamber Choir, with which he has performed at international festivals of note such as those at Ravenna, Santander and the Concerts of Sacred Music at Bilbao.

Diman Panchev has performed on many occasions in the company of singers of the stature of Nicolai Gedda, Francisco Araiza, Isabelle Kabatu and others.
In 1996 he performed the first performance of Mikis Theodorakis' Canto General in the Philharmonie im Gasteign, Munich. He has recorded for the JMP records, Arte Nova and Novalis labels. The strength and rich timbre of Diman Planchev's voice makes for deeply expressive performances, with a great range of subtle nuances.

Liturgical chants of the Bulgarian Church Sebastià Janeras, Dr. en ciències eclesiàstiques orientals pel Pontificio Orientale, de Roma.

The Church in Bulgaria comes under an independent Patriarchy within the Orthodox Church. Christianity came to the Kingdom of Bulgaria in 864 A.D., when King Boris and his subjects were baptised under the aegis of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III. Later came the disciples of the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, the "Apostles of the Slavs", who had preached in Moravia, from where their disciples moved into the Kingdom of Bulgaria and continued the work begun by their teachers, that of translating biblical and liturgical texts into the Slavonic language. They adapted the Glagolitic alphabet created by Cyril and Methodius, the alphabet now known as Cyrillic script.

Bulgaria prospered under the first Tsar, Simeon I (893-927 A.D.), during whose reign the leading church figure was Bishop Clement of Ohrid (d. 916), who established the r‚gime to be followed in monastic life. This was also the period when the Bulgarian Church became autocephalous, obtaining its own independent Patriarchy. In 927 Constantinople recognised the see at Preslav, the capital of the Kingdom. At the end of the 10th. century, both see and capital were tranferred to Ohrid, then in Macedonia and now part of modern Serbia. After the occupation of Bulgaria by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (the "killer of Bulgarians"), the country became a Byzantine province and the Church lost its Patriarchy, although it remained autocephalous under the authority of an archbishop at Ohrid. At this same period, in 1054, Rome separated from Constantinople, and Bulgaria shared the fate of all the Orthodox Churches. A second Patriarchy was established in 1235 with its see at Trnovo, but this was to disappear with the Ottoman conquest in 1393, after which the Bulgarian Church again came under an autocephalous archbishopric at Ohrid. In 1767 the Church was placed under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchy, but broke away in 1860 to form a national exarchy (1870), and was excommunicated by Constantinople from 1872 to 1945.

In 1953, the Church became a Patriarchy for the third and last time, on this occasion with its see at the new capital, Sofia. Recognition from Constantinople came in 1961. At present the Bulgarian Church has some 8 million members. The head of the Church is Patriarch Maxim, and the see is Sofia.

The Bulgarian Church, like all Orthodox faiths, follows the Byzantine liturgy. The language of the services is traditional Slavonic, and the music is the same as that used in other Slavonic Orthodox Churches in Russia, Serbia, the Ukraine and elsewhere although there was originally a strong Greek-Byzantine influence, as liturgical texts translated from the Greek were adapted to the melodies and neumic system of Byzantine religious music. Initally monodic (znamenni rospiev), the music gradually took on the polyphonic nature so characteristic of Slavonic religious music, although there are still some melodies referred to as "Bulgarian chant" (bulgarski rospiev).

In the Byzantine rite, both the Divine Liturgy (Mass) and the Divine Service are always sung, especially the important Canonical Hours of Matins and Vespers. It is these services, above all when sung in the Slavonic churches, which so captivate anyone who allows himself to be drawn into the atmosphere created by the music. The Philippopolis Choir will be singing extracts from these services.

Notable among the works in the programme that are taken from the Divine Liturgy is the short hymn of praise "Three Times Holy" ("Holy God, holy and strong..."). The text was already in use in the 5th century, and while other churches have maintained its original Christological meaning, the Byzantine Church has always assigned Trinitarian significance to the words. They have been harmonised or set to music by many composers. The work by Tchaikovsky has a special beauty of its own.

"In Thy kingdom" (Vo tsartvii tvoiem) is a short antiphon which accompanies the chant of the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. Other extracts from the Divine Liturgy are the chant of the Litany ("Ectenia"2), which alternates with the response "Gospodi pomilui" ("Lord, have mercy"). This Litany appears in varying forms at other points in the Divine Liturgy and also in the Matins and Vespers services. As occurs in all Eastern and Western services, the Lord's Prayer is sung immediately before communion. As with the "Three Times Holy", this piece has also been harmonised or set to music by many composers.

When the Divine Liturgy is sung on feast days, it is the custom to finish the service by singing good will wishes for religious dignitaries, the church congregation or for a specific individual. The choir responds each time with a majestic, threefold "Mnogaia leta" ("For many years!").

Sunday Vespers (held on Saturday evening) begin with Psalm 103 (104), and the psalmody for this service consists of Psalms 1-3, the first katisma of the Byzantine Psalter. The Nunc Dimittis, from the Gospel according to St. Luke, is sung at the end of the service. Vespers (vechernia) is often immediately followed by Matins (utrenia), and this combined "all night" service is known in Slavonic as vesnochnioe bdenie, the real title of the work by Rachmaninov, and also a similar composition by Tchaikovsky, both known in the West by the incomplete title of "Vespers". At the point of transition between the two services there is a procession (litia) accompanied by long prayers recited by the deacon, to which the choir sings the repeated response "Gospodi pomilui". A litia by Tchesnokov is included in this concert.

From the Matins Service itself, the concert includes the chant Khvalite imia Gospodne by D. Christov, consisting of verses from Psalms 135 (134) and 136 (135), in which the word "mercy" ("eleos" in Greek) frequently occurs. For this reason these verses are called "Polyeleos" ("Polyelei" in Slavonic). Also from Matins is the Grand Doxology1, the well-known hymn "Glory to God on high", which concludes the service. This ancient hymn is to be found in biblical manuscripts and in the Eastern Church has always been sung at Matins, while Western tradition has incorporated it into the Mass. When the Greeks celebrate the Divine Liturgy without the inclusion of Matins, they usually sing the Grand Doxology1 immediately before the start of the service.

The song to the Virgin, "Chesnechuiu kherubim" ("More venerable than the cherubim") is the response to the verses from the Magnificat (ninth ode) in the ordinary of the Matins Service, and it is also sung or said during certain Hours of the Divine Service. It is also sung during the Divine Liturgy at the commemoration of saints during the anaphora or eucharistic prayer. In this case the text is preceded by these words: "It is just that we praise thee, o Mother of God, always blessed, immaculate and Mother of our God."

There are two other pieces which also belong to the Matins Service, although they are only sung on specific days of the church year. Both are "ex-apostilliary" chants, sung after the ninth ode of Matins. The first of these, "Razboinika blagorazumnogo" S'escriu ..."ago" en el programa m‚s amunt (p…g. 1/6) ("Today thou hast made the thief worthy") is sung on Good Friday; the second, "Anguel vopiache" ("The Angel said") is included in the Easter Day Matins Service, although it is also sung at Divine Liturgy throughout the Easter period.

Finally two pieces from the Service for the Dead ("Panakhida" in Slavonic) "Molitvu proliiu" ("I address my prayer"), and above all "Vechnaia pamiat" ("Eternal Memory"), which is sung repeatedly during the burial service.