Absolutely, Steve. I had the great pleasure of attending a Divine Liturgy outside of Lviv, Ukraine, a few months ago. They chanted in Ukrainian, of course, but the approach was very similar to what you describe.
There are so many directions one can go and still be on the same road of sacred music that started in Chantium.
And the most interesting part of it was how that chanting complimented the Russian style of ringing bells. They have bells both inside and outside, and rang the former at the beginning of the Liturgy.
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