Pronunciation help - Svete tihiy
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    My best friend works at Harding University (a Church of Christ affiliated school).

    The choir director there sent this note out to his colleagues:
    The Chorus is singing a setting of a Russian liturgical text - Svete tihiy - and I would like to locate a Russian speaker with whom I might consult about pronunciation. Any takers?


    My friend forwarded it to me and I said I'd ask around.

    (I did mention that it's not Russian, but Church Slavonic.)

    They are doing the setting by Alexander Gretchaninov (which, if Youtube hits mean anything, is super popular with college choirs).

    I know we have a handful of Byzantines 'round these parts.

    If there are any takers, please contact:
    Cliff Ganus
    ganus@harding.edu

    Also- leave a note here if you contact him, so that other people know he's been helped.


    Thanks.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    Listen closely, and there are other settings by other choirs that will come up with it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3diizQOzJI

    Well, the other settings didn't get listed on playback. Go to YouTube and enter "Svete tihiy" and you will see the listing on the right.

    Also, and probably more than you ever wanted to know, look at the pronunciation guides on this page. http://www.metropolitancantorinstitute.org/ChurchSlavonic.html
  • ClergetKubiszClergetKubisz
    Posts: 1,912
    I've got a good friend who is Russian Orthodox, and I called him up about this question. He pronounced it "SFYAY-tay TEE-yah." I would have used an ee sound at the end, but that is how he pronounced it over the phone.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    see if he'll contact the professor
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    svyeh-teh tee-chih (accent on first syllable in each word)

    yeh as the "ye" in "yes", ch as the "h" in "human" (german soft ch), ih as "i" in "bill"

    However, there are regional variants. Some would say svyeh-tyeh tee-xhih with xh as the "ch" in Loch Lomond (or german hard "ch"). Russian pronunciation of Slavonic is not the ideal.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    The practice is that every nationality pronounces OCS differently, and the few authentic texts don't shed much light. Sounds like Latin, doesn't it. LOL.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    Someone once told me that the western Ukrainians (including the Ukrainian Catholics) have the closest pronunciation to the ideal. Certainly, Muscovite Russian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, and even eastern Ukrainian pronunciation of Slavonic are different.
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