Music for Maronite Catholic wedding
  • WittManWilsonWittManWilson
    Posts: 76
    I am playing for a Maronite Catholic wedding this Saturday. Does anyone have or know where I could find accompaniment for the chants in the ritual book for a Maronite Catholic wedding? I have melody lines, but no accompaniment and no chords. Before I try making it up on my own, I wanted to see if anyone knew where I could look. Thanks!
  • hilluminar
    Posts: 121
    Are you using "The Mystery of Crowning" book? It, indeed, has no chords. A good place to look for what you will need is maronitemusic.org. Under "Mass Hymns" on this website, it has a variety of Hymn of the Angels melodies, the Trisagion melody, the Alleluia (Fetgomo), Korozooto, and a variety of Holy Holy Holy melodies, all with chords.

    Unfortunately there are no official or standard accompaniments to any Maronite hymns. Each musician is supposed to come up with his own accompaniments.

    BTW, you will have a cantor well versed in the Maronite rite and it's music to work with you, yes? You really need one.

    Now, the Qolo'afifo is not familiar to me, but I know it is in the key of F, so F and C and Bb and Gm would be the chords I would use for this hymn.

    You can hear "The Psalm of the Readings" melody on the maronitemusic.org website under "Syriac Melodies". This particular melody is called "ramremain 2 (Departed)". It is in the key of Em, and uses Em, D, and Bm for chords.

    You can hear the Qolo melody on page 9 under "Syriac Melodies" also. It is called "fsheeto" and is in the key of D. It uses D, G, and A chords.

    The Crowning Hymn of St. Ephrem on page 16 is in the key of F, and uses F, C, C7, and Bb chords.

    On page 21 at the Transfer of the Offerings, the tune to "The Lord reigns clothed in majesty is again "fsheeto".

    I have written my own accompaniments to these hymns, but I don't know how to get them to you in time. My printer is not working currently.

    The "Cedars of Lebanon" book also has some good stuff for weddings; melodies with chords. Psalms 37, 95. 112, 127, and 128 are good for before/after the Mass, or when you need a filler during Mass. Also check out #38 (fsheeto again), and #128 (another version of the Hymn of St. Ephrem).
  • WittManWilsonWittManWilson
    Posts: 76
    This is all very helpful! Thank you very much.
    The priest is chanting all of the music during the liturgy. From what I'm told, it is not a full Mass, but just the wedding ceremony.
  • WittManWilsonWittManWilson
    Posts: 76
    I can't seem to find the Trisagion melody on the Maronitemusic.org site under the "Mass Hymns." Are these hiding somewhere?
  • hilluminar
    Posts: 121
    You are right, the Trisagion is not on the website. The priest can just chant that acapella. The faithful will join in. That tune is the most familiar of all the parts of the Maronite Mass. It is easy to learn and is chanted at every Mass. Every Maronite knows it by heart.
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