The Akathistos hymn,
or Office, is the most famous hymn to
the Virgin Mary; the Virgin was taken
as the protector of Constantinople in
the 6th century. In the Orthodox
liturgy the whole Office is recited
on the Saturday of the fifth week of
Lent, when it is divided into four parts
between which psalms and canticles may
be sung. Parts of the Office are also
distributed over the first four Saturdays
of Lent. The hymn is thought to have
been composed in the 6th
century but its authorship is in doubt.
The hymn embodies the
Byzantine Rite’s veneration for the
Virgin as the second Eve and as the
Thotokos or God-Bearer. But it also
has a historic context, as on three
separate occasions in the 7th
century the Virgin was regarded as delivering
Constantinople from siege and the hymn
sung as thanksgiving to the Virgin.
This disc is not strictly
a performance of the Akathistos. The
Australian group Jouissance, to quote
the CD booklet, "was formed
to explore the dialogues between ancient
chant and contemporary culture. The
musicians share a fascination with the
mysticism, sensuality and rapture found
in the works of the Byzantine Rite.
The engagement with this music is informed
by the diverse nature of the performers’
experience".
The ensemble features
a soprano (Deborah Kayser) and bass-baritone
(Jerzy Kozlowski), shakuhachi (Anne
Norman), percussion (Peter Neville)
and double bass (Nick Tsiavos, who is
also artistic director of the group).
The basic sound-world
of Byzantine Chant consists of the melody
line and a drone bass. This underlies
much of the music on this disc, but
here the melody line might be taken
by soprano, bass-baritone, shakuhachi
or even tuned percussion. The bass-drone
is played on double-bass or sung by
the bass-baritone, though the bass line
is often more varied than that found
in original Byzantine Chant. Surrounding
this basic structure is often a halo
of percussion, adding complexity and
interest. Some movements move further
away from the basic premise, one or
two utilise bells and tune percussion
extensively; the general feeling is
of slow melismatic rapture, though some
movements are faster.
Soprano Deborah Kayser
is a talented interpreter of Byzantine
Chant; often the tracks sound as if
someone like Soeur Marie Kerouz (the
Maronite nun who has recorded much orthodox
chant) had wandered into a studio and
started jamming with a group of world
musicians.
The music embodies
a fascinating interaction between traditional
chant and modern sensibilities. The
chant itself has come from a variety
of sources as the performers have taken
both written and aural traditions into
account. More problematical is the information
provided in the CD booklet where each
track is given a short description.
Two examples will suffice:-
"The bells initiate
the dialogue between melodic shape and
silence, define the space and act as
an ‘entrance’ into this work"
"The postlude
uses the metaphor of ‘East’ and ‘West’
to explore the dialectic between entropy,
resignation and a restless energy that
surrounds the end of an idea"
Some people may find
this interesting and illuminating, though
personally I found the text unhelpful
and preferred to ignore the booklet
and just listen.
Anyone who loves chant
should be interested in this disc, though
it should come with a health warning
for purists.
Robert Hugill
Jouissance (Deborah Kayser - soprano; Jerzy Kozlowski
- bass-baritone; Anne Norman – shakuhachi; Peter
Neville – percussion; Nick Tsiavos – double bass/artistic
director) 
