<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Sound and Silence]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sound and Silence]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/my-blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 14:34:44 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.dariacortese.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Against Liturgical Chaos]]></title><description><![CDATA[In the early centuries of the Russian Orthodox Church, there arose a wild phenomenon called mnogoglasie, which was an attempt to shorten...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/against-liturgical-chaos</link><guid isPermaLink="false">681aaf7430aede3a86289d46</guid><pubDate>Fri, 09 May 2025 07:50:39 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sinful Timidity]]></title><description><![CDATA[While leafing through some old scores at home, I came upon a packet of music from a 2015 workshop I attended in Moscow, Russia. I enjoy...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/sinful-timidity</link><guid isPermaLink="false">681862ec3fc42791beef0875</guid><pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2025 00:45:46 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #38: At Forgiveness Vespers, “Vouchsafe, O Lord” is read extremely slowly, while the vestments and paraments are changed and the choir begins to use Lenten melodies. What’s going on?]]></title><description><![CDATA[These actions signify the official beginning of Great Lent. “Vouchsafe, O Lord” is read very slowly to allow the maximum possible time...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/at-forgiveness-vespers-vouchsafe-o-lord-is-read-extremely-slowly-while-the-vestments-and-parame</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65fda91dec216a2f2ba6ed6b</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Mar 2024 15:53:06 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Choral Corner #37: Why is there no uniform, standardized series of service texts mandated for use throughout the whole Orthodox Church in America?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Q: Why is there no uniform, standardized series of service texts mandated for use throughout the whole OCA? A: This is largely a function...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-40-why-is-there-no-uniform-standardized-series-of-service-texts-mandated-for-use-th</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65c69c3bab7d670dd658df71</guid><pubDate>Fri, 09 Feb 2024 21:43:17 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner # 36: Why do we use traditional pronouns?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Q: At our parish, we use the traditional liturgical pronouns (Thy/Thou), but some other parishes use more contemporary language...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-36-why-do-we-use-traditional-pronouns</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65c0dd5e97336da59e5cfd9d</guid><pubDate>Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:08:41 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #35: Why doesn't our choir sing famous Orthodox concert music?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Choral masterpieces such as Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-night Vigil are undeniably gorgeous, and can play an important evangelistic role in...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-35-why-doesn-t-our-choir-sing-famous-orthodox-concert-music</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65245a9ad7cf0e58ca9effe2</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Oct 2023 20:00:40 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #34: In the Holy Anaphora, what does "Sabaoth" mean?]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Scriptural source of this text, called the Sanctus in western Christianity, is the majestic vision recorded in Isaiah 6, in which...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-33-in-the-holy-anaphora-what-does-sabaoth-mean</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6524599edfa26bdcc58691d0</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Oct 2023 19:52:12 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #33: An Anaphora fun fact!]]></title><description><![CDATA[Immediately before the choir sings "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory," the priest chants the...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-33-an-anaphora-fun-fact</link><guid isPermaLink="false">652457a3cce29f86335aba21</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Oct 2023 19:46:06 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #32: Why are some troparia &#38; kontakia virtually identical?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Certain saints and commemorated events have more unique hymnography than others, determined largely by their prominence on the liturgical...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-32-why-are-some-troparia-kontakia-virtually-identical</link><guid isPermaLink="false">652453435bd401f482380da8</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Oct 2023 19:37:06 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #31: Do some saints have multiple troparia/kontakia, and if so, why? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most saints have a single troparion and kontakion (which, by the way, autocorrect insists on rendering as "contagion". Alrighty then.)....]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-31-do-some-saints-have-multiple-troparia-kontakia-and-if-so-why</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65244f03d3fe1a085d4bf0f6</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Oct 2023 19:17:24 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #30: About the ending of the Lord's Prayer — "evil one" or just "evil"?]]></title><description><![CDATA[In most American Orthodox parishes, the Lord's Prayer concludes with the phrase, "...but deliver us from the evil one." However, we...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-30-about-the-ending-of-the-lord-s-prayer-evil-one-or-just-evil</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65244c5ac6908fdc03cb3d6d</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Oct 2023 19:03:53 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #29: What is Small Compline?]]></title><description><![CDATA[A note on context: This was originally published shortly after our parish began hosting a monthly social event that begins with Small...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-29-what-is-small-compline</link><guid isPermaLink="false">64a6d20850e869bdd9b41340</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:41:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #28: What is the exclamation before "Holy God" when a hierarch is present?]]></title><description><![CDATA[A note on context: This article was originally published the week following our annual archepiscopal visit, when our hierarch served as a...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-28-what-is-the-exclamation-before-holy-god-when-a-hierarch-is-present</link><guid isPermaLink="false">64a6cf368cd0019ed07556a5</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:38:13 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #27: What does "Eis polla eti, Despota" mean?]]></title><description><![CDATA[When a hierarch gives a blessing, the singers (or those standing about, if in a non-liturgical context such as a diocesan assembly or...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-27-what-does-eis-polla-eti-despota-mean</link><guid isPermaLink="false">64a6ceb7614969ee3fa1621a</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:25:55 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #26: What is the Kneeling Vespers Service?]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Kneeling Vespers of Pentecost is a unique form of Vespers served directly after the Divine Liturgy on Holy Pentecost. As Vespers is...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-26-what-is-the-kneeling-vespers-service</link><guid isPermaLink="false">64a6cdbe0beebe4fb654af42</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:22:55 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #25: What does the word "Theotokos" mean?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Theotokos is a Greek word that means “bearer of God” * or “she who bore/gave birth to God”. There is no single-word English cognate; in...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-25-what-does-the-word-theotokos-mean</link><guid isPermaLink="false">647765e9a0ec88241141e74c</guid><pubDate>Wed, 31 May 2023 15:22:26 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #24: What is the Kliros?]]></title><description><![CDATA[The kliros is the area of the nave (the area west of the iconostas) where the choir stands; the term also refers to the podium and...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-24-what-is-the-kliros</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6477652825af8e637897854c</guid><pubDate>Wed, 31 May 2023 15:19:17 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #23: Why do we not serve from memory?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Clergy, readers and singers are forbidden from serving from memory; the appropriate service book must be open to the proper page, even if...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-23-why-do-we-not-serve-from-memory</link><guid isPermaLink="false">645f9d61ce8c6b5323e34f83</guid><pubDate>Sat, 13 May 2023 14:44:38 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #22: Why don't we sing "O heavenly King" from Pascha until Pentecost?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Although the prayer “O heavenly King” appears near the beginning of almost every service and personal prayer rule throughout the...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-22-why-don-t-we-sing-o-heavenly-king-from-pascha-until-pentecost</link><guid isPermaLink="false">645183f77010776fd8946e86</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 May 2023 21:44:12 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Choral Corner #21: Why are the services a bit different for 40 days after Pascha?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most great feasts are followed by a short festal period, during which time the rubrics prescribe certain hymns of that feast to be...]]></description><link>https://www.dariacortese.com/post/choral-corner-21-why-are-the-services-a-bit-different-for-40-days-after-pascha</link><guid isPermaLink="false">644abd0ddbc7f538d6972dbf</guid><pubDate>Thu, 27 Apr 2023 18:33:21 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Daria Cortése</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>