What is a troparion?

Troping

A troparion is something that " tropes". One of the meanings of the greek word tropos is "manner".When something is "troped", therefore, it is "mannered", "affected" or "embellished", so that new meanings and understandings are evoked. With respect to church hymnody, a troped text is one that has expanded. The original is usually an established, pre-existing proper or ordinary chant- the trope provides an exegetical, sung commentary or gloss. [...] In its developed form, a Byzantine troparion is a monostrophic liturgical poem set to music. It is a collective term for several genres of hymn in Orthodox services and is similar to a western motet, except that motets, while religious in content, are not liturgical hymns.The text of a troparion is non- Biblical and its music is either an original composition or a borrowed melody. Although no music for the earliest troparia survives, it is generally held that, like their Gregorian counter parts (tropes and antiphons), the Byzantine hymns had unpretentious tunes, generally composed on the rule of one congregational singing.[...]Troparia can be grouped according to their subject matter, their liturgical position, their melodic type, scriptural context, or even geographic origin.[...]

 

From an article by Dim.Conomos,Sobornost 30-2-2008

 

 

 

إنّ موسى العظيم - Σήμερoν μυστικώς ο μέγας Μωυσής

 

Υάκινθος