On the Sunday Axion and on The Athonite Axionar

Abstract

A valuable volume of psaltic music is about to be printed soon. It is a new collection of Axions, elaborated in the “St. Gheorghe” Romanian cell - Kapsala in the Holy Mountain. The collection contains works by older (19th century) or contemporary Greek composers. Most of the Greek axions belong to an Athonite monk who wished to remain anonymous and who entrusted Father Gheorghe from the “St. Gheorghe - Livadogheni” Romanian cell on Holy Mount Athos with a valuable collection of personal axions, to be adapted and printed. It is so that these axions are now being printed for the first time directly in Romanian. These anonymous compositions are a pleasant surprise by their carefully maintained balance between originality and classic features, which is not at all easy to achieve. This important collection of Axions will be the subject of this article, through a historical presentation of the genre of axion and the meaning and importance of this genre in the liturgical framework of the Orthodox Liturgy.