Chauno – Sirenes-"synkinesis"
Greek "blessed" "priestess" vs Turkish singer
Read about synkinesis below
_
I've isolated the inspiration phase of a contemporary "priestess"
of ECCLESIASTICAL chant in an ALL BUT ECCLESIASTICAL interpretation
of pieces that last 6 minutes.. Notice the QUALITY of these
inspirations
as well as their FREQUENCY... then about synkinesis below.

At the end of the piece, I've included a Turkish singer of Kurdish descent (Ceylan), !
who does
the EXACT same thing :
she's crying - probably because her boyfriend
left her...- . Although the interpretation is "moving"... she's
actually much
less hysterical than the Greek "specialist"... the Turkish lady
wants us to CRY with her, rather than be SEDUCED by her...and her
inspiration becomes voluntarily apparent ONLY where she wants us to
hear it - in other
words, her SINGING of a LOVE story sticks better with orthodox
theology than the singing of our "blessed one".

As a counter example, I've done the same thing with
Tsolakidis' "Aima kai pyr" which lasts MORE than 6 minutes...

I've also put a version of mine of "ti hypermacho" .. I chose a
version I have not put on the server, but which was done so as test
the "acoustics" in my little kitchen. I chose it because one can
hear my breathing quite clearly. This entire perforamnce actually lasts between 5 to 6
minutes.


Once again, notice the QUALITY as well as the QUANTITY (low
frequency) of INSPIRATIONS...


For psaltiki, one does not need to take CHAUNO-inspirations every 2
to 5
seconds.... One breath per full line (from one martyria to the
next) is SUFFICIENT... and that is what tradition teaches... one's
breath should be as prepared as every syllable that is emitted...

Non-traditional « chauno -eispnoes »

vs.
Tradional inspiratory phase




------
Chauno - Sirenes and "synkinisis"....


Tonight I was blessed with the visit of a theologian archimandrite
monk and friend.

So, we took up the discussion on paltopatheia and psaltomatheia.

As I had suspected, he automatically picked out pathological singing
left and right. Here are some interesting points that came out of
this "audition" and "discussion".


Concerning the "sirenes"... he laughed at my analogy, but told me
I was absolutely right in its use: the Sirenes of Odysseas' journey
would arouse men more so sexually than anything else, and would thus
seduce them and prone them to
diverge from their original trajectory.


While listening to some female "protopsaltissa" superstars, he told
me the following story:

where does the word "synkinisi" come from and what does it really
mean?

Philippos, the king and father of Alexander (the great), went to
the "Kabereia Mysteria" (some sort of liturgical office in pagan
times), in Samothrace. The high priestess, Olymbiada, would stand
naked, facing the alter. She had long hair that would reach her
heals, and they covered her posterior body, which is what the
"praying" people would see. She had a beautiful voice, and she'd
move her
her head in such manner, that, along with her swaying hair
and "sirenic" voice she'd put forth quite a seductive scene.

The effect was that of "synkinesis"... men's "minds" and thoughts
would be "aroused" to that of her "passionate motion and singing".
This led to a "resonant" sexual desire. Finally, Philippos just
took her as his wife... he went in for prayer, and he found himself
consumed by "basic instincts", incited and "amplified" by
the "synkinesis" created by a woman's voice, way of singing
and of "swaying" her body and head.


Then, he read my "men, chant as men in church",
= "psaltai, andrasthe en to psallein" and rememberd the
following lines he has read a couple of times in the synaxarion of
the meneaions as concerns female saints:

"epei to CHAUNON tou theleos hypernikisasa, androprepos
eporeuthei"...

"BECAUSE she overpowered the CHAUNON (THIS is the key word, here)
(that is inherent in female nature), she went about her path in
MANLY fashion.

While listening to one of these "sirenes", he focused on something I
hadn't really spend too much time on.... the gasping of air
(inspiration phase of respiraton): added to the "sentimentalist"
way of singing, these almost "moaning" "gasps" for air is what made
the word "chaunon" come to thought... I called them "per-coital
breath-taking gasps" and he told me "YES.. that's a fair
description... just like priestess OLYMBIADA, these
contemporary "priestesses" prone "synginisin" instead of prayer"


So, here's an interesting THEOLOGY of psaltiki issue: what can the
Church do to throw out these contemporary pagan priestesses, with
their sireno-sexo-spiritual singing, filled with "percoital-like"
breath-taking gasps, with an (un?)conscious desire to SEDUCE, and to
prone men into SYNKINISIN ("desire by resonance")?


For a list of "CHAUNO-sirenes": I'll put that up on psaltopedia at
some time. Meanwhile, look up the word, and you'll understand why
the Church never gave women any official chanting position...


Luckily, there are priests and monks who can tell the difference,
and don't go about giving "blessings" to anything that "tous
synkine"...(that makes them have "synkinesis" = contemporary
translation = anything that "moves them"...)


Key words συγκίνησις συγκίνηση συνκίνησις συνκίνηση χαυνο χαυνός Σιρήνα Σιρήνες