Editing Valaam Monastery (section)

==Valaam chant==

The monastery of Valaam has a unique tradition of singing,<ref>[http://www.pravenc.ru/text/153891.html Валаамский Распев] – an article in the Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodoxy (Православная энциклопедия), available at www.pravenc.ru</ref> called the Valaam chant, that combines some features of [[Byzantine music|Byzantine]] and [[Znamenny chant]]s.

As in Byzantine chant, the singing is always in 2-parts, comprising a melody and an [[ison (music)|ison]], but, as in Znamenny chant, the scale structure is always [[diatonic]]. The [[ornament (music)|ornamentation]] is simplified in comparison with Byzantine chant, and the melodies are more similar to that of ancient Znamenny Chant, at the edge of being considered a local variety of this tradition.<ref>[http://dyak-oko.mrezha.ru/raznoye.php?id=faq1#7 Что такое напевка?] at the site dyak-oko.mrezha.ru, dedicated to Znamenny chant tradition.</ref> This relative simplicity became one of the reasons for the experimental introduction of Valaam chanting in various parishes across Russia by the end of 20th century.

The monastery has a professional five-strong male-voice choir which tours the world to raise money for the ongoing restoration of the buildings. Some of its music can be heard at the monastery's website.<ref>[http://valaam.ru/media/chants/ Music page], valaam.ru; accessed 5 May 2016.</ref>