PSALOM
Traditional Eastern Orthodox Chant Documentation Project
Synodal Chant Books: A Comprehensive Catalog of Printed Editions


A Catalog of Documented Editions of
the Monophonic Square-Note Chant Books
Printed by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church

A preliminary catalog compiled by Stephen Reynolds and Nikita Simmons

This catalog is based on the following sources:

For descriptions of the publications, see also:

Editions are designated as printed in octavo (8°), in quarto (4°), or in folio (2°).

Items in <brackets> are undocumented editions, which are not listed in the catalogs. The information regarding most of these undocumented editions was submitted by Hierodeacon Romanos, Valamo Monastery, Finland.

Irmologion:

Ірмологій знаменнаго роспева, обдержай вся ірмосы осмогласника, Владычнихъ же и богоматере праздниковъ и всего лета.

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1772 Printed in 2 continuously-paginated vols. This is the first printed chant book by the Russian Church, issued over a century after the schism and the transition from neumatic notation to staff notation. 4°
    <1781>    
2nd edition Moscow 1786 2 vols. 4°
3rd edition Moscow 1800 2 vols. 4°
4th edition Moscow 1805 1 vol.? 4°
<5th edition>   <1809>    
6th edition Moscow 1816 1 vol. 4°
7th edition Moscow 1816;
1826 		Apparently printed in 2 volumes: Part 2 in 1816, and Part 1 in 1826 4°
8th edition Moscow 1833 2 vols. 4°
9th edition Moscow 1841 1 vol. 4°
    <1850>    
10th edition Moscow 1862 1 vol. 4°
    <1871>    
    <1872>    
11th edition Moscow 1878 1 vol. 4°
    <1888>    
(12th?) Moscow 1890 1 vol. 2°
  St. Petersburg 1894 1 vol. 2°
  St. Petersburg 1899 1 vol. 2°
  St. Petersburg 1910 1 vol. 2°
  St. Petersburg 1910 1 vol. 4°

Various Editions of the Obikhod

Обиходъ церковный нотнаго пенія разныхъ напевовъ.

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow, Synodal Typografija 1772 (1 vol., in 2 parts) All editions were printed in quarto. 4°
2nd edition Moscow 1786 (1 vol., in 2 parts) 4°
3rd edition Moscow 1798 (1 vol., in 2 parts) 4°
4th Moscow 1804 (1 vol.) 4°
5th Moscow 1808 (1 vol.) 4°
(unnumbered) Moscow 1816 (1 vol.) 4°
6th edition Moscow 1826 (1 vol.) 4°
(unnumbered) Moscow 1830-1831 (1 vol.) 4°
7th edition Moscow 1833 (1 vol., in 2 parts) 4°
8th edition Moscow 1844 (1 vol.) 4°
    <1858> (1 vol.)  
9th edition Moscow 1860 (1 vol.) 4°
10th edition Moscow 1864 (1 vol.) 4°
  St Petersburg 1869 Обиходъ нотного церковного пенія. (1 vol.) 4°
11th edition Moscow 1879 Обиходъ церковный нотнаго пенія. (1 vol.) 4°
    <1894> (1 vol.)  
    <1899> (1 vol.)  
    <1910> (1 vol.)  

Обиходъ нотнаго пенія употребительныхъ церковныхъ роспевовъ.

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1892 All editions were printed in folio as 2 volumes bound together. Part 1 contains the music for the Vigil (Vespers and Matins), while Part 2 contains the music for the Divine Liturgy. The melodies are taken from a variety of musical repertoirs (роспевы). 2°
(2nd edition) Moscow 1900-1901   2°
(3rd edition) Moscow 1902   2°
(4th edition) Moscow 1909   2°
  Chevetogne, Belgium, and Cureglia, Switzerland (Benedictine Communities) 1966 a reprint of the 1909 edition 2°
      A few other (newer) reprints are currently available in the USA and in Russia.  

Сокращенный обиходъ нотнаго пенія. (77 editions, many of which are not documented in the catalogs)

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1778   4°
  Moscow 1784   4°
  Moscow 1787   4°
  Moscow 1801   4°
    <1804>    
    <1808>    
  Moscow 1809   4°
    <1810>    
    <1815>    
  Moscow 1818   4°
    <1821>    
    <1823>    
  Moscow 1825   4°
  (B....?) 1825   4°
  Moscow 1826   4°
  Moscow 1832   4°
  Moscow 1835   4°
    <1836>    
  Moscow 1838   4°
    <1841>    
  Moscow 1846   4°
  Moscow 1848   4°
  Moscow 1849   4°
70th edition Moscow 1855   4°
<72nd edition>   <1856>    
73rd edition Moscow 1863   4°
74th edition Moscow 1864   4°
<75th edition>   <1870>    
    <1871>    
76th edition Moscow 1876   4°
77th edition Moscow 1883   4°
    <1884>    

Учебный обиходъ нотнаго церковнаго пенія.

Edition City Year Notes Size
(1st edition?)   <1886>    
(2nd edition?) Moscow 1887    
(3rd edition?)   <1889>    
4th edition   1898    
5th edition   1913    

Обиходъ (учебный) нотнаго пенія употребительныхъ разныхъ церковныхъ роспевовъ.

Edition City Year Notes Size
(single edition) Moscow 1892 printed by Educational committee of the Holy Synod 8°

Octoechos

Октоихъ или осмогласникъ знаменнаго роспева, содержащїй въ себе возследованїе воскресныя службы съ богородичны всея седмицы.

(Not later than the 10th edition, the title appears as Октоихъ нотнаго пенія или Осмогласникъ знаменнаго роспева, содержащїй возследованїе службы съ богородичны всея седмицы.)

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1772 (first of 16 editions, all in quarto) 4°
2nd edition Moscow 1785   4°
3rd edition Moscow 1795   4°
4th edition Moscow 1800   4°
5th edition Moscow 1802   4°
6th edition Moscow 1808   4°
7th edition Moscow 1811   4°
8th edition Moscow 1815   4°
    <1816>    
9th edition Moscow 1817   4°
10th edition Moscow 1824   4°
11th edition Moscow 1831   4°
12th edition Moscow 1834   4°
    <1844>    
13th edition Moscow 1849   4°
    <1860>    
14th edition Moscow 1865   4°
15th edition Moscow 1866   4°
16th edition Moscow 1885   4°
    <1889>    

Октоихъ нотнаго пенія, сиречъ осмогласникъ, обдержай въ себе возследованіе воскресныя службы осми гласовъ, съ богородичны всея седмицы.

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1889 printed by Synodal Typografija, in folio 2°
2nd edition St. Petersburg 1900   2°

Prazdniki (Feasts)

Праздники, сіесть избранные на Господскія и Богородичныя дни стіхиры знаменнаго роспева.

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1772 (Only 5 editions in the catalogs, all in quarto.) 4°
2nd edition Moscow <1786>   4°
3rd edition Moscow 1800   4°
4th edition Moscow <1805>, 1806   4°
    <1807>    
5th edition Moscow <1816?>, 1817   4°
<7th edition> ? <1826>    
<8th edition> ? <1833>    
<9th edition> ? <1841>    
<10th edition> ? <1862>    
<11th edition> ? <1878>    

Праздники нотнаго пенія, сиречь нотные службы на дни двунадесятныхъ господскихъ и богородичныхъ праздниковъ (неподвижныхъ).

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition Moscow 1888 (Only 3 editions in the catalogs, all in folio.) 2°
    <1898>    
    <1890>    
    <1894>    
    <1899>    
2nd edition Moscow 1900   2°
    <1910>    
3rd edition Moscow 1914   2° альбомн.

Triodion

Тріодь нотнаго пенія постная и цветная. (The two sections have the title pages: Тріодіонъ сиречь трипеснецъ, и Пентекостаріонъ сиречъ Пятьдесятница.)

Edition City Year Notes Size
    <1891>    
1st edition (?) St. Petersburg, Synodal Typografija 1899 (only 1 documented edition) 2°

Trezvon (Middle-Rank Feasts) and
Treby (Selections from the Book of Needs)

The Trezvon (or "Trezvony" or "Trefologion") was prepared for publication before the 1917 Revolution, but circumstances prevented the publication of this volume. (Certainly there must be materials available to reconstruct the plates, but research needs to be done in this area to locate such materials.)

The Treby, an anthology of various selections from the Book of Needs (music for baptisms, weddings, funerals, Molebens, ordinations, etc.) was likewise never compiled. However, various books, such as the Obikhod, Sputnik Psalomshchika, and the Uspenskii Cathedral Obikhod, attemped to include many of these musical selections.

Azbuka (Primer of Church Singing)

The neumatic Azbuka (Primer of Church Singing) was never transcribed into square-note notation, simply because the neumatic notation was abandoned in the second half of the 17th century. Several teaching manuals were published, such as Potulov's book (Н. Потулова, Руководство к практическому изучению древняго богослужебнаго пения, 1873), which taugh church singing from the aspect of reading the square-note notation. The most notable among these is:

Азбука начальнаго ученія, простаго нотнаго пенія, содержащагося на цефаутномъ клуче.

Edition City Year Notes Size
1st edition ? 1772   ?
  ? 1784   ?
  ? 1793   ?
  ? 1814   ?
4th edition (?) ? 1825   ?
  ? 1851   ?
  ? 1858   ?