When Augustus Reigned

When Augustus Reigned

Artist: Cappella Romana
Item number: AB028
Category: Byzantine
Chant Type: Byzantine
Language: Greek
Label: Cappella Romana
Period: Medieval
Length: 51'00
Release date: 2001
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Price: $16.99 USD
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1. Kontakion for the Forefeast of Christmas

2. Glory to God in the Highest

3. Today Christ is born...

4. The Magi, Kings of Persia...

5. Today Bethlehem receives Him...

6. The First Ode of the Kanon for Christmas

7. Apolytikion

8. Megalynarion

9. Christ Is Born

10. As many of you as have been baptised

11. As many of you as have been baptised

12. Alleluiarion for Christmas Day

13. Cherubic Hymn

14. Megalynarion for Theophany

15. Communion Verse for Theophany

16. When Augustus Reigned


Founded in 1991, Cappella Romana is a vocal chamber ensemble dedicated to combining passion with scholarship in its exploration of the musical traditions of the Christian West and East, with emphasis on early and contemporary music. When Augustus Reigned is a collection of Byzantine hymns taken from the Christmas and Epiphany services.

By: Fr. Apostolos Hill

The evolution of Greek Orthodox liturgical choral music is done a tremendous service by this outstanding work of Cappella Romana. Incorporating a synthesis of ancient Roman and Byzantine influences while preserving and embellishing the core melodies of these well-known and beloved hymns, Cappella Romana gives the listener a glimpse of the beauty and majesty of traditional Orthodox music while enabling an uninitiated first-time listener to merely enjoy these hymns for their stunning beauty. Having chanted many of these hymns over the years as a psalti, I still found myself listening to them as if for the first time. The use of space in the recording gives it an airy, almost ethereal quality without in any way inhibiting the music. This is to Byzantine music as Rachmaninoff is to Russian liturgical music, a stirring collection of festal hymns that will quickly become one of your favorites.