Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Greek; a long bar of wood or metal which, when struck with a hammer or mallet, gives out a resonant musical sound. The semandron is used in monasteries and sometimes elsewhere to summon the community to church. Intricate rhythmical patterns are traditionally used in striking the semandron. The semandron replaced bells, forbidden in Christian communities under Islamic rule, and may be used instead of bells in penitential and mourning services. The wooden ‘hand’ semandron is normally called the talanton , from the rhythm in which it is struck: to-tá-lan-ton, to-tá-lan-ton, asking the sleepy monk what he is doing about the talents entrusted to him by the Lord. The iron semandron, called ‘the iron’, has specific uses, in particular to signal moments of the office in the church to those whose duties keep them elsewhere. Large wooden semandra, called ‘heavies’, anything up to two metres long, and suspended on iron bars, are struck before great vigils, often by two or three monks together. The semandron is mentioned by john climacus (sixth century) in the Ladder , and the typika and service books often mention both the ‘iron’ and the ‘heavies’ in the rubrics, but the opening words of the pentekostarion are simply: ‘Around the time of orthros they sound all the semandra.’ The semandron entered the world of Western music in John Tavener's opera Mary of Egypt , for which one was ... log in or subscribe to read full text