Prostopinije (Slav. prostopinije, “simple chant”) is the traditional liturgical chant of the Rusyn peoples of the Carpathian Mountains, and of their descendants who emigrated to other parts of the world. This chant is sung in the parishes and monasteries of the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church and the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church in the United States, and in the Ruthenian Catholic dioceses of Mukačevo (Ukraine), Prešov and Kosice (Slovakia), Hajdudorog (Hungary), Krisevtsi (Croatia), and Ruski Kerestur (Serbia) in Europe. Prostopije is a descendant of the ancient znammeny chant common to Slavic Christianity. Used for centuries among the Carpathian mountains, prostopinije absorbed melodies from Greek and Bulgarian sources, as well as indigenous Slavic folk music. Eventually, this chant was standardized in both Church Slavonic and Hungarian, but continued to show variations from one region or village to the end. Prostopinije is essentially traditional – that is, it has been passed down from one generation to the next. For centuries, it has been both an aural tradition (passed on by hearing and memorization) and a written one (passed on with the help of chant books or manuscripts). Generally speaking, the more ornate or seldom-used melodies were written down, while the simpler and frequently used melodies were simply sung from memory. This collection is two-part, containing small publication books as well as manuscripts. Both represent melodies that were committed to a written form in the early 20th century when immigrants from Eastern Europe came to America. These musical materials are from Byzantine Catholic (also known as Greek Catholic) parishes in or around Western Pennsylvania and represent a unique historical heritage.

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This varied collection of publications with liturgical music used in Eastern Christian traditions outside of the prostopinije / plain chant collection of the Byzantine Ruthenian practice. Publications are used by parishes in other ethnic traditions or by Byzantine Catholic choirs as part of their liturgy or social performances. The Byzantine Catholic churches exist in areas in contact with Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox, Slovak and Hungarian Catholic. These frequently allowed contact and import of music from these other traditions. The Russian Orthodox tradition also brought in contact and examples for western SATB choral arrangement traditions. In the United States the Byzantine Catholic Churches had a robust choir tradition incorporating these various styles in both their liturgical services and other public performances. They also expanded a collection of choir versions of prostopinije melodies that are included in the prostopinije collection. When the United States Byzantine Catholic Churches were in conflict with Roman Catholic authorities over the use of married clergy, many parishes left for other Eastern Orthodox traditions primarily the ACROD, ROCOR and OCA jurisdictions. These other traditions likewise expanded the liturgical usage of similar musical traditions that are included here.

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This collection consists of personal papers, music, recordings, and miscellanea from noted cantors and choir directors of the Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States. A complete index is in preparation.

Papers of Cantor John Lessler, Endicott NY

Papers of Cantor Andrew Petrin, Whiting IN 

Msgr Russell Duker (1943-2024) of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh collected a vast number of important and unique items. His collection has over a hundred books, booklets, and music manuscripts along with organized collections of loose sheet music, academic papers, periodical collections and news clippings, with a strong liturgical and prayer material focus. In addition to the liturgical material, there are also a number of folk music collections from the choir book collections and significant musical manuscripts from Professor Michael (Muddy) Kurtz, Theodore Ratsin and Roy Schubert, among others. Other items include theological, historical and personal material primarily from Eastern Catholic and Carpatho-Rusyn cultural focus, such as such as Archivio Della Nunziatura Di Vienna 61 (Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961) but includes material from other rites and Orthodox traditions as well. Collection Sections

• Music Collection
• Liturgical Book Collection
• Prayer Book Collection
• Biblical Works
• Language Instruction
• Eastern Christian Topical Books
• Ornate Notebook Collection of Eastern Christian Booklets
• Ephemera
• Personal Paper Collections
• Certificates
• Article Collections
• Academic papers collection
• Liturgical Notes
• Periodical collection
• Catechetical papers collection
• Seminary history collection

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