[biannaruh]

Later Father did achieve his dream and so the new church (in fact a very ancient Saxon foundation) was full of light with see-thro iconostasis, the mystical prayers read aloud with great emotion and drama. I do not wish to be disrespectful, but the idea of "the mystical prayers read aloud with great emotion and drama" seems to me to be quite contrary to the nature and content of these prayers, and in the maintaining of a prayerful harmony during the conducting of a Divine Liturgy. Emotion and drama in church singing and chanting, for clergy and laity alike, must be kept to a carefully calibrated level, lest it becomes self-aggrandisement or emotionalism. The tone of so many of these priestly prayers is one of humility and supplication, not grand triumph.

On a more practical level, it is becoming common for churches to be fitted out with microphones, not just for the choir, but for the clergy as well, including for their use in the altar, be it a conventional one on a stand of some sort, or, increasingly, a radio mike clipped onto the priest's vestments. Believe me, the effect of two sets of simultaneous voices rendered at equal volume all but destroys any semblance of prayer, solemnity and compunction, particularly at the Cherubic Hymn, and the "We hymn You" at the consecration of the Eucharist. It is also quite distracting to the choristers trying to maintain proper pitch and tone. There is certainly a case for ensuring Orthodox churches are built with proper acoustics in mind.