Irmos

The irmos (or heirmos from Koinē Greek: εἱρμός) in the Byzantine liturgical tradition is the initial troparion of an ode of a canon.

Note that in the Russian tradition, often only the irmos is sung, the rest of the ode simply being read; in Greek parishes, often the remaining troparia are simply eliminated, but in non-Russian traditions, all troparia of a canon are sung The term comes from the Greek verb "to tie, link" meaning that it poetically connects the Biblical ode to the subject of the canon.

[citation needed] Because the irmos presents a rhythmic and melodic pattern for the troparia which follow, "irmos" gives its name to the irmologic forms of Byzantine chant.

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