Global Christian Worship

Kassia or Kassiani (Greek: Κασσιανή Medieval Greek: [kasia'ni]; approx 810 -  865) was an Eastern Roman abbess, poet, composer, and hymnographer. She is one of the first medieval composers whose scores are both extant and able to be interpreted by modern scholars and musicians. Approximately fifty of her hymns are extant and twenty-three are included in Orthodox Church liturgical books.

The most famous of her compositions is the eponymous Hymn of Kassia (also known as the Troparion of Kassiani), which is chanted each year at Orthodox Church matins on Holy Wednesday (which in usual parish practice is sung Tuesday evening) at the end of the aposticha. 

The music for the hymn is slow, sorrowful and plaintive, lasting about ten to twenty minutes, depending on tempo and style of execution. It requires a very wide vocal range, and is considered one of the most demanding, if not the most demanding, pieces of solo Byzantine chant, and cantors take great pride in delivering it well. It is also sung by choirs in unison, often underpinned by Byzantine vocal bass drone. The faithful make a point of going to church specifically “to listen to Kassiani” that evening
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassia#Hymn_of_Kassia

Here are several versions, and you’ll hear quite a bit of musical diversity. Most are in English, one is in Greek. See below for an English translation of the lyrics, and a note on why in modern Greece, sex workers often attend the special Orthodox Church service in which this hymn is chanted.

1.  Chanted in English by Margo and David Sinkevitch at St.Catherine Church in Moscow

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2. Solo male chanting in English with multilingual script on screen

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3. Sung in English by women’s ensemble:  Boston Byzantine Choir

4. Sung in English by mixed ensemble: Choir of St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Church (OCA) in Birmingham, Alabama.

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5. Male soloist and choir sing in Greek in the Holy Church of God’s Wisdom in Thessaloniki, on April 7, 2001.

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The Hymn of Kassiani, also known as the Hymn of the Fallen Woman, is a Penitential Hymn that is based on the Gospel reading for Holy Wednesday morning (Matthew 26:6-16), which speaks of a sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with costly ointment (distinguished from a similar incident with a different woman, St. Mary of Bethany). This hymn is chanted only once a year and considered a musical high-point of the Holy Week, at the Matins and Presanctified Liturgy of Holy Wednesday, in the Plagal Fourth Tone.
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Hymn_of_Kassiani

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An English translation of the original Greek lyrics:

O Lord God, the woman who had fallen into many sins, having perceived Thy divinity received the rank of ointment-bearer, offering Thee spices before Thy burial wailing and crying: “Woe is me, for the love of adultery and sin hath given me a dark and lightless night; accept the fountains of my tears O Thou Who drawest the waters of the sea by the clouds incline Thou to the sigh of my heart O Thou Who didst bend the heavens by Thine inapprehensible condescension; I will kiss Thy pure feet and I will wipe them with my tresses. I will kiss Thy feet Whose tread when it fell on the ears of Eve in Paradise dismayed her so that she did hide herself because of fear. Who then shall examine the multitude of my sin and the depth of Thy judgment? Wherefore, O my Saviour and the Deliverer of my soul turn not away from Thy handmaiden O Thou of boundless mercy”.

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In many places in Greece, the Bridegroom Matins service of Great Tuesday is popular with sex workers, who may not often be seen in church at other times of the year. They come in great numbers, in order to hear the Hymn of Kassiani, as the hymn is associated with the woman fallen in many sins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassia#Hymn_of_Kassia

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A modern photography icon, “Hymn of Kassiani 2“ by Heather Dinas
http://www.fractionmagazine.com/heather-dinas/