Byzantine Notation
Slavic Macedonian Chant in Byzantine Notation19th century,
composer Kalistrat Zografski
Byzantine notation is a neumatic system of musical notation
traditionally used for rendering Byzantine chant into written form.
It is also called Chrysanthean notation, named for Chrysanthos of
Madytos, one of its inventors.
Contents
[hide] 1 History 2 Where is Byzantine notation used? 3 Compared
with Western notation 4 See also 5 External links
5.1 Study 5.2 Creation 5.3 Use
History Chrysanthos of Madytos (ca. 1770-1846), Gregory the
Protopsaltes, and Chourmouzios the Archivist (called the Three
Teachers) were responsible for a much-needed reform of the notation
of Greek ecclesiastical music. Essentially, this work consisted of
a simplification of the Byzantine musical symbols which, by the
early 19th century, had become so complex and technical that only
highly skilled chanters were able to interpret them correctly.
Despite its numerous shortcomings the work of the three reformers
is a landmark in the history of Greek Church music, since it
introduced the system of neo-Byzantine music upon which are based
the present-day chants of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Where is Byzantine notation used? Generally, Byzantine notation
is used in churches whose musical tradition is Byzantine chant,
those near (or by people who are from churches near)
Constantinople, generally the Greek Orthodox, the Church of
Constantinople, the Church of Alexandria, the Antiochian Orthodox,
and the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Serbian Orthodox use a
slightly different system of music; the Russian Orthodox use what
is essentially Western notation and music. In recent times, several
churches in America have also begun using Byzantine notation now
that such music is available in English online from St. Anthony's
Greek Orthodox Monastery (Florence, Arizona) and St. Gregory
Palamas Monastery (Hayesville, Ohio). Also, it is worth mentioning
that some Eastern Rite Catholics use Byzantine notation.
Compared with Western notation Byzantine notation is very
different from Western notation in most ways. The following
comparison assumes familiarity with Western notation.
Western notation is based on a staff, where the pitch is
determined by the location of the note with regard to the staff,
regardless of the previous note. Byzantine notation, on the other
hand, is relational; the note is dependent on the previous note and
the symbol itself, which specifies the interval from the previous
note.
While there are differences in speed and in whether a certain
note should be flat or sharp in Western music, Byzantine music has
this down to a (very complicated) artform, using certain tones
which always have a specific note being sharp or flat.
One near-similarity is the scale. In Western music, Do (the
start of the scale) corresponds to the Byzantine note Ni, which is
a note below the start of the Byzantine scale.
Byzantine music has eight tones (or modes), sometimes associated
with particular "moods" (though the notion that the music is
designed to be emotional would certainly be distasteful to the
saints who developed it). Also, much of Byzantine chanting can be
done without use of written music, due to the use of original
melodies (Greek, ) and improvisation. While there are tens of
thousands of hymns in Byzantine music, they are all based on less
than two hundred original melodies.
See also Byzantine Chant
External linksStudy Up-to-date List of Byzantine Music Links
Reading Psalmodia An introduction to Modern Byantine Musical
notation
Psaltic Notes
A Comparison of Byzantine and Western Music
10,000 Formulae of Byzantine Music in all 8 modes.
Creation Byzantine Music Notation from St. Anthony's Greek
Orthodox Monastery
Use The Divine Music Project from St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox
Monastery (Florence, Arizona) with more than 6,000 pages of
Byzantine music in English and Greek.
Byzantine Chant Sheet Music Files
eMatins from St. Gregory Palamas Monastery
Categories:
Arts Church Music
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