Ancient Byzantine Chant: The Monophonic Roots of Western Polyphony.
Introduction:
The Byzantine Empire
As a civilization, the Byzantine Empire has been defined as having “an unbroken continuity with the ancient Greek world”. In many ways, this claim is valid. Byzantium has inherited its alphabet and many of its cultural artifacts from the ancient Greek world, including its musical traditions. For the most part, Byzantine music, with its polyphonic structure and monophonic roots, has also been inherited from its ancient Greek counterparts. This fact is especially true for Byzantine chant.
Chant:
Monophonic Roots:
History:
The word “choir” is derived from the Byzantine word for singing. Although there were choirs in the Byzantine Empire, the musical structure was largely based on the individual singing of the choir members. This structure was called monophonic, because it involved only one person singing. It is likely that the structure was adopted from ancient Greek music, which was also based on a single voice singing a series of melodies in a fixed order. The monophonic singing of Byzantine chant was also heavily influenced by the Christian traditions of the Greek East. In Byzantium, the choir singers were often monks who would sing a series of short hymns in a fixed order. They would also use instruments, including the Greek lyre, in certain parts of the choral singing.
Byzantine chant is known for its use of monophonic melodies, which involve a single voice singing a series of notes in a fixed order. This technique was likely used in ancient Greek monophonic singing as well. It is likely that, as the Byzantine Empire adopted Greek monophonic singing, this technique was also adopted. In Byzantium, the choir singers were often monks, who would sing a series of hymns in a fixed order. They would also use instruments, including the Greek lyre, in certain parts of the choral singing. This technique seems to have been adopted in Byzantium by choirs of monophonic singing.
Monophonic Chant:
Chants in the Byzantine Church:
The Byzantine Choral Schools:
The Musical Instruments:
In Byzantium, music was performed in two parts – one of which was the choir singing and the other was played by instruments. This style of music, known as the Byzantine style of polyphony, was based on the principles of Byzantine chant. In this style of music, the singers would perform a fixed number of hymns, while the choir singing would take a more prominent role. The musical instruments used in the singing included the Greek psaltria and a range of Byzantine instruments, including the lyre, tambourine, and cymbal.
Conclusion:
Byzantine Chant – The Monophonic Roots of Western Polyphony.
The Byzantine Empire
Although the Byzantine Empire had a long history, its musical traditions were largely based on Ancient Greek traditions. Byzantium adopted many Greek traditions, including its musical notation and traditions of monophonic singing. This monophonic singing style has been carried forward in Byzantine chant, in which the choir singing is combined with monophonic singing. Although Byzantium adopted this technique from Greek monophonic singing, it was also adopted by Byzantine chant. Byzantium inherited many of its musical traditions from its ancient Greek counterparts, including its monophonic singing and musical instruments. These traditions of monophonic singing were combined with Byzantine chant in order to produce the most famous example of this style of music.
Byzantium was a civilization based on Greek civilization. As such, it adopted many Greek musical traditions, including its monophonic singing. This technique has been carried forward in Byzantine chant, in which the choir singing is combined with monophonic singing. Although this technique was adopted from Greek monophonic singing, it was also adopted by Byzantine chant. These traditions of monophonic singing were combined with Byzantium’s traditional style of polyphonic music to produce the most famous example of this style of music, Byzantine chant.