List of Byzantine composers
John of Damascus (c. 675 – c. 749 ), who was a major proponent of 8th century kanōns and the supposed creator of the octoechos
The Byzantine Empire lasted from AD 395 to 1453, during which music was prominent throughout the empire .[ 1] [ n 1] Both sacred and secular music were commonplace, with sacred music frequently used in church services and secular music in many events including, ceronmonies, dramas, ballets, banquets, festivals and sports games. However, despite its popularity, secular Byzantine music was harshly criticized by the Church Fathers .[ n 2] Like their medieval Western contemporaries , little is known about the lives of Byzantine composers.
Composers of sacred music, especially hymns and chants, are generally well documented throughout the history of Byzantine music. However, those before the reign of Justinian I are virtually unknown; the monks Anthimos, Auxentios and Timokles are said to have written troparia , but only the text to a single one by Auxentios survives.[ 6] The first major form was the kontakion , of which Romanos the Melodist was the foremost composer. In the late 7th century the kanōn overtook the kontakion in popularity; Andrew of Crete became its first significant composer, and is traditionally credited as the genre's originator (though modern scholars now doubt this). The kañon reached its peak with the music of John of Damascus and Cosmas of Maiuma and later Theodore of Stoudios and Theophanes the Branded in the 8th and 9th centuries respectively.Secular music is considerably less documented; not until late in the empire's history are composers of secular music known by name, with Joannes Koukouzeles , Xenos Korones and Joannes Glykys as the leading figures. Partly due to the little information concerning them, many modern studies of Byzantine music pay little attention to specific composers.
Like their Western counterparts of the same period , recorded Byzantine composers were primarily men. The best known woman was Kassia , a prolific and important composer of sticheron hymns and the only woman whose works entered the Byzantine liturgy . A few other women are known to have been composers, Thekla, Theodosia, Martha and the daughter of John Kladas (her given name is unrecorded). Aside from Kassia, only the daughter of John Kladas has any surviving work, a single antiphon . Some Byzantine emperors are known to have been composers, such as Leo VI the Wise , Constantine VII and possibly John III Doukas Vatatzes .
Byzantine composers
References
Notes
^ Even after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 the Byzantine musical tradition continued in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople through figures such as Panagiotes the New Chrysaphes , Petros Bereketis , Petros Peloponnesios , and Chrysanthos of Madytos , as well as Serbians such as Kir Stefan , Isaiah , Nikola and Kir Joakim .[ 4]
^ Touliatos 2001 lists John Chrysostom , Tertullian , Cyprian , Clement of Alexandria , Gregory Nazianzen , Basil the Great , Ambrose , Augustine of Hippo and particularly Jerome as the church fathers who were vocally against secular Byzantine music
^ He was also a noted music theorist, writing the treatise Peri tōn entheōroumenōn tē psaltikē technē kai hōn phronousi kakōs tines peri autōn which contains extensive and otherwise unknown information on contemporary Byzantine music, practice and theory.[ 46]
Citations
^ a b c Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (21 September 2021). "Byzantine Empire | History, Geography, Maps & Facts" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2021 . When did the Byzantine Empire exist?: The Byzantine Empire existed from approximately 395 CE—when the Roman Empire was split—to 1453.
^ Randel, Don Michael, ed. (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music . Cambridge: Harvard University Press . pp. 751, 771. ISBN 978-0-674-01163-2 .
^ a b c d Metcalfe, William (1898). The Scottish Review . Vol. XXXII. Alexander Gardner. p. 302.
^ a b c Troelsgård, Christian (2001). "Troparion" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.28455 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Werner, Eric (1976). Contributions to a Historical Study of Jewish Music . Brooklyn: Ktav Publishing House . pp. 16– 17.
^ Youssef, Youhanna Nessim (2016). "Hymns of Severus of Antioch and the Coptic Theotokia" (PDF) . In D'Alton, John; Youssef, Youhanna Nessim (eds.). Severus of Antioch: His Life and Times . Leiden: Brill Publishers . ISBN 978-90-04-30799-5 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-10-17.
^ Wolfram, Gerda (2001). "Severus of Antioch" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.25529 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Watt, John W. (2018). "John bar Aphtonia". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity , Volume 2: J–Z . Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 819– 820. ISBN 978-0-19-881625-6 .
^ Childers, Jeff W. (2011). "John bar Aphtonia (d. 537)" . In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz ; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition . Gorgias Press.
^ Engberg, Gudrun (2001). "Romanos the Melodist" . Grove Music Online . Revised by Alexander Lingas. Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.23748 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ a b Kucharek, Casimir A. (1971). The Byzantine-Slav Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: Its Origin and Evolution . Combermere: Alleluia Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-911726-06-0 .
^ a b c d Velimirović, Miloš (2001). "Kanōn" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.14677 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Jeffery, Peter (2001). "The Earliest Oktōēchoi: The Role of Jerusalem and Palestine in the Beginnings of Modal Ordering" . In Jeffery, Peter (ed.). The Study of Medieval Chant: Paths and Bridges, East and West . Suffolk: Boydell Press . p. 181. ISBN 978-0-85115-800-6 .
^ Follieri, Enrica (2001). "Andrew of Crete" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.00894 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Follieri, Enrica (2001). "John Damascene" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.14388 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Follieri, Enrica (2001). "Kosmas of Jerusalem" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.15408 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Thomas, John Philip; Hero, Angela Constantinides, eds. (2000). Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders' Typika and Testaments . Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection . pp. 85 . ISBN 978-0-88402-232-9 .
^ "Saint Joseph, Bishop of Thessalonica, and brother of Saint Theodore of Studion" . Orthodox Church in America . Retrieved 2 October 2021 .
^ Touliatos, Diane (2001b). "Kassia" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40895 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Toma, Paraskevi, ed. (2018). The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from the Fifth Century to the Present . Münster: LIT Verlag . pp. xxi– xxii. ISBN 978-3-643-90995-4 .
^ Jeffery, Peter (2001). "Oktōēchos" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.50097 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Touliatos, Diane (1995). "The Traditional Role of Greek Women in Music from Antiquity to the End of the Byzantine Empire". In Marshall, Kimberly (ed.). Rediscovering the Muses: Women's Musical Traditions . Boston: Northeastern University Press . p. 119. ISBN 978-1-55553-219-2 .
^ Cartwright, Mark (2017). "Leo VI" . World History Encyclopedia . Horsham. {{cite encyclopedia }}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link )
^ Troelsgård, Christian (2001). "Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.06331 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Williams, Edward V. (2001). "Ethikos, Nikephoros" . Grove Music Online . Revised by Christian Troelsgård. Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.09050 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ "Glykys, Gregorios" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . 2001. doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.11305 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Williams, Edward V. (2001). "Koukouzeles [Papadopoulos], Joannes" . Grove Music Online . Revised by Christian Troelsgård. Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.15428 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Troelsgård, Christian (2001). "Korones, Xenos" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51928 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Williams, Edward V. (2001). "Glykys, Joannes" . Grove Music Online . Revised by Christian Troelsgård. Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.11306 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Williams, Edward V. (2001). "Kladas [Lampadarios], Joannes" . Grove Music Online . Revised by Christian Troelsgård. Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.15917 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Conomos, Dimitri E. (2005) [1991]. "Laskaris, John" . In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford: Oxford University Press . ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6 . (subscription required)
^ a b Conomos, Dimitri E. (2001). "Chrysaphes, Manuel" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05722 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Sources
Conomos, Dimitri (1982). "Experimental Polyphony, 'According to the... Latins', in Late Byzantine Psalmody". Early Music History . 2 : 1– 16. doi :10.1017/S0261127900002060 . JSTOR 853760 . S2CID 190692588 .
Kalaitzidis, Kyriakos; Apostolopoulos, Thomas (n.d.) [2015]. "Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Musical Heritage" . istanbultarihi.ist . History of Istanbul. Retrieved 23 June 2023 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: year (link )
Levy, Kenneth (2001). "Byzantine Chant" . In Troelsgård, Christian (ed.). Grove Music Online . Revised by Christian Troelsgård. Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04494 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Mellas, Andrew (2020). Liturgy and the Emotions in Byzantium: Compunction and Hymnody . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . doi :10.1017/9781108767361 . ISBN 978-1-108-76736-1 . S2CID 225623021 .
Patrich, Joseph, ed. (2001). The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from the Fifth Century to the Present . Leuven: Peeters . ISBN 978-90-429-0976-2 .
Touliatos-Banker, Diane (Spring 1984). "Women Composers of Medieval Byzantine Chant". College Music Symposium . 24 (1): 62– 80. JSTOR 40374217 .
Touliatos, Diane (1996). Schleifer, Martha Furman; Glickman, Sylvia (eds.). Women Composers: Music Through The Ages . Vol. 1: Composers Born Before 1599. New York: G. K. Hall . ISBN 978-0-8161-0926-5 .
Touliatos, Diane (2001). "Byzantine secular music" . Grove Music Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . doi :10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48192 . ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Velimirović, Miloš (1978). "Two Composers of Byzantine Music: John Vatatzes and John Laskaris" . In LaRue, Jan (ed.). Aspects of Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Birthday Offering to Gustave Reese . New York: Pendragon Press. pp. 818– 831.
External links
Composers Theorists Liturgy Forms Theory Instruments Scholars Performers Related