Byzantine chant

Byzantine chant is the monophonic liturgical singing tradition of the Byzantine rite, performed in Greek and other languages. Its melodies use modal patterns organized into eight modes.

Octoechos: The eight-mode system organizing the melodies and liturgical cycle of Byzantine chant. Its rotating modes give the chant a framework for assigning melodies across the liturgical year.
Byzantine musical notation: A neumatic notation system that records melodic gestures and other performance instructions for Byzantine chant. Its signs guide singers without functioning like a fully specified modern score.
Byzantine Empire: The medieval continuation of the Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople from late antiquity until 1453. Its churches and imperial capital fostered the tradition's early development.
Byzantine rite: The family of liturgical traditions that developed from the worship of Constantinople. Byzantine chant is the principal sung tradition of this rite.
Gregorian chant: The monophonic Latin liturgical chant tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. Both are modal Christian chant traditions, but they developed in different rites and repertories.
Byzantine musical modes: Eight modal frameworks that shape the melodic contours and final tones of Byzantine chant. Each mode supplies characteristic melodic behavior rather than a fixed modern scale.
Neume: A graphic sign used in musical notation to indicate a note or melodic gesture. Byzantine neumes encode the movements that singers realize in performance.
Constantinople: The historic city founded as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, now Istanbul. The city's cathedral and monastic institutions shaped major strands of Byzantine worship.
Greek Orthodox liturgy: The worship services of Greek Orthodox churches, structured around prayers, readings, sacraments, and hymns. Chant gives the services their sung texts and ceremonial pacing.
Western plainchant: The body of unaccompanied monophonic liturgical chant traditions used in Western Christianity. It provides a broader Western counterpart to Byzantine chant's Eastern liturgical lineage.

Linked from 7 pages