Overview and semantics
The noun ''echos'' in Greek means "sound" in general. It acquired the specialized meaning of ''mode'' early on in the development of Byzantine music theory since theHistory and reconstruction
Early treatises only state the initial or "base" degree () which is the tone sung as a burden ( ) by certain singers of the choir called ''isokrates'' in order to support any melody composed in a certain echos. By this support singers ( psaltes) could easily recognise the relative position of each note as it was organised by tetrachords based on the basis note of each echos. This base degree of the mode was communicated by an intonation formula of a foresinger, known as enechema.Echemata of the dialogue treatise
Within the dialogue treatise ('' erotapokriseis'') a catalogue of short formulas memorizes each echos of theΠερὶ πλαγίων Ἀπο τοῦ πλαγίου πρώτου ἤχου πάλιν καταβαίνεις τέσσαρας φωνάς, καὶ εὑρίσκεται πάλιν πλάγιος πρώτου· ὅυτως δὲ / ἄνανε ἄνες ἀνὲ ἄνες· Ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ β' ἤχος καταβαίνων φωνάς δ', εὑρίσκεις τὸν πλάγιον αὐτοῦ, ἤγουν τὸν πλάγιον τοῦ δευτέρου. πλ Β οὕτως δέ. Ὁμοίως πάλιν ὁ τρίτος καταβαίνεις φωνὰς τέσσαρας, καὶ εὑρίσκεται ὁ πλάγιος αὐτοῦ, ἤγουν ὁ βαρύς, οὕτως·The enechemata of the medieval eight diatonic echoi already present a fundamental difference to the Carolingian octoechos: *the kyrios and plagios do use the same octave species, but their basis tone with the ison is on the top of the pentachord within the mele of kyrioi echoi, while it is on the bottom within the mele of plagioi echoi; *the octave species (D—a—d, E—b—e, B flat—F—b flat, and C—G—c) are different as well from the Western octoechos as from the New Method, which had adapted the fret scheme of theὉμοίως καὶ ἀπὸ τὸν τέταρτον καταβαίνων φωνὰς τέσσαρας, εὑρίσκεις τὸν πλάγιον αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἐστὶ ὁ πλ δ'οὕτως·
Echemata of the Papadikai and their modern interpretation
More information on the structure of echoi is only indicated in a very rudimentary way through diagrams involvingΤὸ δὲ Πεντάχορδον, τὸ ὁποῖον λέγεται καὶ Τροχὸς, περιέχει διαστήματα τέσσαρα, τὰ ὁποῖα καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς μὲν εἶναι τόνοι. Περιορίζονται δὲ τὰ τέσσαρα διαστήματα ταῦτα ἀπὸ φθόγγους πέντε. ::πα βου γα δι Πα
The pentachord which was also called wheel (τροχὸς), contains four intervals which we regard as certain tones λάσσων τόνος, ἐλάχιστος τόνος, and 2 μείζονες τόνοι The four intervals spanned five phthongoi:
πα βου γα δι Πα Πα" means here the fifth-equivalent for the protos: α'/blockquote>These five stations of the pentachord could be memorised by the echemata of the kyrioi echoi in ascending direction or by those of the plagioi echoi in descending direction (see Chrysanthos' explanation of the trochos parallage). Each of these echemata had the potential to develop an own melos within its melody types:Each echema is followed by the incipit of a sticheron idiomelon which illustrates a certain melos of the echos. The following book Kekragarion illustrates, how the hesperinos psalm κύριε ἐκέκραξα has to be sung according to the sticheraric melos of each echos. The Kekragarion was later included in the printed editions of the Anastasimatarion or
Voskresnik Voskresnik may refer to: * Voskresnik (day), a day of volunteer unpaid work on Sunday after the October Revolution * Voskresnik (liturgy), a Slavonic liturgical book of Eastern Christian hymns {{Disambiguation ....
Chrysanthos' exegesis of the papadic enechemata
In the chapter "On the apechemata" () of his "Great Theoretikon", Chrysanthos translated the Byzantine octoechos and its intonation formulas (apechemata, or enechemata), as they could be found in the Papadikai, by offering an exegesis of the papadic apechemata in comparison to the simpler forms used by Orthodox chanters today. They served as kind of model for the composition within a certain melos, similar to the seyirler of an Ottomanmakam The Turkish makam ( Turkish: ''makam'' pl. ''makamlar''; from the Arabic word ) is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each makam speci ....
Protos echos
For the diatonic echos protos, the medieval enechema had the finalis on the top of the protos pentachord, while the enechema passes through it:Chrysanthos made this exegesis to explain the melos of the whole echos:
In the first descending half he made the usual cadence on D (, phthongos ) which corresponds to the finalis of the modern melos, while it was once the finalis and the basis of the plagios protos. The second half, when the melos raises again, but within the papadic melos (used with a
cherubikon The Cherubikon (Greek: χερουβικόν) is the usual Cherubic Hymn (Greek: χερουβικὸς ὕμνος, Church Slavonic ) sung at the Great Entrance of the Byzantine liturgy. History Origin The cherubikon was added as a tropario ...or koinonikon) it prepared a change to another base tone on the upper tetrachord like a (, phthongos ). Hence, according to the current practice of Orthodox chant the protos mele were rather based on the lower tetrachord, but the formula could be used a fifth higher likewise. The step between the phthongoi of () and () could be C—D (—) or G—a (—).Concerning the enechema of the , it had not changed during the centuries.
Unlike the tradition which always used register changes, the modern interpretation did not fix the base degree of echos plagios protos to the bottom of the pentachord, it could appear regularly at the top like in the troparic and heirmologic melos: a ()—c ()—b ()—a () or D ()—F ()—E ()—D (). Chrysanthos' exegesis just passed the protos pentachord D ()—a () in an ascending movement, before using the cadence pattern to the base degree of the mode.
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Deuteros echos
Chrysanthos' bridges between the diatonic of the Byzantine past and the chromatic melos of the present Orthodox traditions. The latter is characterised by the constant use of the mesos form, which is not on the of —b natural (, β') and E (, phthongos πλβ'), but between them on G (, πλδ'). The usual diatonic form was this , but only the descending part would lead to the base tone of the .As a consequence, Chrysanthos' exegesis starts and ends on this mesos, but it follows the Hagiopolitan convention to pass through the former pentachord, but he even passes through the pentachord C (, πλδ')—G (, phthongos δ'), as it used by the current melos of .
Concerning the chromatic melos of the in the current
octoechos Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ;The feminine form exists as well, but means the book octoechos. from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́см ..., the papadic had become "soft chromatic" under the influence of the .Nevertheless, according to the very particular interpretation of Chrysanthos the melos and scale of is ruled by a diphonic organisation based on just two diatonic intervals: the major and minor tone. As a result, the octave C—c between νη and νη' becomes slightly diminished. Chrysanthos' concept of diphonia was so radical that it found no commonplace in current chant manuals, instead a lot alternative interpretations proposed various divisions of the chromatic tetrachords between νη—γα (C—F) and δι—νη' (G—c).
At the end of his chapter "on the apechemata" Chrysanthos offers a separate exegesis of phthora nenano as a modern deduction of the , whose medieval form was this. But it had moved now with the to the of .
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Tritos echos
Chrysanthos did not offer any exegesis for the apechema of the diatonic echos tritos. He only mentions the intonation of phthora nana instead, which is still used as the echos tritos intonation formula in current Orthodox traditions.Hence, his exegesis of this enharmonic phthora is within the enharmonic genus and the triphonic tone system of the phthora nana. The same enharmonic interpretation was done with the plagios called "echos varys" (grave mode), obviously in certain cases, when the was expected of fourth under the base tone. Hence, the enharmonic are not separated by a pentachord, but usually both set on F (, phthongos γ' as well as υαρ), in troparic, sticheraric and heirmologic mele:
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Within the papadic chant genre ( cherubika, koinonika), but also during the composed recitation of
Polyeleos The Polyeleos is a festive portion of the Matins or All-Night Vigil service as observed on higher-ranking feast days in the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran, and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches. The Polyeleos is considered to be the high point of ...psalms and kalophonic heirmoi ( Ἄξιον ἐστίν), the diatonic melos of was chosen. Its base tone was one below the . According to Chrysanthos it diminished the tritos pentachord to a kind of tritone, at least when it was set on fret arak of the Ottomantambur The ''tambur'' (spelled in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. Like the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm, it constitutes one of the fou ..., but there are also more traditional ways of intonation depending on the local school of a chanter.![]()
Tetartos echos
The have changed between theByzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...and the Orthodox octoechos today. The original pentachord between and kyrios—C () and G () or likewise G () and d ()—does still exist in the papadic melos of echos , which is known as the "papadic Agia" ().Chrysanthos made for the papadic melos this exegesis.
A commonly used form of might be the one which Chrysanthos mentions as the one used by
Petros Peloponnesios Petros Peloponnesios ("Peter the Peloponnesian") or Peter the Lampadarios (c. 1735 Tripolis–1778 Constantinople) was a great cantor, composer and teacher of Byzantine and Ottoman music. He must have served as second ''domestikos'' between his arri ....The diatonic plagios of according to the enechema known from the treatises called Papadikai
which was interpreted by Chrysanthos, as follows.
Since the has moved to the of (πλα'), the original of the diatonic was vacant. In fact, as a diatonic phthora it was represented by a medial signature of the so-called "echos legetos" () which had preserved the diatonic intonation of .
The signature was used within the , since heirmoi of were still treated as a diatonic melos unlike the school of Petros Peloponnesios and his follower
Petros Byzantios Peter the Byzantine ( fl. 1770 – 1808), also known as Petros Byzantios (Greek: ''Πέτρος Βυζάντιος''), and "the Fugitive", was a Greek composer and scribe. A pupil of Peter the Peloponnesian, he served the Ecumenical Patriarchate .... According to their school the was part of the , as a it was used for the heirmologic melos, where the base and final degree was a low intoned E (βου), and for the , which had the base degree of the mode and closing cadences on D (πα), but the concluding finalis E (βου). Chrysanthos interpreted also as a diatonic .He also mentioned a common enechema as it was used by Iakovos the Protopsaltes.
In this last paragraph of the chapter about the apechemata Chrysanthos referred to ten echoi within the tradition of Hagiopolites.
.The echoi of the psalmody are eight. The apechemata preserved though are ten, because the , and the of the , have two apechemata each.But unlike the Hagiopolites, where the was mentioned as a "" and the as "", seemed to have slipped into the role, but it was a diatonic mesos, not an enharmonic like . In fact, Chrysanthos could not longer mention nana and nenano as additional , since their melos had already replaced the diatonic mele of the and .
Echos vs. maqam in eponymous compositional practice
In otherOttoman music Ottoman music ( tr, Osmanlı müziği) or Turkish classical music ( tr, Türk sanat müziği) is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally ...traditions like the list of composedMevlevi The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya ( tr, Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; fa, طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalal ...dance suites as models of well-known and new makamlar created byeponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...masters resulted in a proliferation of modes (makam The Turkish makam ( Turkish: ''makam'' pl. ''makamlar''; from the Arabic word ) is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each makam speci ...lar, maqamat), echoi are not attributed to specific composers, but are rather regarded as belonging to the collective and anonymous heritage of liturgicalchant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes .... Eponymous compositions do exist throughout most of the history of Byzantine chant, but their echos is always classified from within the system of existing . Due to an interest for makamlar compositions Phanariotes like Georgios the Protopsaltes, one of the great teachers of Orthodox chant, also became a student of the dervish composer Dede Efendi, after he had learnt Turkish. Byzantine notation developed as a universal notation system during the 19th century which includes even attempts to integrate makamlar within the mele of the Octoechos, while ornamental details became part of an oral tradition.
Cultural "relations"
The system of echoi is rich and diverse. Closer study and comparison with modal systems of neighboring cultures reveals a complex network of cultural and ethnic influences throughout the centuries—a vivid exchange between musicians across the borders of ethnic and religious identity (Phanariotes Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots ( el, Φαναριώτες, ro, Fanarioți, tr, Fenerliler) were members of prominent Greeks, Greek families in Fener, Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople whe ...).Rudolf M. Brandl (1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...). The basic theory of echoi is formalized in a system of eight modes called the Octoechos. See the articleNeobyzantine Octoechos Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ; from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́смь "eight" and гласъ "voice, sound") is the name of the ei ...for a discussion of its origins and a critique of this concept vis-a-vis actual practice.
See also
*Mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...*Centonization In music centonization (from Latin ''cento'' or patchwork) is a theory about the composition of a melody, melodies, or piece based on pre-existing melodic figures and formulas. A piece created using centonization is known as a "centonate". The c ...*Ottomanmakam The Turkish makam ( Turkish: ''makam'' pl. ''makamlar''; from the Arabic word ) is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each makam speci ..., Arab maqām, and Central AsianShashmaqam Shashmaqam (russian: Шашмаком; uz, shashmaqom; tg, шашмақом; fa, ششمقام) is a Central Asian musical genre (typical of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) which may have developed in the city of Bukhara. Shashmaqam means the six ...*Persiandastgah Dastgāh ( fa, دستگاه) is the standard musical system in Persian art music, standardised in the 19th century following the transition of Persian music from the Maqam modal system. A consists of a collection of musical melodies, . In a son ...
Sources
Papadikai
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Treatises of the New Method (since 19th century)
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Anthologies of Makam Music
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Studies
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External links
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Melody types Byzantine music theory Melody types Ottoman music