CIM08 Abstract Proceedings, Thessaloniki, 3-6 July 2008

Functions and images in Greek art music

utilizing Byzantine echoi
Kostas Chardas and Maria Alexandru
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

BACKGROUND IN MUSIC ANALYSIS

In the theoretical / analytical approaches to the large-scale formal articulation of Western tonal
music two premises are salient for the understanding of the notion of telos: the leading note
motion (e.g. in Riemann 1903 and Kurth 1920) and the structural fifth harmonic motions (e.g. in
Schenker 1906 and 1932). The difficulty in perceiving under these tonal terms (with the same
motions) music which utilizes materials other than the major and minor scales have been
discussed in theoretical and analytical accounts of such music (e.g., Schulenberg 1985-86,
Tsougras 2003 and McNamee 1985).

BACKGROUND IN BYZANTINE MUSICOLOGY

In the shaping of structure in Byzantine chant, a key role is held by the mode-echos. Far from
being only a scale, the Byzantine echos is described by Byzantine and later theoreticians as
having a specific acoustic “idea” or color (Gabriel Hieromonachos, lines 429-431). The
components which constitute a mode are summarized by Karas (1982, vol. A : 223-228): finalis,
intervals, main tones (despozontes phthongoi), attractions (elxeis) and cadences. Furthermore,
Byzantine and newer theoreticians developed the ancient Greek theory about the ethical
connotations of the modes.
During the 20th cent., analysis of Byzantine chant was centered to a great extent on the
investigation of characteristic formulas (e.g. Wellesz 1962, Amargianakis 1977) or characteristic
frames-registers of a given mode (e.g. Doda 1995). A method of reductionist analysis, departing
from the concept of mode in Byzantine church singing and in Turkish classical music, was
prepared by Zannos (1994).

AIMS
The main aim is to interpret how the Byzantine echoi operate within the large-scale unfolding of
the form both within harmonized settings of Byzantine chant and works by Greek composers up
to 1950 utilizing Byzantine echoi as scalic material. The reference to the composers’ own
writings (e.g. Lambelet 1901, Kalomiris 1957) or sketches (of Yannis A. Papaioannou)
demonstrate their basic ideas on the problem of giving a polyphonic setting in the Byzantine
monophonic/heterophonic material. Moreover, through the comparative examination of the
notions of ending and formal articulation between the two music cultures we aim to understand
the functional aspects of these notions, and how these functional aspects can be heard within
Greek art music utilizing Byzantine music material. These functions become aural images since
they are heard within a different context to which they are generically associated.
Analysis focuses on Papaioannou’s music of the years 1944-1948, an adequate repertoire since
it represents different stages of the use of the Byzantine music material: from the harmonized
settings of Byzantine chant to the almost unrecognizable ‘penetration’ of this material in his
instrumental music. The salient methodological tool of the present approach is summarized by
Nicola Dibben (2003: 196): ‘listeners make associative links between musical elements that are
present in any given piece, and at the same time make associations with similar or functionally
equivalent elements or gestures in the wider repertoire of music with which they are familiar’.

MAIN CONTRIBUTION
The theoretical writings of both composers Manolis Kalomiris and Georgios Lambelet on the
harmonic setting of ‘Greek musical material’ draw on the notion of the leading note (Kalomiris
1957: 178, 188), while Lambelet (1901) sees the plagal cadence as an adequate solution for the
harmonic settings of Byzantine hymns. Papaioannou’s harmonic settings of hymns demonstrate
this solution in action. His various sketches which contain harmonic cadences derived from the
use of Byzantine echoi as scalic material and his instrumental music using the same material
shows an adherence to the notion of the leading note, encompassing, however, also the
downwards semitonal motion. Indeed, many of the cadences of these pieces are achieved
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 CIM08 Abstract Proceedings, Thessaloniki, 3-6 July 2008

through semitonal upwards or downwards motions towards what emerges as the central tone,
motions that are part of the intervallic properties of the used scalic patterns derived from echoi.
Thus the leading-note motion can be seen to arise contextually and make reference both to the
Western cadences and the semitonal/microtonal attraction towards the structural notes in
Byzantine music; on the other hand, the plagal cadence acts metonymically, carrying with it the
image of its function at the endings of Western church music.

IMPLICATIONS
Through the analytical lenses of Western tonal and Byzantine modal musical cultures, the
present paper aims to lay the foundation for a future critical appraisal of the tensions between
the images of West and East in what musically constituted the idea of ‘national’ within the Greek
context up to 1950.

REFERENCES
Amargianakis, George (1977). An Analysis of Stichera in the Deuteros Modes. 2 vols. Cahiers de l’Institut
du Moyen-Âge Grec et Latin 22 & 23.
Dibben, Nicola (2003). ‘Musical Materials, Perception and Listening’ in The Cultural Study of Music, ed. by
Martin Clayton, Trevor Herbert, Richard Middleton. New York and London: Routledge, 193-203.
Doda, Alberto (1995). Coislin Notation. Problems and Working Hypotheses. Palaeobyzantine Notations. A
Reconsideration of the Source Material. Eds. J. Raasted & Chr. Troelsgård. Hernen: A.A. Bredius
Foundation, 63-79.
Gabriel Hieromonachos (1985). Abhandlung über den Kirchengesang.
Eds. Chr. Hannick & G. Wolfram. MMB-CSRM 1. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften.
Καράς, Σίµων (1982). Μέθοδος της Ελληνικής Μουσικής. Θεωρητικόν.Τόµος Α΄. Αθήνα: Σύλλογος προς
Διάδοσιν της Εθνικής Μουσικής.
Kalomiris, Manolis (1957). Musical Morphology, Volume Two: Forms in Classical and Newer Music. Athens:
Michail Gaetanos.
Kurth, Ernst (1920). Romantische Harmonik und ihre Krise in Wagner’s ‘Tristan’. Berne, Leipzing.
Lambelet, Georgios (1901). ‘National Music’. Panathinea Vol. 2, 82–90, 126–131.
Schulenberg, David (1985–1986). ‘Modes, Prolongations, and Analysis’. The Journal of Musicology Vol. 4,
No.3, 303–329.
McNamee, Ann K. (1985), ‘Bitonality, Mode, and Interval in the Music of Karol Szymanowski’. Journal of
Music Theory Vol. 29, No.1, 61–84.
Schenker, Heinrich (1932). Fünf Urlinie Tafeln. Vienna.
Schenker, Heinrich (1906). Harmonielehre. Berlin and Stuttgart.
Tsougras, Costas (2003), ‘44 Greek Miniatures for Piano’ by Yannis Constantinidis: Analysis with the use of
the Generative Theory of Tonal Music. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press.
Wellesz, Egon (1962). A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Zannos, Ioannis (1994). Ichos und Makam. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zum Tonsystem der griechisch-
orthodoxen Kirchenmusik und der türkischen Kunstmusik. Orpheus-Schriftreihe zu Grundfragen der
Musik. Bonn: Orpheus-Verlag GmbH, Verlag für systematische Musikwissenschaft GmbH.

Kostas Chardas
Current position
Main field of research
Areas addressed in
published articles
Qualifications
Contact
Maria Alexandru
Current position
Main field of research
Qualifications
Areas addressed in
published articles
Contact
Tutor at The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Music Analysis/Greek art music
Music theory and analysis, Greek art music, 20th century music
history and aesthetics
PhD (University of Surrey) / MMus (University of London)
charpap@otenet.gr
Lecturer at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Byzantine music
PhD (Byzantine Music, Copenhagen)
Byzantine Music Palaeography, Analysis, Historiography
malexand@mus.auth.gr

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