BYZANTINE CHANT : TRADITION & REFORM PB

The contributors to this volume about Byzantine chant use different approaches to uncover the early development and transmission of the tradition, its constancy and permutations. Considerations include a recent attempt to establish a new date for the Round notation, one of the earliest transcriptions, and an ethnomusicological study of a religious chant from the island of Zakynthos that may provide clues to specific features of medieval Byzantine intonations. Other articles deal with aspects of Byzantine chants from the 12th century, through the fall of the Empire in 1453 and into the 20th century. Musical examples throughout the text underscore the authors theories and illuminate the beauty of the medium.