A Study On The Byzantine Church Music

Byzantine church music refers to the music which was used in the Orthodox Church inByzantine Empire, and it was an important part of Byzantine art. Byzantine church music hada close relationship with Eastern Orthodoxy and Byzantine Empire?and through the studiesof Byzantine church music, we could understand not only the Byzantine art, but also thehistory of Eastern Orthodoxy and Byzantine Empire more deeply.In Western academic circle, Byzantine music has attracted a large number of scholars,they have made great contributions in the collection and decipherment of ancient musicalmanuscripts, and they also made many discussions on the source, nature and status ofByzantine music. In contrast, only in recent years, a number of domestic scholars begin todevote themselves into the study of Byzantine music.This paper tried to study on the history of Byzantine church music, and its main part wasdivided into four chapters, which discussed the definition, source, development and influenceof Byzantine church music seperately. The first chapter defined Byzantine church music as allmusical events which occurred in the church in Byzantine Empire from330-1453, and itsmost important part were hymns and Byzantine neumes.The second chapter discussed the origin of Byzantine church music. Most scholars agreethat Byzantine church music involved large eastern and western elements, and this paper alsoapproved it. And further, early Christian music provided practice and tradition for Byzantinemusic, while ancient Greek music provide musical theory and thought.Next, the third chapter focused on the development of the Byzantine church music, andthis development was mainly reflected in Byzantine hymns and neumes. In Byzantine Empire,three poetical forms, Troparion, Kontakion and Kanon appeared one after another, and all ofthem were outstanding achievements of Byzantine church music. Byzantine neumes was akind of musical notation, it appeared in9th or10th century and has matured before the fall ofByzantine Empire, and affected Byzantine melody heavily.And then, the influence of Byzantine music could be divided into three aspects. First, inByzantine Empire, it helped to advocate the religious doctrine of Eastern Orthodoxy, tostrengthen the atmosphere of liturgical rite, and to publicize the prestige of Byzantine Empire.Second, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the church music survived in the OrientalOrthodox Churches, especially in Modern Greek churches and Slav churches. Third, theEastern and Western Christian music had a complex relationship. In fact, they had commonsources, and in the early period, the Western church music was affected by Byzantine musicheavily. But then, because of their different traditions and cultural backgrounds, the Eastern and Western music took different paths at last.Finally, there were three conclusions: first, Byzantine church music was a counterpart ofthe Western Christian music, and it should not be neglected; Second, Byzantine music had anunique trace of historical development; Third, in essence, Byzantine church music was anindispensible part of Orthodox liturgical rite, and it serviced mainly for the Orthodox church.