the use of eastern musical modes in byzantine compositions during th 19th and

8/6/2019 The Use of Eastern Musical Modes in Byzantine Compositions During Th 19th And

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Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the ASBMH page 530

TheUseofEasternMusicalModesinByzantineCompositionsDuringth19thand

20thCentury

ByFr.Romanos(Rabih)Joubran

TheByzantineMusicis fromthisworld,yet itisdirectedtothosewhoarenot

from this world, I mean to our God andHis Saints. Therefore the Byzantine

musichasthesamecharacteristicsthathaveeverykindofmusicofthisworld,

buthasalsosomethingspecial,aspecialtastethatdefersfromanyotherkindof

music.Inthisregard,IthinkthatSaintJohnofDamascustriedtopickupthe

modes, which were in use at that time, and could be in harmony with the

Churchsspirit.TheChantersoftheChurchafterhimtriedtodevelopthiskind

of music using there Godgiven talents. But are there any criteria, or any

boundaries,thatallowustodeterminewhatkindofmusicisByzantine?

,

,

,

,

,,

.

,

,

,.

,

,

.342

IstartedwiththisexcerptofChrysanthos(17701843),toshowthateveninthe

ecumenical Patriarchate, where the ecclesiastical rules were strictly observed,

thereweretendenciesbetweentheChantersoftheGreatChurchofChristtoadd

hybridmelodiestotheByzantineMusic.342,,1832,

,.XLIX


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The theorists of Byzantine music tried to make a comparison between the

ByzantinemodesandtheEasternones,whicharetheGreek,ArabicandTurkish.

We can realize this for instance in the theory of Apostolos Konstas343, in

Khrysanthostheory,inSimonKarastheory,wheretheByzantineMusicisthe

GreekMusic

344

,andwithMavroeidiswherewehaveafullcomparisonbetweentheByzantine,theArabic,andtheTurkishmusic345.Thisisduetothesimilarity

between thesemodeson the scales level. And aswe have read in the excerpt

fromKhrysanthos,thecomposerstriedtointroduceintherecompositionssome

oftheseOrientalmodes, andtheyusedalsoOriental styles,asfor instancethe

transpositions, modulations I personally find this natural because of the

interchange of cultures, especially in our region. But with the publication of

ByzantineMusicbooksinthebeginningofthe19thcentury,westartedtoseenew

compositions which do not belong to the Byzantine Modes (I will explain it

later).

From this point Iwill speak of the use of the nonByzantine melodies in the

ByzantineModes, andIwill concentrate onthe introductionofnon Byzantine

ModesintheByzantineMusicalbody.

TheuseofnonByzantinemelodies

ThroughoutthecenturiesByzantinecomposers,whowerealsowellinstructedin

worldly classicalmusic (Greek, Turkish, Persian,Arabic), and some ofwhom

were even songs composers (Petros Lampadarios, Grigorios Protopsaltis,

Dimitrios Murr, ), adapted some foreign modes and melodies to theByzantinestyle.ButtheytriedtopreservetheByzantineshape,whichsounded

likewearingforeignvestments346.

This does not include the similarity between the Byzantine modes and the

foreignonesduetotheuseofthelawofattraction().Forinstance,ifwe

executetheattractioninthefirstmodeonthetoneDhi(Dhib)itwillresemble

theSabamaqam,butinthecaseofthefirstmodesthereisnoconcentrationon

theHijazonFa,whichisthecharacteristicoftheSaba.

Onthecontrary,ifweuseaflatKeinthesecondmodeplagal,whichisnotfrom

itscharacteristics,soitwillbetheHijazGharibmaqam,andthismelodyissaid

foreign.

343See,..,

,2002.344..,:,1982.345.., : ,

,,Fagotto,,1999.346..,,,1843.


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InourByzantinecompositionsthereareplentyofsuchmelodies, and theyare

usedusuallyasornamentationandinordertoexpressemotionalfeelingssuchas

distressandpain.

()

Thisuseofsuchmelodieswasrestrictedtosomelinesintocompositions,dueto

the strictness of the tradition concerning the shape of the style of chanting,

especiallyinthestichiraricandhermologickind.Butthiswasnotthecaseinthe

Papadickind(excepttheCheroubiconandtheKoinonicon),suchasMagnificatandDoxologiescomposedaccordingtoPapadickind,Litourgika,Polyeleon,and

Trisagia, where the composer is free to some extend not only to use non

Byzantinemelodies,butalsotocomposeaccordingtononByzantineModes.

TheuseofnonByzantineModes


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What is very significant and important to discuss, in my opinion, is the

compositions according to foreign Modes, as for instance this Litourgika

accordingtomaqamSaba.

IamtalkinghereabouttheforeignmodesthatarenotsimilartoanyByzantine

mode.ThereforeIwouldliketomakeabriefcomparisonbetweentheByzantine

ClasicalModesandtheArabicMaqamswhicharesimilar.Thiscomparisonisaccordingtothemajorscalesof eachmodeandmaqam,so

we shouldsay: thismode is like thismaqam,butnot the same, because each

modeormaqamhasitsowncharacteristics.

ByzantineModes ArabicMaqams

OnPa BayationDFirstMode

OnKe HousaynionA

OnDhi HizazonG

OnVou HouzamonE

Second

Mode

OnPa HizazonD


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ThirdMode JiharkeonF

OnDhi NawaonG

OnVou

Legetos

SigaonE

OnPa BayationDOnDhi

Chromatic

HizazonRewithendingon

G

Fourth

Mode

OnVou

Houzam

OnPa BayationDFirstplagal

Mode

OnKe HousaynionA

OnPa HizazonDSecondplagal

Mode

OnVou HouzamonE

OnGha JiharkeonFThirdplagal

ModeorVarysOnZo OuraqonH

OnNi

RastonCFourthplagal

Mode

OnGha JiharkeonF

Surprisinglyamongthefirstpublishedcompositionsaccordingtoforeignmodes

weresomeworksofthetwoteachersofthenewmethod,GregoriosProtopsaltis

(17771822) andKhourmouzioskhartophilax ( ; 1840). Gregorios composed a

Doxology on maqamBastana Kar (Varys with Saba on Gha), another one on

AjemKourd(FirstplagalwithZoandVouflat),andathirdonSouzinak(Fourth

Plagalwithsecond).KhourmouzioscomposedaDoxologyonAjemOushairan

(VaryswithZoandVouflat).

I will restrict my example to some Doxologies, Liturgika, and Magnificat,becauseIthinkitwillbemorethanenoughtoshowmypoint.


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MaqamAjamKourd

(DimitriosMurrProtopsaltis18801969)


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MaqamSaba

(KonstantinosPringos18921964)


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(;1901)


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MaqamAjam

MaqamAjamOushairan


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()


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(DimitriosMurrProtopsaltis)


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Frigios

(;1948)

()


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MaqamSouzinak


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(;1840)


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MaqamHijazKar

(18701933)


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()


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MaqamShahnazKourdi

(18691949)


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MaqamNawaAtharonD


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MaqamShouri

(19.)


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MaqamFarahfaza

(20.20.)


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MaqamHijazKarKourd



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MaqamZanjaran



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MaqamNahawand



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WemayaddalsothefamousTrisagionofStanitsasonMaqamFarahNak

(.19101987)


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Thesecomposersfacedaproblemofdefinition,wheretoputthesemodesinthe

body ofByzantine music, which lead them to force thesemodesbetween the

eightByzantinemodes.SotheHijazKarwillbeaFourthmodeplagalChromatic

(whichhasnorelationwhatsoeverwiththeByzantineFourthmodeplagal),and

theShahnazKourdiwillbeafourthmodeplagalChromaicandHenarmonicTheseexamplesandmuchmore,publishedandunpublishedputusinacriticalsituation:TowhichextendcanweacceptsuchmodesasByzantine,andwhatare

thecriteriatodefineByzantineMusic?

Ithinktheanswerinnotsoeasytofind,especiallyinourregion,wherethese

foreignmodesareapartofourculture,thusnotforeignforus.Therefore,would

theybedefinedassuchwhenitcomestotheSpiritoftheChurch?

the use of eastern musical modes in byzantine compositions during th 19th and

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