Melodic Pulling: How Byzantine Theory Sanctified Wrong Notes
Traditionalists attempt to justify melodic pulling by invoking Aristoxenus and his distinction between fixed and movable notes, but this is yet another error.
What Makes Byzantine Chant Byzantine?
Is Byzantine Polyphony authentic Byzantine chant or Westernization? This article shows how Byzantine Polyphony preserves Byzantine modes, cadences, and melodic structure in SATB harmony.
Beyond Plagal Second: Manuel’s Doxology and the Dominant Face of Nenano
This is an advanced composer’s note. It shows how syllabic chromatic melodies go beyond the usual Byzantine and Nenano modes and sometimes use a completely different mode, still related to Nenano.
Long Division and Byzantine Music: Systems Beat Vibes
A child should not be trained to imitate somebody else’s clever shortcut. Kids are very good at learning systems. Give them the actual machinery.
Free Score: “Blessed Are You, O Christ Our God” – Pentecost Apolytikion
A free score of the Pentecost apolytikion “Blessed Are You, O Christ Our God” (Εὐλογητὸς εἶ Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν) in a beautiful Byzantine Polyphony arrangement by Theodore Papakonstantinou.
The Marble Church and the Starved Choir
Orthodox America handsomely funds clergy, buildings, galas, litigation, foundations, and foreign patriarchates. But does it fund church music?
How to Transcribe Byzantine Neumes into Byzantine Polyphony
The neumes are source material and the polyphonic arrangement is the destination. Byzantine Polyphony requires more than symbol-by-symbol conversion of those neumes into staff notation.
Are You Learning Music, or Learning Obedience?
A real music teacher produces musicians. A handler produces loyal followers. Pious language, “lower clergy” mandates, and guru lists are some of the mechanisms used to mask fundamental musical incompetence.
Why The Traditional Byzantine Tuning Is Worse Than Equal Temperament
Traditional Byzantine tuning is not “more natural” than Equal Temperament. It is a patched, contextual, historically compromised system that borrows the prestige of natural ratios without actually matching them.
What Really Makes Dorian Melodies So Compelling?
Most people explain Dorian by pointing to the sixth degree. The sixth degree matters because it defines the mode plus it gives it brightness. But that’s not the whole story.
Konstantinos Psachos: The Musical Future Athens Rejected
In 1904, Konstantinos Psachos came to Athens to teach Byzantine Music. He stood at the crossroads of East and West as a serious musician who understood that musical excellence requires both traditional knowledge and systematic pedagogy. And that’s why he was attacked viciously by “traditionalists”.
The Atzem Affair: How Byzantine Traditionalists Became Ottoman Music’s Loudest Defenders
Traditionalists defend the Atzem drama as untouchable ancient tradition, while simultaneously attacking anyone who suggests using Western notation. But something doesn’t add up.