Fortresses and Barriers: How the History of Byzantine Chant Was Manufactured

The history of Byzantine music was based on a lie.

In 1890, a man in Constantinople called for “fortresses and barriers” against musical innovation. He built them with a history book titled Contributions to the History of Our Church Music. His account became influential, its claims were passed down through generations, and its legacy is still taught today.

It ended up damaging the very art it claimed to protect.

Ari Koufogiannakis exposes the myths and convenient “honest” mistakes that shaped up the history of Byzantine music. Armed with historical documents and a dose of satire, he reveals how we got it wrong, and follows the evidence to answer an even more uncomfortable question: Why?

Everyone who was ever called a “Westernizer” needs to read this book.

Fortresses and Barriers is a documented investigation into the manufacture of the history of a musical tradition and a deception that went on for generations.