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.
What Happens If Byzantine Music Never Evolves?
If Byzantine chant refuses to evolve, it will simply become redundant. Without the development of polyphony, the tradition decays into a system of imitation where pitch instability is romanticized as “expression” and technical analysis is silenced by a culture of blind obedience.