Tradition and Innovation in Late- and Postbyzantine Liturgical Chant II - Proceedings of the Congress Held at Hernen Castle, the
What is the relation between the Greek ecclesiastical chant traditions of today and Byzantine chant? That question can only be answered through a meticulous study of the transmission and transformation of both the melodies, the genres, and the whole musical culture of Late Byzantium and the subsequent centuries. This book presents a handful of studies focussing on both the development of new musical styles, such as the ornamented Kalofonia ('Beautiful sound'), and on the education of the cantors, the psaltai. The role of the master cantors, the maistores, their teachings, treatises, traditions, innovations, compositions, and the various modes of interpretation (exegesis) are among the topics covered by this collection of papers, written by specialist scholars of Byantine chant history.