Octoechos


Oktōēchos is the eight-mode system used for the composition of religious chant in Byzantine, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Latin and Slavic churches since the Middle Ages. In a modified form the octoechos is still regarded as the foundation of the tradition of monodic chant in the Byzantine Rite today.

Nomenclature

The names ascribed to the eight tones differ in translations into Church Slavonic. The Slavonic system counted the plagioi echoi as Glas 5, 6, 7, and 8. For reference, these differences are shown here together with the Ancient Greek names of the octave species according to the Hagiopolites and to the chant treatises and tonaries of Carolingian theorists. Fifteenth-century composers like Manuel Chrysaphes, Lampadarios at the Court of Palaiologan Constantinople exchanged the Phrygian with the Lydian. The Armenian names and their temporal cycles are represented in the article about the hymn books octoechos and parakletike.
Byzantine octoechosChurch Slavonic osmoglasieOctave speciesCarolingian octo toni
First First DorianTonus primus / Authentus protus
Second Second PhrygianTonus tertius / Authentus deuterus
Third Third LydianTonus quintus / Authentus tritus
Fourth Fourth MixolydianTonus septimus / Authentus tetrardus
Plagal of the First Fifth HypodorianTonus secundus / Plagis proti
Plagal of the Second Sixth HypophrygianTonus quartus / Plagis deuteri
Grave Seventh HypolydianTonus sextus / Plagis triti
Plagal of the Fourth Eighth HypomixolydianTonus octavus / Plagis tetrardi

Southern Slavs use the Byzantine musical system and, nonetheless, use the variant numbering that is always found in Church Slavonic texts.

History

According to three main periods, which divides the history of the eight-mode system, the former article has been split chronologically:
OctoechosPeriodReference
Hagiopolitan Octoechos6th–13th centuryPseudo-John of Damascus
Papadic Octoechos13th–18th centuryJohn Glykys, John Koukouzeles
Neobyzantine Octoechos18th–21st centuryChrysanthos of Madytos

Analysis

Byzantine Chant performance practice has been computationally compared to the theory by Chrysanthos. The analysis of 94 Byzantine Chants performed by 4 singers showed a tendency of the singers to level theoretic particularities of the echos that stand out of the general norm in the octoechos. In practice, smaller scale degree steps appear to be increased and the highest scale step of 333 cents appears to be decreased compared to theory. In practice, the first four scale notes in decreasing order of prominence I, III, II, IV are more prominent than the V., VI., and the VII.