PSALOM
Traditional Eastern Orthodox Chant Documentation Project
HYMNOGRAPHY: Traditional Melodic Genres
6) Common Chants

1) Byzantine Chant Tradition (etc.):

Generally speaking, Byzantine Chant cannot have Common Chant melodies because everything is based on the system of 8 Modes, no matter how complex or simple.

2) Russian Znamenny Tradition (etc.):

This genre includes liturgical dialogue (litanies, the dialogues during the Divine Liturgy, and whenever the priest gives blessings or wishes peace to the people), settings of hymns for the Doxology at Matins, and "O only-begotten Son" and the Creed at the Divine Liturgy, etc. None of this repertoire seems to be directly derived from any Byzantine prototypes, undoubtedly because of the fluid nature of such music accompanying various liturgical moments. Many musicologists have theorized about the influence of folksong, and certainly it seems plausable.


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