Psalm Composition in Middle- and Late Byzantium

Psalm composition is among the least explored topics of Byzantine chant, although psalmody constitutes the basic structure and outline of the daily offices and the liturgy. The texts of the 150 biblical psalms of the psalter are central to the whole of the Byzantine culture and its rituals. They were set to music repeatedly throughout the centuries in a multitude of different settings and styles and inspired a large number of com posers, both known and unknown. Indeed, Byzantine music is not conceivable without psalmody. So far, psalmcompositions have either been examined cursorily in the context of other genres or in sep arate studies that dealt with one psalm/psalmcomplex at a time. Moreover, the focus has hitherto been on the florid, melismatic LateByzantine compositions and not on the early syllabic settings that have come to be known as simple psalmody. A diachronic investigation of the history of Byzantine psalm composition from the beginnings in the 10th/11th c. until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 as such does not yet exist. Simple psalmody is of such vital importance for the study of Byzantine chant because it seems to hold the key to the understanding of the composition of psalms: It is assumed that these simple settings provide a kind of basic structure that would eventually constitute the backbone of the more elaborate melismatic psalms. Moreover, these early settings seem to have been modelverses consisting mainly of the first verse of one or more psalms which were written according to the Byzantine modal system. Thus, there seems to have existed a system of psalmtones from the earliest times on, although no explicit reference to them can be found in medieval Byzantine theoretical treatises.

How were psalms actually sung in medieval Byzantium, and how did their melodies develop over several centuries? This project has provided the first broader picture of a musical tradition that had previously been studied only in individual cases. Psalms were a central part of daily worship in the Byzantine Empire. Nevertheless, their musical settings have received considerably less scholarly attention than many other genres of Byzantine church music. The project therefore set out to collect, transcribe and systematically compare musical settings of psalms from the tenth/eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. A particular focus was placed on so-called "simple psalmody". This refers to early and relatively simple melodic models that were probably transmitted largely through oral tradition for a long period of time. The investigation of a large number of manuscripts showed that traces of these older traditions were still preserved in later and much more elaborate psalm compositions. At the same time, the research demonstrated that melodies were sometimes expanded and embellished to such an extent that their earlier simple form can no longer be reconstructed in full. Older melodic formulas were often preserved most clearly at structurally important points within individual psalm verses. By systematically recording psalms, musical modes, composers, forms and different styles of performance, the project created a body of research material that makes broad comparisons between different types of psalm settings and different historical periods possible for the first time. This also made it possible to recognise relationships between anonymously transmitted chants and known compositional traditions more clearly. Another major result concerns performance practice. Instructions preserved in medieval musical manuscripts and liturgical sources reveal that psalms could be performed in different ways, for example by alternating singers or groups of singers. Such evidence provides new insights into how medieval services actually functioned and how music interacted with liturgy and sacred space. Overall, the project significantly expands our understanding of Byzantine musical history. It shows how a musical tradition could remain remarkably stable over several centuries while at the same time being continually reshaped, elaborated and creatively developed.