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BYZANTINE CHANTING
Byzantine music was composed to Greek texts and developed from ancient Greek, Syrian and Jewish religious musical traditions. The ancient Byzantine chant was purely vocal and always chanted in Greek, by one person. Its beginnings are dated to the 4th century in Byzantium from the establishment of its capital, Constantinople, in 330.
Byzantine ecclesiastic music is the ancient, sacred chant of many Eastern Christian churches
There are three periods in the development of Byzantine music:
PERIOD 1 - 1ST CENTURY TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONSTANTINOPLE
PERIOD 2 - 4TH TO 8TH CENTURY
PERIOD 3 - 8TH TO THE 11TH CENTURY
"You must every one of you join in a choir so that being harmonious and in concord and taking the keynote of God in unison, you may sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, so that He may hear you and through your good deeds recognise that you are parts of His Son."
- St Ignatius of Antioch
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