“When I go there, into the church of the Greeks,
with its… liturgical chanting and harmony,
…my thoughts turn to the great glories of our race,
to the splendour of our Byzantine heritage”
– In The Church, by Constantine Cavafy, 1906
On the 12th December, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared the Byzantine Chant as part of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. This is a major recognition that formally honours an art form that is more than 2,000 years old.
The Byzantine chant is a significant cultural tradition and comprehensive music system forming part of the common musical traditions that developed in the early Christian Era.
Highlighting and musically enhancing the church texts of the Greek Orthodox Church liturgy, this vocal art is mainly focused on rendering the ecclesiastical text; arguably, the chant exists because of the word (‘logos’), since every aspect of the tradition serves to spread the sacred message.
Passed on aurally across the generations, its main characteristics have remained over the centuries: it is exclusively vocal music; the chants are coded in an eight-tone system; and the chant employs different styles of rhythm to accentuate the desired syllables of specific words.
Though the Psaltic Art has always been linked to the male voice, women chanters are becoming more common also.
In addition to its practice in church, the Byzantine chant is flourishing due to the dedication of experts and non-experts alike – including musicians, choir members, composers, musicologists and scholars – who contribute to its study, performance and dissemination.
In its statement announcing the recognition, UNESCO notes that ”As a living art that has existed for centuries, Byzantine chant is a significant cultural tradition and comprehensive music system.”
Byzantine chant, the UNESCO statement explains, ”forms part of the common musical traditions that developed in the Byzantine Empire. Highlighting and musically enhancing the liturgical texts of the Greek Orthodox Church, it is inextricably linked with spiritual life and religious ceremony.”
UNESCO made special reference to how this tradition has managed to survive throughout the centuries against all odds and remain at the centre of the Greek Orthodox Christian faith even today.
In 2017, UNESCO also placed the “Rembetika” musical tradition and practice on the intangible cultural heritage list as well.
The School of Byzantine Music operates across London and the United Kingdom, with teachers at several churches, under the oversight of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. The school is headquartered at St Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church in Wood Green. The Founder and Director is the Very Reverend Father Joseph Paliouras, of the Twelve Apostles parish in Hatfield. The school welcomes anyone, of any age, wishing to learn this wonderful and sacred art. It takes discipline and practice, and brings a lifetime of fulfilment.
By James Neophytou
