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Last
Updated on
March 18, 2007
The
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| According to
tradition, the theory and practice of echoi is codified a system
comprising eight modes, which is called the Octoechos - meaning
literally "(the system of) eight echoi". These eight echoi are
the 4 kyrioi (authentes) echoi and the 4 plagal echoi. However, even the
earliest theoretical treatises point out that there are two more modes
which do not fit into this system:
nenano and
nana. This early
and very simple account of the modal system bears parallels to those of
early Arabic music theorists of the 9th century or earlier.
Musicological research from the 1960s onwards has stipulated that the
Octoechos is based on music theory of the Jewish chant and that this
itself has inherited the concept of 8-modes concept to Babylonian
origins. The simplicity of a system comprised of 8 modes (plus two
ancillary modes) may be a main reason for its persistence throughout
western and eastern medieval music theory and up to these days in
Byzantine chant. |
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