Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Aristoxenus is back to get drunk and talk about medieval greek music and what we know about it.
Sources and additional reading:
• Sound of Byzantium : Byzantine Musical Instruments, by Antonios Botonakis, Nikos Maliaras, Christian Troelsgård
• Medieval Byzantine Chant and the Sound of Orthodoxy, Alexander Lingas
• Performance Practice and the Politics of Transcribing Byzantine Chant, Alexander Lingas
• Byzantine Chant, Western Musicology and the Performer, Alexander Lingas
• Greek modes and Turkish sounds.Music as a means of intercultural exchange between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the Ottoman Empire, Maria Pia Ester Cristaldi
• Byzantine Chant: The Received Tradition – A Lesson Book, John Michael Boyer
• Byzantine Chant, Alexander Lingas: openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/21530/10/2_LINGAS_Byzantine%20Chant.pdf
• Nikos Maliaras, Some Western European Musical Instruments and Their Byzantine Origin
• The presence of musical instruments in Byzantine and post-Byzantine iconographic sources, Gabriella Curry
https://www.academia.edu/1888280/The_presence_of_musical_instruments_in_Byzantine_and_post_Byzantine_iconographic_sources
• The Influence of Byzantine Music on the West, Constantin Floros, https://www.academia.edu/8457593/The_Influence_of_Byzantine_Music_on_the_West
• A brief study on the influence of Byzantine music on the development of eastern and Western music, Tianhua Dong, file:///C:/Users/aravi/Downloads/A_brief_study_on_the_influence_of_Byzantine_music_.pdf
• Cenk Güray & Nevin Şahin, Understanding Byzantine Music, 23.12.2020, BAA, youtube.com/watch?v=qxuDPDSfX-U
• What did Byzantine music sound like? (The answer is more political than you’d expect), with Alexander Lingas youtube.com/watch?v=XhOvv-2l5hM
• Ottoman Corruptions of Post-Byzantine Chant! Oliver Gerlach https://www.academia.edu/33024898/_Ottoman_corruptions_of_post_Byzantine_chant_English_version_
• The Generation around John Koukouzeles and the Re-Definition of the Constantinopolitan Tradition by the “Koukouzelian” Reform, Oliver Gerlach https://independent.academia.edu/OliverGerlach
• Petros Peloponnesios — About Authorship in Ottoman Music and the Heritage of Byzantine Music, Oliver Gerlach https://www.academia.edu/32364631/Petros_Peloponnesios_About_Authorship_in_Ottoman_Music_and_the_Heritage_of_Byzantine_Music
• "The Heavy Mode (ēchos varys) on the Fret Arak" — Eastern Chant in Istanbul and the Various Influences during the Ottoman Empire, Oliver Gerlach, https://www.academia.edu/916934/_The_Heavy_Mode_%C4%93chos_varys_on_the_Fret_Arak_Eastern_Chant_in_Istanbul_and_the_Various_Influences_during_the_Ottoman_Empire
• Review: K. KALAITZIDIS, Post-Byzantine Music Manuscripts as a Source for Oriental Secular Music (15th to early 19th century) https://www.academia.edu/32350319/Review_K_KALAITZIDIS_Post_Byzantine_Music_Manuscripts_as_a_Source_for_Oriental_Secular_Music_15th_to_early_19th_century_
• The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, Curt Sachs
00:00 Intro and Disclaimers
09:00 Origins of Greek Medieval Music
20:56 Evolution of the Ancient Greek Modes
28:19 Secular Music
36:04 Secular Music : Instruments
52:00 Approximating a secular piece
1:03:30 Liturgical Byzantine Chant
1:25:56 Geographical Context
1:34:04 Modern legacies of Medieval Greek music
Aristoxenus is back to get drunk and talk about medieval greek music and what we know about it.
Sources and additional reading:
• Sound of Byzantium : Byzantine Musical Instruments, by Antonios Botonakis, Nikos Maliaras, Christian Troelsgård
• Medieval Byzantine Chant and the Sound of Orthodoxy, Alexander Lingas
• Performance Practice and the Politics of Transcribing Byzantine Chant, Alexander Lingas
• Byzantine Chant, Western Musicology and the Performer, Alexander Lingas
• Greek modes and Turkish sounds.Music as a means of intercultural exchange between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the Ottoman Empire, Maria Pia Ester Cristaldi
• Byzantine Chant: The Received Tradition – A Lesson Book, John Michael Boyer
• Byzantine Chant, Alexander Lingas: openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/21530/10/2_LINGAS_Byzantine%20Chant.pdf
• Nikos Maliaras, Some Western European Musical Instruments and Their Byzantine Origin
• The presence of musical instruments in Byzantine and post-Byzantine iconographic sources, Gabriella Curry
https://www.academia.edu/1888280/The_presence_of_musical_instruments_in_Byzantine_and_post_Byzantine_iconographic_sources
• The Influence of Byzantine Music on the West, Constantin Floros, https://www.academia.edu/8457593/The_Influence_of_Byzantine_Music_on_the_West
• A brief study on the influence of Byzantine music on the development of eastern and Western music, Tianhua Dong, file:///C:/Users/aravi/Downloads/A_brief_study_on_the_influence_of_Byzantine_music_.pdf
• Cenk Güray & Nevin Şahin, Understanding Byzantine Music, 23.12.2020, BAA, youtube.com/watch?v=qxuDPDSfX-U
• What did Byzantine music sound like? (The answer is more political than you’d expect), with Alexander Lingas youtube.com/watch?v=XhOvv-2l5hM
• Ottoman Corruptions of Post-Byzantine Chant! Oliver Gerlach https://www.academia.edu/33024898/_Ottoman_corruptions_of_post_Byzantine_chant_English_version_
• The Generation around John Koukouzeles and the Re-Definition of the Constantinopolitan Tradition by the “Koukouzelian” Reform, Oliver Gerlach https://independent.academia.edu/OliverGerlach
• Petros Peloponnesios — About Authorship in Ottoman Music and the Heritage of Byzantine Music, Oliver Gerlach https://www.academia.edu/32364631/Petros_Peloponnesios_About_Authorship_in_Ottoman_Music_and_the_Heritage_of_Byzantine_Music
• "The Heavy Mode (ēchos varys) on the Fret Arak" — Eastern Chant in Istanbul and the Various Influences during the Ottoman Empire, Oliver Gerlach, https://www.academia.edu/916934/_The_Heavy_Mode_%C4%93chos_varys_on_the_Fret_Arak_Eastern_Chant_in_Istanbul_and_the_Various_Influences_during_the_Ottoman_Empire
• Review: K. KALAITZIDIS, Post-Byzantine Music Manuscripts as a Source for Oriental Secular Music (15th to early 19th century) https://www.academia.edu/32350319/Review_K_KALAITZIDIS_Post_Byzantine_Music_Manuscripts_as_a_Source_for_Oriental_Secular_Music_15th_to_early_19th_century_
• The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, Curt Sachs
00:00 Intro and Disclaimers
09:00 Origins of Greek Medieval Music
20:56 Evolution of the Ancient Greek Modes
28:19 Secular Music
36:04 Secular Music : Instruments
52:00 Approximating a secular piece
1:03:30 Liturgical Byzantine Chant
1:25:56 Geographical Context
1:34:04 Modern legacies of Medieval Greek music
