Cretan idiosyncrasies in the liturgical chant of the Ionian Islands: Tradition, transmission and adaptation


From the mid-15th century onwards, but especially during the last two centuries of Venetian rule in Crete, a unique repertory was developed probably in order to serve the specific needs of Liturgies and other offices, common to Catholics and Orthodox. The compositions included in this repertory thus merge Byzantine and Western elements, in the image of the meeting between these two cultures playing out in Crete during this period. This Latin influence could be identified on different levels, namely, in the liturgical texts, the morphology of the compositions, the modality and the notation.



1
The special Cretan repertory was highlighted by my colleague Manolis Giannopoulos in his PhD dissertation Ἡ Ἄνθηση τῆς Ψαλτικῆς Τέχνης στὴν Κρήτη (1566-1669) of the Latin church, while other Cretan cantors chanted the "Greek music". Still according to this document, the commissioners and the people of the church of St John the Forerunner invited the cantors of this "new music" to the Christmas Liturgy. A problem apparently arose when the Cretan cantors accepted the invitation but asked for triple the payment of one of the native singers, while they finally received double. 3 The information preserved in this document is the first evidence of the transfer of liturgical music from Crete to the Ionian Islands, and specifically to Zakynthos, and also of the fact that this musical tradition very quickly began to serve the local churches. Another interesting point, that has probably been overlooked, is the comment of de Viazis about the "new music, as it was called at that time", which could mean that the "new music", similar to that of the Latin Church, was unknown at Zakynthos until the time the refugees from Crete arrived and began to spread it.
Much later, almost two centuries after this event, in 1867, Panagiotes Gritsanes, a knowledgeable musician from Zakynthos, recounted in one of his articles the musical reality of his time in his native island. Panagiotes Gritsanes had studied music, generally referred to as Byzantine, the liturgical music of the Orthodox Church, in Zakynthos, and European music in Naples between 1865 and 1873, where he worked as a cantor of the local Greek church. 4 In his article titled "Περὶ τῆς τῶν Ἰονίων Νήσων Ἐκκλησιαστικῆς Μουσικῆς" ["About the Church music of the Ionian Islands"] Gritsanes says that this particular liturgical music in comparison with the traditional one is usually called "Cretan" thanks to its origins, while he rightly relates that this ecclesiastical music was transferred from Crete to the Ionian Islands by refugees in the 17th century. 5 According to him, the traditional performance of liturgical chant at his time is aptly described as performed in four voices, though polyphonic performance remains a possibility, as a monophonic style could be also chosen by the cantors involved. 6
Indeed, the cases of musical manuscripts of Ionian origin, considered almost as unique cases, are truly rare and valuable, often preserved in libraries outside the Islands. One of these manuscripts, preserved today in the Library of the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, is the subject of this paper. At first glance, Sinai 2230 gives the impression of being an Anthology of Various Compositions written by several scribes at the beginning of the 19th century in the New Analytical Notation. 10 This manuscript preserves compositions from Zakynthos, which testify to their Cretan origin in many ways. Its rarity and importance lie in the fact of its provenance but also in the compositions included, which, while preserving its essential Cretan characteristics, present new traits of local influence.
The first 26 folios (ff. 1r-26v) contain compositions of the 18th century, fairly well-known, written by two different scribes. Then, on f. 26v, the first composition from Zakynthos is written by a third scribe, named at the end of the composition on f. 27v: Τὸ ὅπισθεν Μεγαλυνάριον ἐμελοποιήθη παρὰ Χρυσάνθου Μ. Mπαλασκόνη Ζακυνθίου [the previous Megalynarion was composed by Chrysanthos M. Balaskones from Zakynthos]. 11 Several pieces from the Eirmologion and a few from the Papadike are written on ff. 28r-38v from the first scribe. Then a part of the Treatise of the New Method is preserved on ff. 39r-43v. The pieces of Zakynthos start again on f. 44r where the chants of the Liturgy begin. Immediately, the origin of the compositions is clearly mentioned, as the Offertories written on ff. 44v-50v bear the title Χερουβικὸν 11 Sinai 2230 f. 26v Εἰς τὴν Κοίμησιν τῆς Θεοτόκου· ἦχος δ΄ Ἄγγελοι τὴν Κοίμησιν τῆς παρθένου. The piece presents particularities concerning not the text in this case but rather the notation. The research for the name Χρύσανθος Μ. Μπαλασκόνης led to the finding of the relevant name Χ. Χαϊκάλης Μπαλασκόνης, who appears as the composer of a Tuesday Communion in Sinai 1420 f. 77v Κοινωνικὸν Κρητικὸν παρὰ Χ: Χαϊκάλη Μπαλασκόνη· ἦχος πλ. δ΄ Νη Εἰς μνημόσυνον αἰώνιον ἔσται δίκαιος. Though the names are not completely identical the relation between them is obvious. Furthermore, the same composition is also written in Sinai 2230 f. 58r, this time anonymous, and it presents all the "particular" characteristics of the settings described in this paper. It is also important that the Communion in Sinai 1420 is untitled as "Κρητικόν". About the manuscript Sinai 1420, see, F. Kritikou  Zakynthos] in first and fourth modes. 12 It is not evident whether the "style of Zakynthos" refers to the morphology of the composition or to a possibility of a four-voice performance, which, however, is not mentioned anywhere. Indeed, the Offertories are divided into parts, as if to be sung alternately by two choirs. This separation of the Offertories into parts is characteristic of the Cretan Offertories, which had probably already begun in Crete towards the end of the 15th century, if a testimony by Akakios Chalkeopoulos is true. Akakios, in a manuscript preserved today in the National Library of Greece under the number 917, in f. 135r, wrote an Offertory arranged by the Cretans giving the following information: "Χερουβικόν, ποίημα Ἀγάθωνος μοναχοῦ, ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Κορώνη, λέγεται δυσικόν, ψάλλεται δὲ δίχορον παρὰ τῶν νέων […]" ["Offertory composed by Agathon the monk, brother of Korones, which is called dyssikon and is sung as dichoron by the new [composers]". 13 This quite different morphology from the traditional Byzantine one was found exclusively in Crete until the second half of the 17th century in hundreds of new or older adapted offertories, while in the whole of Byzantine and post-Byzantine tradition the offertories are not separated into parts. 14 The fact that the special morphology of the Cretan Offertories is found in the related compositions of Zakynthos, clearly proves the relationship between the two islands and traditions.
The same scribe continues with a section of chants for the Liturgy written on ff. 56r-64v. Another particularity of Cretan origin is to be found in f. 60r, namely the verses to be sung at the beginning of the Liturgy according to the Cretan manuscripts although they remain without title in manuscript Sinai 2230. 15 These verses are set in music by different Cretan composers and they appear in all Cretan Anthologies at the beginning of the section of the Liturgy chants. 16 The texts are Ἐν τῷ ναῷ ἑστῶτες τῆς δόξης σου ἐν οὐρανῷ ἑστᾶναι νομίζομεν· Θεοτόκε, πύλη ἐπουράνιε, ἄνοιξον ἡμῖν τήν θύραν τοῦ ἐλέους σου, Τότε ἀνοίσουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριόν σου μόσχους, Εὐλόγησον Δέσποτα, Δόξα σοι, Κύριε, δόξα σοι, Εἰς πολλὰ ἔτη, Δέσποτα. Most of them belong to the last section recited by the priest at the end of Orthros and before the beginning of the Liturgy. Additionally, there are two more verses, which come from the "secret" dialogue, not heard by the faithful, that takes place between the priest and the deacon precisely during the chanting of the  (Ἀθῆναι, 1987), 63. The section of the chants destined to be sung at the beginning of the Liturgy is to be found in almost all the Cretan Anthologies of the 16th and 17th c. The title usually preceding these compositions is: Ἀρχὴ σὺν Θεῷ ἁγίῳ τῆς θείας Λειτουργίας τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου, as in Sinai 1442 f. 4r. According to the sources Venediktos Episkopopoulos was the first to compose them, while he was followed by his pupil Dimitrios Tamias, and also Aloissios Vikimanos, Ignatios Frielos, Kosmas Varanes and Andreas Morotzanetos. See Giannopoulos,Ἄνθηση,[365][366][367][368] Offertory. The deacon asks the priest to bless him and the priest responds Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σε, καὶ δύναμις τοῦ Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι, while the deacon answers Αὐτὸ τὸ Πνεῦμα συλλειτουργήσει ἡμῖν πᾶσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν. 17 Τhe section of the chants which are destined to be sung at the beginning of the Cretan Liturgy written in the Sinai manuscript 2230 offers further evidence of the diffusion of the Cretan repertory in the Ionian Islands.
Various chants are written in ff. 65r-74v by different scribes, while the next composition of Cretan origin is to be found in f. 75r. It is one of the verses used as a kind of Communion by the Cretans and usually bearing the title "Εἰς τὸ μετὰ φόβου" [(to be chanted) during the Communion]. 18 The verse Οὖτος ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς· ἐάν τις φάγῃ ἐκ τούτου τοῦ ἄρτου ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα comes from the Gospel of John 6, 51 and even though its use in the Cretan repertory is known it remained untitled in Sinai 2230. 19 The case is quite complicated as it seems rather unlikely that these verses replaced the usual Communions in Crete, on the one hand because the latter, older and new compositions, are copied in all the relevant manuscripts, and on the other hand because the brevity of the compositions "Εἰς τὸ μετὰ φόβου" does not allow such a hypothesis. Furthermore, these verses are usually written together with traditional Byzantine communions in the Cretan manuscripts. The proof, however, that these sorts of settings do not replace the usual Communions comes again from Akakios Chalkeopoulos, who noted in his manuscript NLG 917 in the lower margin of the f. 149v "Τό, Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμέ, ἐστιν γεγραμμένον εὶς τὸ τέλος τοῦ τετραδίου, συνοπτικόν· νὰ τὸ ἀρχίζῃς εἰς τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ κοινωνικοῦ". 20 Through Akakios's note it becomes clear that these brief settings do not replace the usual Communion chants but follow them, either actually during the Communion or immediately after. It should also be mentioned that Akakios's note on f. 149v follows the end of his famous "Frankish" and organikon Sunday Communion Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον. The note has been written after the end of the Communion for the convenience of the soloist, who seems to have expected to find it written just after, while Akakios wrote it some folios later.
The proof, therefore, of the transition of Cretan liturgical chant to the Ionian Islands, and particularly in Zakynthos, is offered by the chants included in this manuscript. The compositions reflecting this relation either by the texts or by their morphology are the Offertories divided into parts, the verses sung at the beginning of the Liturgy and the Communion verse from the Gospel. In conclusion, it can be seen that all the chants which clearly come from the repertory of the Cretans hardly fit into the known repertory corresponding to the Liturgy and they are precisely the ones which bear witness of the transfer of the particular Cretan liturgical repertory in the Ionian Islands.

The modal signatures
Another aspect which seems to bring the Cretan repertory together with the one of Zakynthos is the question of modality and its function in these specific compositions. The repertory developed in Crete during the last two centuries of the Venetian occupation presents a number of elements quite different from those of known Byzantine modality. A number of indications detected in the Cretan repertory lead to the hypothesis that a variation of the modal system could be possible, even though the subject is really complicated. Given the traditional chanting style in the Ionian Islands, a possible polyphonic performance of the compositions included in manuscript Sinai 2230 should be taken into account, though there is no relevant mention. Some modal particularities identified in Sinai 2230 and related to the indications of the modes at the beginning of the compositions could lead to further study. Thus, in several cases there is no modal signature in the beginning of the compositions, while only an indication of the introductory note is given. Such cases have been identified in f. 60v where the peculiar indication "ἦχος Δι ἐκ τοῦ Νη" is noted, probably replacing the very common "modal" indication in the Cretan manuscripts "ἦχος δ". Equally, in f. 61v the indication "Νη" joined to an interval sign of an ascent octave is noted, probably replacing the usual modal signature of the fourth plagal mode. The same indication is identified before Δόξα σοι, Κύριε, δόξα σοι· Εὐλόγησον Δέσποτα in f. 62v. An analogous case is to be found on f. 62r before the beginning of the verses Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σοι and Αὐτὸ τὸ Πνεῦμα συλλειτουργήσει σοι where the modal indication is replaced by the signature of Νη΄. Peculiar modal indication precedes also an Offertory in f. 63r where only Γα joined to the signature of the third mode (νανα) is mentioned. On f. 75r the verse Οὖτος ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς is preceded by the simple indication "ἐκ τοῦ Νη", without further instructions. In several occasions also only the signature Νη (letter ν and signature sign) is given as an initial modal indication. 21 This particularity in terms of the initial modal indication of the composition consists of an important deviation of the traditional modal concept and it is strongly reminiscent of the "special" Cretan repertory 21 See, Sinai 2230, ff. 65v, 66r-v, 67r-v, 68r. written in earlier manuscripts. Even though it is difficult to evaluate only on the basis of a single witness, it could indicate a Western influence, in the framework of which the indication of the starting note and not the modal signature, could be considered as functioning as a kind of key and not as the indication of the mode which should be followed. An adapted version of the notation It is clearly seen that the notation used for the Cretan repertory is occasionally adapted in order to write quite different compositions. However, the notation used in manuscript Sinai 2230 is not the one found in Cretan manuscripts but the analytical one of the 19th century, though it is presented quite differently in various aspects. Several misspelled points are detected in Sinai 2230, which are analogous to those found in the Cretan manuscripts. A deviation from the rules of the so called New Method concerns the note values and the use of the tempo signs. It seems that the gorgon can be used in consecutive interval signs and it does not influence two signs, i.e. the interval sign on which it is set and the previous one turning both from quarter to eighths. Similar problems are also created by the signs digorgon and trigorgon. Apart from the fact that the use of these signs is completely misspelled, their use on continuous interval signs creates the impression that they are used in a "more Western" way, meaning that they have probably acquired properties that reflect the influence of staff notation. This means that eventually they could be used in these compositions to record notes values of less than a quarter without respecting the rules of the Analytical Notation. In this way the gorgon probably describes eighths each time it is used but not necessarily in pairs according to the rule, while the trigorgon seems to describe sixteenths, regardless of the fact that it does not affect more signs. In the same context, one can find a strange sign written in red ink and apparently used as a sign of expression, which, however, cannot be recognized. Its use is probably equivalent to that of the omalon, which is not used elsewhere.

Conclusions
The study of the so-called Ionian musical style should be based on the few musical manuscripts which have been proven to come from the Ionian Islands, such as manuscript Sinai 2230. The correlation between them, the Cretan repertory and the living tradition could provide the necessary starting point for study and enrichment of the data. The relationship between the two repertories seems to be direct, but the issue of the polyphony of the Ionian Islands, which is considered to be a characteristic local style, and its relationship with the original repertory, is an interesting subject that needs more extensive research and should definitely be combined with the development of the Cretan repertory during the 16th-17th centuries.