Late Antique/Early Byzantine Music

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash

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I wrote here of how I came to my Work in Progress; how the ideas landed in my head so many years ago. But what's kept me at it? Our creative brains filter intriguing ideas all day long. Most we set aside for 10,000 reasons. Why has this one stuck?

In upcoming newsletters I'll make my case for you. I hope you will indulge my obsession.

To write historical fiction, we must become generalists. I am not an academic, although, at this point, I may well have a broader knowledge of this period than many PhDs. They tend to zero in on specific topics doing the grueling work of learning languages and parsing small bits of extant text. I will be forever grateful for the hundreds of academic books and articles their studies have provided me along the way.

Meanwhile, my knowledge is so broad, much of it does not stick to my brain. I have to revisit the research constantly, in order to keep myself within the bounds of possibility.¹ And we HistFic writers are notorious for falling in love with the research. How could we not? We’ve discovered this treasure trove that should thrill the entire world as much as it does us!

But, I digress.

Today, I introduce one of many challenging research topics: Late Antique/Early Byzantine music. 

At some point I decided my character Mariam should be a singer of extraordinary talent and skill. But how would that play out in her context? Where would a young girl express that talent? In the home only? Could she sing in church during that period? Did anyone sing in church during that period?²

Remember, I'm a low-church protestant. I started out clueless about the eastern churches and certainly knew nothing of them in 7th century Syria.

After much digging, I discovered the Daughters of the Covenant³—virgin singers who played a significant part in the worship services of the Syrian church.

Okay, I found support and context for my character's singing role.

But what did this singing sound like? 

It turns out we don't really know. And so, as with much of my research, I have had to extrapolate, both forward and backward in time to make sense of the 7th century.⁴

Some amazing resources surfaced, primarily Cappella Romana.⁵

One of their projects is the recording Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia.

From the CD jacket: “For a thousand years, Hagia Sophia was the largest domed interior in the world. Its stunning reverberation—of over 11 seconds—is re-created on this recording. The first vocal album ever to be recorded live in virtual acoustics.”

Basically, they set up a complex sound stage to recreate the acoustics of Hagia Sophia and recorded the vocals.

Although their work does not venture back as far as the 7th century, you can find here a taste of what it might have felt like to worship in Hagia Sophia, the domed wonder completed in AD 537.

Cappella Romana also made a documentary of the process:

But to imagine how Mariam might have sounded, the hymns of the 9th century abbess, Kassia or Kassiani, are the best resources.

Here are two interpretive recordings:
The VocaMe production:

And Cappella Romana again:

I hope you enjoy this glimpse into the Long Ago & Far Away as much as I do. And thanks for indulging my little break. I believe my new every other week newsletter goal will be smarter—even if I ocassionally write more when a topic is burning holes in my brain.

1. From time to time, I choose to step an inch or two outside of known facts, either because I can't find the answers I need, or to tweak something for the sake of the story. I could also argue much of academia necessarily ventures into speculation. But that's a whole 'nuther discussion.

2. She certainly could not be a public performer and keep her respectability, because we all know what type of women perform in theatres and taverns. (See Empress Theodora!)

3. If you want to dive into The Daughters of the Covenant, start here.

4. We know a lot more about the 6th century during the reign of Justinian, and of the 8th century, when the Muslims had absorbed most of the Middle East and were consolidating their hold. During the 7th century, everyone was fighting, few were writing about it.

5. From their website: “Cappella Romana is a professional vocal ensemble that performs early and contemporary sacred classical music in the Christian traditions of East and West. The ensemble is known especially for its presentations and recordings of medieval Byzantine chant (the Eastern sibling of Gregorian chant), Greek and Russian Orthodox choral works, and other sacred music that expresses the historic traditions of a unified Christian inheritance.”