A little musical discussion from evangel:
Many people are unaware that our own musical scale has a Byzantine counterpart, as indicated below:
Πα, a name I call my dad,
Βου, a Gallic word for “you,”
Γα, the sound a baby makes,
Δι is you and only you,
Κε, conjoining words in Greek,
Ζω, where animals are caged,
Νη, arthritis makes it weak.
That will bring us back to
Πα – Κε – Γα – Βου
Πα ...
- Western (Solfège): Do re mi fa so la ti do
- Greek (Byzantine): Πα (pa), βου (vou), γα (gha), δι (thee), κε (ke), ζω (zo), νη (knee), πα (pa)
Πα, a name I call my dad,
Βου, a Gallic word for “you,”
Γα, the sound a baby makes,
Δι is you and only you,
Κε, conjoining words in Greek,
Ζω, where animals are caged,
Νη, arthritis makes it weak.
That will bring us back to
Πα – Κε – Γα – Βου
Πα ...
Posts
Very nice -- but other instructional material I've seen starts the scale on Ni and not Pa. Just wondering which is correct.
ReplyDeletePeter is correct. Insofar as you have a fixed solfege scale, where Do is C, Ni is its Byzantine equivalent. I think that the reason the Byzantine scale sometimes is shown beginning on Pa is that Pa (or D) is the "vasis" (= basis, or tonic) of most of the scale and melody forms for three of the four diatonic tones (first, fourth, and fifth/plagal first). I understand from my Byzantine musicologist colleagues that Western solfege predates its neo-Byzantine counterpart. I'm glad to have it for both Western and Byzantine music, in any case.
ReplyDeleteFor those of us with no previous knowledge, a phonetic equivalent of each of the Byzantine notes would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has more reference info, I'm happy to append it to the post.
ReplyDeleteThe scale does indeed traditionally begin on Pa (the Greek names for the notes are based on the Greek alphabet, with consonants placed in front of the letters that are vowels; Pa is thus alpha), but Pa is not equivalent to Do.
ReplyDeleteChrist is Risen!
ReplyDeleteAs Fr. Andrew stated, Pa is not equivalent to Do in traditional theory--rather, Ni is equivalent to Do.
Attempting to equate Byzantine and Western scales is tricky business that often results in inaccurate renditions of Byzantine music. The Byzantine Enharmonic scale is the only Byzantine scale that can truly be accurately rendered using Western intervals.
Here are sound files of the different Byzantine scales: http://www.kelfar.net/orthodoxiaradio/Modes.html
...and some clarifying information about the soft chromatic scale: http://stanthonysmonastery.org/music/ChromaticM.htm
If you're looking for mnemonics, these are fun and pretty accurate (as long as you adjust for the small tuning differences as needed): http://orthodoxmetropolisportland.org/chant_mnemonic_verses.html
Excellent resources. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe song could work though starting on Pa, but it would be sung in the equivalent of the Western Dorian mode. That's actually kind of fun, I just tried it.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to hear it. My musical ineptitude precludes me giving it a go. :)
ReplyDeleteRemember that there were and are other Western scales than those with equal-tempered keyboard intervals.
ReplyDelete