The Byzantine Empire lasted from AD 395 to 1453, during which music was prominent throughout the empire.[1] Both sacred and secular music were commonplace, with sacred music frequently used in church services and secular music in many events including, ceronmonies, dramas, ballets, banquets, festivals and sports games. However, despite its popularity, secular Byzantine music was harshly criticized by the Church Fathers. Like their medieval Western contemporaries, little is known about the lives of Byzantine composers.
Composers of sacred music, especially hymns and chants, are generally well documented throughout the history of Byzantine music. However, those before the reign of Justinian I are virtually unknown; the monks Anthimos, Auxentios and Timokles are said to have written troparia, but only the text to a single one by Auxentios survives. The first major form was the kontakion, of which Romanos the Melodist was the foremost composer. In the late 7th century the kanōn overtook the kontakion in popularity; Andrew of Crete became its first significant composer, and is traditionally credited as the genre's originator (though modern scholars now doubt this). The kañon reached its peak with the music of John of Damascus and Cosmas of Maiuma and later Theodore of Stoudios and Theophanes the Branded in the 8th and 9th centuries respectively. Composers of secular music are considerably less documented. Not until late in the empire's history are composers known by name, with Joannes Koukouzeles, Xenos Korones and Joannes Glykys as the leading figures. Partly due to the little information concerning them, many modern studies of Byzantine music pay little attention to specific composers.
Like their Western counterparts of the same period, recorded Byzantine composers were primarily men. The best known woman was Kassia, a prolific and important composer of sticheron hymns and the only woman whose works entered the Byzantine liturgy. A few other women are known to have been composers, Thekla, Theodosia, Martha and the daughter of John Kladas (her given name is unrecorded). Aside from Kassia, only the daughter of John Kladas has any surviving work, a single antiphon. Some Byzantine emperors are known to have been composers, such as Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII and possibly John III Doukas Vatatzes.
| Lifetime | Extant works | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| colspan=5 | |||
| Anthimos | Said to have composed troparia (none survive) | A monophysite[2] [3] | |
| Auxentios | The text to a single troparion survives (attribution uncertain); said to have composed others | A biography on Auxentios attributes the composition of a troparion to him[4] | |
| Timokles | Said to have composed troparia (none survive) | – | |
| Anatolius of Constantinople | Died 458 | A few hymns | |
| Severus of Antioch | 465–538 | Many hymns | [5] [6] |
| John bar Aphtonia | A few hymns | His hymns bare similarities to those of Severus of Antioch, whom he wrote a biography on[7] | |
| Romanos the Melodist | late 5th century – after 550 | About 60 of the 85 kontakion attributed to him are considered authentic | The preeminent kontakion composer of his time[8] |
| Kyriakos | No works survive | Contemporary of Romanos[9] | |
| Anastasius | No works survive | A composer recorded as "Anastasius" is thought to be a 6th century Byzantine emperor, either Anastasius I Dicorus or Anastasios II (Died 719). Contemporary of Romanos | |
| Germanus I | Various kanōns are attributed to him | If authentic, his kanōns would be earlier than those of Andrew of Crete and thus confirm Andrew is not the genre's originator[10] [11] | |
| Andrew of Crete | Hymns, primarily kanōns | Best known for his Great Kanōn, a 250 stanza hymn. Traditionally credited with inventing the kanōn, though modern scholars doubt this[12] | |
| John of Damascus (John Damascene) | Many kanōns and troparia. Traditionally credited with inventing the octoechos, though modern scholars doubt this | A close colleague of Cosmas of Maiuma[13] | |
| Cosmas of Maiuma (Kosmas of Jerusalem) | Various kanōns, sticheron, idiomelas and triōdias | A close colleague of John of Damascus[14] | |
| Died 807 | Idiomelas in the Triodion, Kanōns | ||
| 759 – 826 | Various kanōns | Kept a letter correspondence with Kassia; brother of Joseph the Confessor[15] | |
| Joseph the Confessor | Troparia, sticheron and kanōns | Brother of Theodore the Studite[16] | |
| 775 – 845 | Kanōns for saints and his brother, Theodorus. | Contributed to the Parakletike | |
| 805/810 – 865/867 | More than 50 liturgical works, primarily stichera. 26 have disputed authenticity | The only woman Byzantine composer whose work is included in the Byzantine liturgy. The most important and renowned woman in Byzantine music. She had a letter correspondence with Theodore the Studite[17] | |
| – 886 | Various kanōns, of which 525 survive. | Contributed to the Parakletike[18] [19] | |
| Thekla | No works survive | Known to have written now lost kanōns | |
| Theodosia | No works survive | Known to have written now lost kanōns. She was an abbess who lived near Constantinople[20] | |
| 866 – 912 | Hymns for the Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross | Was Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912[21] | |
| Martha | No works survive | Abbess and mother of Simeon Stylites | |
| Constantine VII | 905 – 959 | 11 exaposteilaria anastasima and 3 sticheron | Was Byzantine emperor from 908 until 959 (co-emperor until 945)[22] |
| Nikephoros Ethikos | Liturgical chants; 40 survive | His works are far more stylistically conservative than those of his contemporaries[23] | |
| Gregorios Glykys | Liturgical chants; only a few survive, including a sticheron | Had the post of domestikos (in a musical context meaning "first singer of the left choir")[24] | |
| John Koukouzelis | Many chants | One of the most illustrious musicians of his time; known as the "second source of Greek music" (John of Damascus being the first)[25] | |
| Xenos Korones | Chants | [26] | |
| Joannes Glykys | Chant and psalms | Purportedly the teacher of Korones and Koukouzelis[27] | |
| John Kladas | Virtually every sacred genre of his time | He was particularly prolific and his daughter seems to have been a composer as well[28] | |
| Daughter of John Kladas | A single antiphon is attributed to her | Her given name is unknown; recorded only as the daughter of John Kladas | |
| John Laskaris | Not particularly prolific; | Also a music theorist[29] | |
| Manuel Chrysaphes | A large amount of hymns, chants, kratēmata, mathēmata and anagrammatismoi among others | An extremely prolific composer; John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos were patrons of his music.[30] | |
| John Vatatzes | Long assumed to be the emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes, though this is no firm evidence for this | ||
| Janus Plousiadenos | |||