Significance of Chrysantine Reform in Romanian Church Music (I): Remarkable Representatives of the Reform and the Semiography of Psaltic Music
Significance of Chrysantine Reform in Romanian Church Music (I): Remarkable Representatives of the Reform and the Semiography of Psaltic Music

Summary/Abstract: This present work highlights the innovations which the so-called Chrysantine Reform has brought to Romanian church music since its adoption over 200 years ago from Constantinople (1814-1815). Initiated by Chrysanthos of Madytos (†1843), Gregorios the Protopsaltes (†1822) and Chourmouzios Chartophilax (†1840), this reform in music, also referred to as “the new method”, has been applied in the Romanian States through the contribution of protopsaltes such as Petros Ephesios (†1840), Macarie the Hieromonk (†1836), Anton Pann (†1854,) and Dimitrie Suceveanu (†1898). The above-mentioned Greek reformers have given new names to psaltic notes (Pa, Vu Ga, Di, Ke, Zo, Ni), have established relationships in pitch between musical steps (12, 9, 7 and from 1881 - 12, 10, 8), have reduced certain vocal signs, temporal and especially consonant, they added some new signs (e.g., signs of alteration), have clearly stated diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic genres, and also the Modes (tones, in Greek: echoi) theory with the specific Martyria and Phthorai, with their suitable ticks and cadences. In the first part of my study, published in the present journal, I highlighted the Greek and Romanian representatives of Chrysantine Reform and I did an analysis on the semiography of psaltic music in Romania, followed, in part two, by other issues: the diastematikos, rhythm, meter, etc., as well as the role of the Chrysantine Reform in the enhancement and “perfecting” of the “Romanizing” process of church songs.

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