The Romeiko Ensemble
The Romeiko Ensemble was founded in 1993 in Philadelphia
(USA) and performs the Classical Music of Constantinople
(Istanbul), namely the rich musical heritage of both the
Byzantine and Ottoman empires.
In Byzantine times (330-1453), the Palace Court as well as the Great
Church of Hagia Sophia sponsored master composers, such as Ioannes
Kladas, Ioannes Koukouzelis, Xenos Koronis, Manuel Chrysafis along with
others, who set to music verses from the Septuagint Psalter, Byzantine
liturgical lyrics (hymns) or texts of syllables which have no
meaning (kratema). Chant was performed in the Great Church
a capella by male choirs under the direction of the
domestikos. By contrast, in the Palace Court secular music was
accompanied by instruments. Byzantine music was transmitted orally via a
master/apprentice relationship as well as through a neumatic notational
system (parasemantiki) that describes the melodic movement
through microtonal intervals (Byzantine echos) developed in 12th
century. The cantors (psaltes) wore wide-brimmed hats
(skiadion) or tall "bullet" hats (skaranikon) and
dressed in special cloaks (kamision and phelonion)
girded with a belt (sfiktourion). This cantors' costume
tradition was lost after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 leaving the
cantor dressed only with a black robe (rason) of the Eastern
Church. However, for the first time since the Fall, Yorgos Bilalis has
joined forces with costume designer Fatima Lavor-Peters to recreate
these Byzantine vestments as they are described in several treatises or
depicted on Byzantine frescoes and manuscript miniatures.
In the Ottoman era (1453-1919), Greek-speaking Christian
(Romei) composers enriched the chant melodic formulas that had
been developed during Byzantine times and composed a new repertory for
use in the Orthodox Church liturgical cycle. The parasemantiki
system went through different evolutionary phases in response to this
increasing demand for a more analytical and simplified system. In 1814,
a three-member committee headed by Bishop Chrysanthos, the Lampadarios
Gregorios (left cantor) of the Patriarchal church at that time, and the
Patriarchal Archvist Chourmouzios was appointed by the Ecumenical
Patriarchate to create the New Analytical Method (a.k.a.
Chrysanthine notation among western musicologists). Whereas the previous
parasemantiki had depicted formulaic musical phrases of greater
or lesser length, the new method sought to depict the melodies
analytically, that is note for note with exact time values. Chourmouzios
undertook the majority of this monumental effort; he transcribed a vast
repertory of Byzantine and post-Byzantine composers for twenty two years
consecutively (†1840) as well as wrote his own compositions.
Chourmouzios' archive was bought by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and kept
in the Holy Sepulchre Exarchate's Metochion Panagiou Tafou (MPT) Library in Constantinople until
1950, when it was moved to the National Library of Athens where it
remains to the present day.
Romeiko Ensemble, under the musical direction of Yorgos
Bilalis and the vocal tutelage of master vocal technician John Nicholas
Peters, has undertaken the task of presenting side-by-side authentic
interpretations of the parallel Byzantine and Ottoman musical heritages
(Christian and Sufi). Having carefully selected musicians skilled in
historical performance practice and improvisation, Romeiko
Ensemble has recorded unpublished medieval compositions based on
thorough research of the musical manuscripts. The ensemble began its
public performance career in 1994 and has traveled extensively
throughout the US and Europe performing at festivals, gala concerts,
church and tekke ceremonies and services as well as other cultural
events. Romeiko Ensemble was catapulted to fame at the 13th
International Festival of Orthodox Music in Hajnowka, Poland (1994),
where the ensemble received "special distinction" among the 37
international choirs taking part. The ensemble was selected as the most
authentic choral group from the US to perform at the Millennium Visit to
Detroit of the Patriarch of Constantinople (2000). Its discography
includes: The Sounds of the Parthenon (1996), Thy Cross We
Adore (2000), The Sin of the Fig Tree (2001), From
Adam unto Joseph (2002), Shall We Sing for You...? (2003),
Divine Liturgy in Mode I (2006).
Byzantine Chant
Given its origins from the Biblical and Semitic traditions, it is no
surprise that the hymns, songs and poems used in the Eastern Rite
Churches are understood as a “re-sounding” or echo of the heavenly
chanting, which the hymnographer hears with a spiritual ear and
transmits in his work.
These eight tones directly draw upon and developed from the
modal structure of Greek music, and over time grew into the
full body of liturgical music. The development of hymnody
in the early and mid Byzantine period was then, both a significant
musical achievement in its beauty and complexity, and a significant
theological accomplishment in its content. In much the same
way as the efforts of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and (among
others) the Cappadocian Fathers defined the theological and
doctrinal foundations of the Church, the work of the hymnographers
naturally incorporated this teaching into the liturgical life
of the church for the purpose of edifying the faithful and
building up the faith.
This understanding of liturgical music closely parallels the
understanding of the sacramentality of the liturgy itself as
re-presenting the reality of the faith and as an entering into the
reality of the Kingdom of God, an ascent to an invisible reality. The
Church’s hymns are proclaimed by the angels, and therefore the Church’s
hymnographers must follow the established types of heavenly origin, and
thus there is a “model” or structure in Byzantine hymnography that is
understood as a metaphysical concept rather than a rigid structure or an
object of simple imitation. This structure is the Octoechos, or the
eight modes of Byzantine chant.
These eight tones directly draw upon and were developed from the
modal structure of Greek music, and over time grew into the full body of
liturgical music. The development of hymnody in the early and
mid-Byzantine period was then both a significant musical achievement in
its beauty and complexity, and a significant theological accomplishment
in its content. In much the same way as the efforts of the Seven
Ecumenical Councils and (among others) the Cappadocian Fathers defined
the theological and doctrinal foundations of the Church, the work of the
hymnographers naturally incorporated this teaching into the liturgical
life of the church for the purpose of edifying the faithful and building
up the faith. It is said that someone once asked Fr. Georges Florovsky
(a great contemporary Orthodox theologian in America) where was the best
place to go to learn the teachings of the church. He is said to have
replied: "Go and stand next to the chanter's stand for a full year and
you will learn the theology of the Church."
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