The Early Christian Period

1. The Early Christian Period Roots of Western musical practice — to ca. 800 CE

2. Old Testament ideas about music • Singing and dance as responses to God’s goodness • Music and poetry as prayer — Psalms • Music as special gift — King David • Musical powers • Joshua at Jericho (Joshua 6) • David and King Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–23)

3. Music in Jewish worship • Temple ritual —music important, but not retained in Christianity • Synagogue — cantillation of scripture; Psalms and canticles with genuine melody • Passover meal (seder) — included singing (Hallel, Psalms 113–118)

4. Some elements of synagogue worship • Reading, prayer • Presentation of gifts • Scriptural songs — psalms and canticles (with refrains — amen, alleluia) • Hymns — simple, strophic, personal expression

5. Musical notations (te’amim) for chanting Jewish sacred music

6. Christian Church — dominated in Europe from about 300 CE to 1000 CE • Knowledge — literacy tied to religion because of reliance on scripture • Culture — worship only cultural activity to survive, music as medium for worship (cf. architecture, visual arts)

7. Musical practices in the early church • Night services • Prayer in Jerusalem, ca. 400 CE — daily services from Psalm singing of monks • morning, evening worship — early fourth century • third, sixth, ninth hours — later fourth century • Mass • teaching service — reading of Epistle and Gospel framed by singing • Eucharist (Holy Communion, Lord’s Supper) • Eucharistic prayers, fourth century • Communion Psalm established, fourth century

8. Aspects of early Christian musical style • Some melodies probably borrowed from Jewish music • Local influences • “Composition” from scratch unlikely in modal music cultures

9. Breakup of the Roman empire • Empire split by Valerian, 254; division codified by Diocletian, 293 • Constantinople established as capital, 325 • Fifth-century invasions from north • 410 — Visigoths sack Rome • 429 — Vandals • 452 — Attila (d. 453) • 476 — fall of Rome • Sixth century — end of Roman imperial era • Justinian (r. 527–565) asserts control of whole empire — Code of Justinian, Hagia Sophia • rise of Franks • Lombards in northern Italy • Gregory I (r. 590-604) establishes independent power of papacy • Seventh century — spread of Muslim power • Muhammad (570/571–632) • Koran written in final form in 651–652 • conquest of Middle East, northern Africa, Iberian peninsula, to western Asia

10. Divergent musical traditions in the West • “Roman-African” group • especially Roman (“Old Roman”) • related repertoires in • Ravenna • Aquileia • Benevento • “Gallican” group • Ambrosian — Milan • Celtic — Ireland • Mozarabic — Spain • Gallican, or Frankish — France

11. The music of Eastern Christianity — Byzantine style and practice • Based in Byzantium (Constantinople, now Istanbul), imperial capital from 330 and seat of Eastern Church • Ekphoneticrecitation — formulas for scripture readings • Elaborate, extended musical compositions — two important types • kontakion — elaborate, multistrophe hymn • kanon — series of odes based on a canticle • Theory (influence of Jewish practice rather than Greek) • system based on practice and melodic units rather than pitches • eight echoi,or classes of formulas, in two sets of four, centering on D E F G

12. Europe ca. 600

13. Music in the Western church • All elements previously mentioned as deriving from Jewish tradition • readings and prayers • psalms and canticles • hymns • Plus independent Christian chants originally associated with psalms — antiphons

14. Questions for discussion • How did/does the Judeo-Christian tradition justify theologically the importance of music in its worship? • How did the texts that were sung in Jewish and early Christian worship reflect the needs of an unnotated musical tradition?