122 International Journal of Orthodox Theology 6:3 (2015)

urn:nbn:de:0276-2015-3099

Domin Adam

Psaltic Modes - Meanings and

Symbolics

Abstract
The Universe of Byzantine music is a
profound one, that is why every side
should be analysed for getting to the
essence of psaltical soul of the
singing. Every sign has a certain
meaning, every mode has a certain
composition and every singing genre
is interpreted in a certain way. It is
important to search and analyse the
historical evolution of every of the
mentioned categories for being able
to form a holistic image about what
Byzantine music meant and means.

Rev. PhD Assoc. Prof.

Domin Adam, Faculty of
Keywords Orthodox Theology
of “December 1st 1918”
Psaltic modes, symbols, byzantine University, Alba Iulia,
music, spirituality Romania
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 123

1 Introduction

I will not make a historical radiography of the voices, but I will

make a brief presentation of the Byzantine or psaltic modes in
order to discern the meanings and symbolism of the voices.
Often we sing or listen the church’s psaltic voices but we can’t
pervade beyond what the voices seem. They are much more
than just a song, but to pervade these meanings and
symbolisms we need much dedication and leaning on the
sacred. They were made with a certain sense, not only for the
pleasure of being listened but also to feed the soul. I will refer
to this more in the present study.
Christian worship is born in the Jewish faith and we observe
how the Savior and his disciples give great attention to the
worship of the Great Temple in Jerusalem and to the song
practiced here (not giving old or new testamentary
arguments). Thus, there is in the song of the first Christians a
transfer of the Jewish worship song, but the new Christian song
will develop and enrich more and more because of those who
were converted and who were part of foreign nations other
than the Jew.1
Psaltic religious voices (and generally the religious music) have
as main objective the creation of a silent atmofere favorable to
meditation. The interpreter is required to avoid any
exaggeration, that would figure something else than the holy. In
fact, it is the purpose of church’s music: to address the soul, as
well as some musical genre address the body or the reason.
This music should be, should become, "the music of the angels"
(at this level must be reached the unity between the heavenly
and the earthly), to be sung in such a way as to create a proper
atmosphere for reflection, meditation and real meeting with
God in the Church.

1 Elena Moraru-Saviuc, Worship music as segment of eternal music,

(Oradea: Editura Scriptum, 2008), p.26.
124 Domin Adam

2 Byzantine Music and Spirituality

The voices give birth to a different feeling in every soul;

sometimes we can deduce from them the doxological song,
prayer, strengthening of the faith, sometimes the spiritual joy.
Byzantine Music is an art of prayer, of spirituality, it is a part of
the Church's worship and a spiritual fact in the life of every
Christian, because through it, is glorified God.
St. Vasile cel Mare in his homily to the youth speaks about the
psycho-educational and therapeutic value of the music and
shows that any voice or manner (eh), especially dorian, of the
music (let’s say: Byzantine-laic) has a certain characteristic and
effect on the human psyche2. The variety of feelings created by
the Byzantine music brings in the most practical way, spiritual
peace.
First Ehul voice or voice I Doric begins rising on PA (D)
brings in the human’s soul the feeling of glorifying God. This is
the voice that defines the music in the category of arts, because,
as St.Ioan Damaschin said: "Of all (voices) you have the first
victory."3 The first voice brings the hope of salvation to humans,
because it creates a sense of strength and of steadiness, is full of
optimism and melodiously.
The second Ehul or the second voice – FRIGIC voice starts
ascending from VU (E) brings in the human’s soul the feeling of
gratitude, because it makes us be thankful for all that God gives
us. Listening to the second voice, one becomes gentle and quiet,
and this ehul is a starting point on the path of communication
between God and human.

2 Vasile cel Mare, XXII Homily towars youngs, în P.S.B., partI, Translated
by Dumitru Fecioru, nr.17, (București: Editura IBMBOR, 1986), pp.
575-576.
3 Ioan Damaschin, http: //www.doxologia.ro/terapie-pentru-
suflet/muzica-drept-rugaciune-arta-terapie, traducere Lucian Filip,
apud http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2013/10/byzantine-music-
as-art-of-music-and-art.html , (accessed on 04.08.2014).
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 125

The third Ehul or the third voice – LIDIC voice, start ascending
from GA (F) is characterized by simplicity, strength, and
awakens in us a feeling of endless joy and secret hope. This is a
voice of the march.4
The fourth Ehul or the fourth voice – MIXOLIDIC voice,
starts ascending on DI (G) awakens in human the feast feeling.
There is no wonder that at the two major holidays, Ascension of
the Holy Cross and Sunday of the Holy Cross (Lent) which are
strictly holidays of resurrection through the cross, the doxology
is sung on the fourth voice. Likewise, in the Annunciation and in
the Entrance of Theotokos in the Church the ninth song is also
played on the fourth voice.
The fifth Ehul (plagal of the first voice) or the fifth voice –
EOLIAN voice starts ascending on the KE (A) and is
characterized as a voice of lamentation. It creates a complaint
together with joy and makes human to give God a request
prayer. Upon hearing this voice we feel deep down joy
repentance and rebirth and personal resurrection. Not without
sense were ordained certain chants of Resurrection (Tropar
Christ is risen, and other chants from the Easter’s Sunday) to be
sung on the fifth voice, but just in order to emphasize the
passage from death to life, from the Cross to the Resurrection
and the sorrow and pain to joy and good humor.
The sixth Ehul (plagal of the second voice) or the sixth voice –
LOCRIAN voice, starts ascending from ZO (B) and brings a
total joy, is characterized by love for God, by hope and it is a
mistic eh; humble, softens the human’s soul and renews it in a
new life.
The seventh Ehul (plagal of the third voice) or the seventh
voice – IONIAN voice, begins ascending from NI (C) and is
characterized by being grave, hard. It planted in our souls the
feeling of eagerness and tiredness on the spiritual path, is like a
march of hosts, as St.Ioan Damaschinul said.

4 Ibidem.
126 Domin Adam

The eighth Ehul (plagal of the fourth voice) is also a voice of

celebrating festive cadenced voice, flowing and encouraging.
Byzantine Chant is monodical (gr.μόνο: single-ωδή: song) sung
on one voice, and the song is the element of expression. The
Byzantine chant expresses the paramountey of God and is
accompanied by a continuous sound with the same height,
called accompaniment (gr.ίσον equal), which gives the
byzantine’s monody a comparison with the golden fund of
icons. The accompaniment symbolizes God's omnipresence and
is like a soundtrack of a film, one soundtrack of the entire
existence.
For a theology of the Byzantine musical semiography we have
as a landmark the Treaty of Michael Blemmydes, aboute who
had written several byzantinologists including the most
famous, who is Nicolae Gheorghita from National University of
Music Bucharest.
The Byzantine musical universe doesn’t allow to be understood
the fact that what the protopsalter "commits" is accidental. Any
utterance, even an intonation formula (apechema), invokes
Christ and His help: by this term-ananeanes-ανα ναι ανες is
shown the introduction into them (eh) and means "Truly, God has
forgiven me!" The term is ,originally, ανάξ, ναι ανές and
indicates the fact that any start, start from / and with God and
ends just in God.5
Michael’s Blemmydes Treaty is the only work that addresses
trenchant the semography of the Byzantine music from
theological perspectives.
Each voice or eh, before singing has an introduction formula in
the melodic mood of the voice that intones a singer slowly,
before the beginning of the song6; all treaties of the theory of
psaltic music include these formulas of introduction. It is about

5 The Hagiopolites-A Byzantine Treatise on Musical Theory, Preliminary

edition by Jorgen Raasted, Copenhague 1983, p.123.
6 Grigore Panțiru, The notation and ehs of the byzantine music,
(București, Editura Muzicală, 1971), p. 211.
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 127

the summative creation of the melodic character of the voice,

enabling the interpreter to sing the song noted on Neum. In the
song without Neum (oral)7, just the text applied on the melody
of the voice, generally it is not used formula of introduction. The
benchmarks in this type of song are melodies learned before on
a known text, usually a sticheron, singing a hymn or another,
they are the melodic patterns containing inside the atmosphere
and the character of the voice.
With the crystallization of Christian worship, it appears the first
musical genre. Each of them have a specific meaning. For
example: katavasia means descent - when katavasia was sung
the two church pews came down in the middle, under the
chandelier, and hence, standing, sang the song8. The kontakion
- is a solemn hymn that tells the essence of the feast, therefore it
was necessary to be marked. The enlightening was sung when
it was day, towards the end of Matins (when it was night), etc.,
including the names of their signs have meaning and purpose in
Greek: ison-law, oligon-less, petasti-throws, chendima-
embroidery, epistrophe-return, elafron-light iporoi-drain,
hamil-low, clasmă-sharing, gorgon-fast, applicable-simple,
argon-slowly, variable –heavy, omalon-brill, antichenoma-time
relents start again, psifiston-each syllable, to choose between
them, eteron-other, endofron-meditation, interior [Frosini-
thinking], ifes-calming, soothing [ifes-standing facing down],
[ephesus-appeal, agitation], sticheron-alignment , ghost-line of
words , irmos-which must be heirmologion-chain, i.e. legatto,
agem-neplin, ftora-sticare etc.
Of all genres, features and symbolisms of the voices we deduce
the savior role of the Byzantine art psaltic music. Byzantine
church music calms the hearing, humbles the heart and elevates

7 Grăjdian Vasile, Elements of Church cant and types, Sibiu, Editura

Universității „Lucian Blaga”, 2002, p. 56.
8 Dictionary of musical terms, (București: Editura Enciclopedică, 2010),
p. 100.
128 Domin Adam

the mind, so its purpose and character is saint9. These voices

are composed of everything that can bring our salvation and
have always had the objective to renew and restore the human.
God left us the legacy to full our hearts, to feel safe, without
needing other type of music that leads to the degradation of our
souls10.
Music is of eternal significance because the Heavenly Father's
throne is surrounded by consonant harmonies. We just need to
find the color of this harmony and resonate with it, otherwise
the harmonic sounds of music becomes distorted and thus the
music becomes not music even harm our soul and psyche. God
originally gave us the music in order to glorify the Trinity and
to help the human in his own exaltation in spirit. And after the
fall, the music also had a supportive role of lifting the human;
new situation, new role. We do not know how the edenic music
was, but we think it was a particularly beautiful since the devil
always seeks to pervert it. And this Pepelea of the music
managed to attract people towards the distructive music, to
sounds which have reverberations that attract people and
destroy them, or like the sticky bands that say "attract and kill"
substantially certain types of music destroy human’s
psychological system, slowly, surely and irreversibly.
At the Christ’s Birth angels sang an unheard song: Glory to God
in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Lc.2,
14). Probably this is the song of the heaven’s inhabitants. The
heaven’s music, the music of the Celestial Spheres is one
continuous, smooth, as is the music of nature on earth (a
glimpse from the beauty of the spheres’ music). The music of
the spheres and the music of nature is one without rhythm and
without a tonal center of gravity within the meaning we give
today, a song we would say in unison (though the term is vague

9 Iacob Yameos, The principal aspects of the history of church music

translation by Luca Mirea, (Alba Iulia: Editura Reîntregirea, 2012), p.
42.
10 Ibidem.
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 129

and relative to what we mean). The music of nature and of

celestial spheres is like an accompaniment whose position
changes from time to time into a dominant position for
harmony.11
This song in unison was borrowed by man to express his
different feelings, but in a cadenced, rhythmic way (crucially
dependent on the feeling expressed through music) and with a
starting point, a landmark, with musical intervals smaller or
larger but without being theorized or extremely problematized
(the documents are very few from those times removed). The
music in unison is found in all antiquity, in all nations and in all
cultures and spiritualities, at the Hebrew and at the Christians
of the first millennium. Then appears the polyphony and the
harmonic music, but they are not the subject of this study.
The early Christians borrowed from the Hebrew the type of
song chant solo, refrenar, antiphonal etc. The songs of biblical
inspiration adopted by Christians and sung in the mentioned
manners in the Jewish religion, were the subject of an extensive
musical development within Christian worship. First psalms,
hymns and finally spiritual songs made the concern of the
Christians in the first centuries in the cult.
The space with the strongest mark on the Christian worship
was the Hellenistic space – Greek was the language of
propagation - here there had already existed a musical culture,
musical concerns etc. Here were crystallized the first musical
genre: tropar, kontakion, dogma, thanks to the genius, wisdom
and inspiration of the melodists. Then observable are the kinds
of interpretation: irmological or troparian tact, sticherarion and
dandelion. Each of these tacts have a certain sense: the tropar is
the cadenced walking toward the eternal kingdom, the
sticherion suggests the approach of the kingdom’s peace and
dandelion songs (cherub, Chinon) mean contemplation,
smelling the scent of the Kingdom.

11 See the study on ison: „Ethos of the byzantine music” written by

Emanuel Cristian Cercel.
130 Domin Adam

From now on we can already speak about the Byzantine music,

name received from the capital of the Greek Empire; it is a
music that represents "the highest expression of the gracious,
orthodox theology12”, a doxology music and a music of spiritual
elevation13. This new music wil be framed in modes, meaning
ehs, as in antiquity, but had nothing in common the new modes
with the ancient Greek modes (ancient Doric with medieval
Doric etc.), only the names. Victor Giuleanu and Victor Iuşceanu
in their treaty of music say that the medieval modes have
nothing in common with the ancient ones because "the
medievals took the wrong terminology of the Greek modes,
which were descending, applying it to scales with ascending
melodic signification”14. Extending the Christianity from the
Jewish in the Hellenistic space, the new musical religious
creations came into connection with the ancient Greek modes:
DORIAN- E (E, D, C, B, A, G, F, E) FRIGIAN-D, LIDIAN -C,
MIXOLIDIAN-B, HIPODORIAN-A, HIPOFRIGIAN-G, HIPOLIDI-
AN - F which sang descending.
In XVI century the voices sits different. It sets out a number of 7
modes and are ordained in the order that they naturally appear
on the musical staircase C major: Mode I = Ionian (mode C);
Mode II = Dorian (mode D); Mode III = Frigian (mode E); Mode
IV = Lidian (mode F); Mode V = Mixolidian (G mode); Mode VI =
EOLIAN (mode A); Mode VII = Locrian (mode B). The modern
theory on the popular diatonic modes uses these seven
medieval names.15
In the crystallization process of the byzantine music
contributed several factors: Hebrew songs, the Greek musical
culture, the neumatical musical notation and the fact that

12 Elena Chircev, Confessions and dialogues about Byzantine music, (Cluj-

Napoca: Editura Risoprint, 2013), p.136.
13 Constantin Secară, Byzantine music -doxology and spiritual uplift,
(Editura Muzicală, 2006).
14 Ibidem, p.136.
15 V.Giuleanu, V. Iușceanu, Threaty of music’s teory, (București: Editura
Muzicală, 1962), p.138.
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 131

Byzantium was the most important center for the spread of the
musical culture, culture that will be called Byzantine. In the
political, cultural and theological center of Constantinople came
to study monks from throughout the known world, including
Pope Gregory the Great, who led the musical culture of
Byzantium in the area which he came from. First Ambrose of
Milan speaks about four main modes (they were probably
already known Greek modes, but untheorized), then Gregory
adds another four secondary. Gregory influenced by the
Byzantine modes, modes organized in eight ones (octoehs)
16studied during his linger in the capital of the Byzantine

Empire, took over the system organized into eight ehs,17 would
be led in the West by the future Pope Gregory where it would
be named system modes, built ascending: Dorian started on D
(D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D) FRIGIAN - E, LIDIAN –F, MIXOLIDIAN - G,
EOLIAN-A, LOCRIAN- B
The first four of these modes will be called own ehs,
authentic18 or rents19, principal or independent.
- First Eh named prostheses (DORIAN), from the PA
(RE) and symbolized the air;
- The second was called deuterus (FRIGIAN), from the
VU (MI) and symbolized the earth;
- The third called Trita (LIDIAN), began on GA (note F)
and symbolized water;
- The fourth was called tetartos (MIXOLIDIAN), began
on DI (G) and symbolized the fire.

16 Octoeh-eight modes, ehs or voices.

17 Grigorios Th. Statis, The charm of the past and present musical
byzantine art, translation from gr.by Florin Cătălin Ghiț (Masterclass
of byzantine music on Mănăstirea Nicula-Final night-byzantine concert
preceded by a conference), September2013, in: Tabor Magazine, Cluj-
Napoca, Anul VII, nr.12, December.
18 Authentes (gr.) speak by itself, something that stands out and can not
be questioned.
19 Chirii (gr.) has the meaning of supreme authority.
132 Domin Adam

The Byzantine ehs, as ancient modes, received names of ancient

Greek cities: Doria, Lydia, Frygia, Milet, which in ancient times
had a special melodic character. In the Middle Ages (early) the
songs’ character had nothing in common with the ancient
melodic characters nor with the organization of sounds: the
ancient modes were descending and the medieval modes were
ascending.
In ancient times the modes settled the stretching of the song20
and had, wore itself the following characters or symbolisms:
-Mode I Dorian-VU (E); - this mode was considered a warrior,
energetic, serious;
-Mode II Frygian-PA (D);- was considered thrilling, passionate,
with much pathos
-Mode III Lidian-NI (C); - was considered era socotit
melancholic, dreamy, soft;
- Mode IV Mixolidian-ZO (B)21 - was considered full of tension,
agitation, unstable.
The character of these descending ancient modes are no longer
met today. Popular modes or ecclesiastical modes (ascending)
carries other characters that I mentioned above. For practical
reasons the ehs or modes are called and noted with Roman
numerals (as in the case above) or Arab. As a structure the
gregorian modes are different from the byzantines, they olny
borrow the name22.
In addition to these four authentic voices, the Greeks were
counting four more modes, ehs, that derived from the genuine
ones. They started with a quint below and wore before the
Plaghios23 prefix:
-Eh V Plaghios Protos-PA- DI descendent (base on DI);

20 Iacob Yameos, op. cit., p.21.

21 The forth is named mylitios-citadel of Milet from Asia Minor-the same
with the byzantine mixolidic.
22 Victor Giuleanu, The byzantine melodic, București, Editura Muzicală,
1981, p.27.
23 Plaghios-plagal.
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 133

-Eh VI Plaghios Deuteros-VU-KE (base on KE);

-Eh VII Plaghios Tritos-GA-ZO (base on ZO);
-Eh VIII Plaghios Tetartos-DI-NI (base on NI).
It is used the prefix Hypo24 for derived modes, or Hyper25 if
they were made at the upper octave (mode V Hypodorios ,
mode VI Hypolydios, mode VII Hypofrygios, mode VIII
Hypomixolydios).
The musical greek mode of thinking, as I said, will be taken in
the West by Pope Gregory the Great (the second half of the VI
century) that stayed for years as ambassador in Constantinople,
sent by Pope Pelagius II; model scales will be used for 12
centuries by Westerners. This modal system is composed by
scales and ranges which are structured differently from the
later tonal system - tones and midtones are arranged differently
in the major and minor known by us. It is richer system than
the tonal, in the stairways and number ranges, but also this
system, as the tonal one has a tonal center.
The tonal system has given us the possibility of using two
natural diatonic modes: Major natural- IONIAN MODE
medieval become C Major and the minor natural, EOLIAN
MODE - A minor (with variants)26. On JS Bach's time the
foundations temperate tone, with the starting point in the
medieval modes, ehs organized by a specific system which
belongs to G. Zarlino27 (untempered system)28. The modal
system, in addition to Ionian and Eolian mode, still has five
natural diatonic modes: DORIAN, FRIGIAN, LIDIAN,
MIXOLIDIAN and LOCRIAN, as the modes came from their
changing with chromatic elements.

24 Hipo (gr.)- means down, under, below.

25 Hyper (gr)- means above, up
26 V. Giuleanu, V. Iușceanu, Threaty of the music theory, op.cit. , p.129.
27 Giosetto Zarlino-teoretician and italian composer(1517-1590), takes
the teories of Aristoxene din Tarent (sec.IV b.Chr.).
28 V.Giuleanu, V. Iușceanu, op.cit., p.142.
134 Domin Adam

A recognition of the importance of the inexhaustible source of

the rich musical thesaurus affirms the composer Camille Saint-
Saëns, who says that the music goes to archaic modes. He
provided the direction of the musical art, showing that the
domination of major-minor will fall and that the popular modes
and oriental ranges will come into the musician’s attention;
what is really happening.29

3 Conclusion

If in literature we do detailed analyzes to understand and

properly use all its forms in everyday speech, in the same way
we must analyze, explain and use correctly the senses and the
meanings of all musical elements.
Nowadays we see more and more celebrities on television, or in
church singers, protopsalters who that think if they have voice
they know everything, but it is not enough the talent if you're
not looking to interpret the deepest meanings of the music.
Therefore any interpretation requires to be studied and
interpreted according to the meanings, symbology and styles; a
return to the these will give the church’s chant a new breath.
A summative conclusion of this study is the following: each
psalm or eh has its character (therefore it must be considered
as such), each voice has a special intonation and fluency given
by the three tracks which have the meaning mentioned above.
All these combined will give a sense to the psalm singing, so
beautiful melos of the OrthoAdox Church.

29 Victor M. Iușceanu, Modes and scales, (apud Camille Saint-Saëns, The

history of the universal music), (București: Editura Muzicală, 1960), p.
64.
 Psaltic Modes - Meanings and Symbolics 135

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Elena Moraru-Saviuc, Worship music as segment of eternal music, Oradea,

Editura Scriptum, 2008.
Vasile cel Mare, XXII, Homily towars youngs, în P.S.B., part I, translated by
Dumitru Fecioru, nr.17, București, Editura IBMBOR, 1986.
Ioan Damaschin, http: //www.doxologia.ro/terapie-pentru-suflet/muzica-
drept-rugaciune-arta-terapie, traducere Lucian Filip, apud
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2013/10/byzantine-music-as-art-of-
music-and-art.html , accesed on: 04.08.2014.
Jorgen Raasted, The Hagiopolites-A Byzantine Treatise on Musical Theory,
Preliminary edition by Jorgen Raasted, Copenhague 1983.
Grigore Panțiru, The notation and ehs of the byzantine music ,București,
Editura Muzicală, 1971.
Grăjdian Vasile, Elements of Church cant and types, Sibiu, Editura
Universității „Lucian Blaga”, 2002.
Dictionary of musical terms , București, Editura Enciclopedică, 2010.
Iacob Yameos, The principal aspects of the history of church music
translation by Luca Mirea, Alba Iulia, Editura Reîntregirea, 2012.
Elena Chircev, Confessions and dialogues about Byzantine music Cluj-
Napoca, Editura Risoprint, 2013.
Constantin Secară, Byzantine music -doxology and spiritual uplift , Editura
Muzicală, 2006.
V. Giuleanu, V. Iușceanu, Threaty of music’s teory , București, Editura
Muzicală, 1962.
Grigorios Th. Statis, The charm of the past and present musical byzantine
art, translation from gr.by Florin Cătălin Ghiț (Masterclass of byzantine
music on Mănăstirea Nicula-Final night-byzantine concert preceded by a
conference), September2013, in: Tabor Magazine, Cluj-Napoca, Anul VII,
nr.12, December.
Victor Giuleanu, The byzantine melodic, București, Editura Muzicală, 1981.
Victor M. Iușceanu, Modes and scales, (apud Camille Saint-Saëns, The
history of the universal music), București, Editura Muzicală, 1960.