Icons of Sound is a concept that allows us to think beyond the representational, mimetic image in Byzantium. The alternative is the methexic icon that partakes in the essence of the prototype. The Old Testament offers an example of such non-mimetic iconicity: Adam, who is called “eikōn tou Theou,” when the Lord breathes in him, transforming his inert body made out of clay into a living being (Gen. 2:6). The interior of Hagia Sophia creates the conditions to experience this “eikōn tou Theou” as a spatial phenomenon that envelops the faithful. With its immense volume and reflective surfaces of marble and gold mosaics, Hagia Sophia produces extremely reverberant acoustics. Chant and recitation mobilize this wet sound to draw attention to breath and inspiriting, which engender methexic iconicity. This talk explores two manifestations of the methexic “eikon tou Theou.” The first example focuses on the interaction of sound and light in the interior of the Great Church. The second explores how the melodic design of the chants and the structure of recitations make reverberation the focus of perception. Here the emphasis will be on the use of melismas (singing many notes to a syllable) in the liturgical chants and the integration of long pauses in the recitation of the Gospel texts that together draw attention to reverberation: the gradual dissipation of residual sonic energy below the threshold of human audibility.
“Icons of Sound” is a concept that allows us to think beyond the representational, mimetic image in Byzantium. The alternative is the methexic icon that partakes in the essence of the prototype. The Old Testament offers an example of such non-mimetic iconicity: Adam, who is called “eikōn tou Theou,” when the Lord breathes in him,…
The Chora Monastery parekklesion, designed by Theodoros Metochites in Late Byzantium to embody the themes of mortality, judgment and the afterlife, was a place where iconography and hymnody converged in the liturgical world of the funeral. The complex iconographic programme, which includes the Last Judgment and the Anastasis, and the performance of hymns within this…
Founded in 1183 by Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja and fully finished and covered in frescoes by 1208/09, the major church of the Studenica Monastery remains well preserved. Studenica is also enlisted as a UNESCO Heritage Site because of its exceptional beauty. A non-invasive and highly accurate computer-generated model of the Studenica church has already helped…
Whereas much of the studies on the interplay between sound, images, and architecture is concentrated on major city churches, the present study concentrates on the liturgical life of the Athonite monastic centre. Through a comparative study of liturgical texts, musical manuscripts, monastic typika, and material culture, I shall discuss the concepts of iconotext and iconicity…
The Divine Liturgy was, and still is, especially characterized by the use of melismatic chants. From the earliest musical sources related to the cathedral rite, i.e. the book of the Asmatikon (12th–13th c), most chants of the Divine Liturgy appear in melismatic forms. These melismatic forms are connected with both specific liturgical needs and the…