TABOR - Tradition and Contemporaneity in the Romanian Orthodox Church
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The church tones in the universal musical tradition


SILUAN IONAŞCU, The church tones in the universal musical tradition
Church services and chants are marked by 8 tones, echoi or modes that are the practical key to access
the fi eld of church music, although for me it will prove a rather theoretical key. Any chant used
in church is on a specifi c tone and that tone is the mark of the chant, directly related to its rational
content and to the purpose of using it. The tones must be rigorously known based on mnemonic
formulas. The tones are ordered so that each week in the calendar is set under one of these tones.
Church music, although specifi c and seemingly locked, or even provincial in a minor sense, for some, has roots in the universal music of the most noble origin; in the very existence of these tones we can see the power of integration and systematization of Christian tradition, there might be some of the valorising positions of the context then and now.
Keywords: church tones, chants, universal music, Church music


 

SILUAN IONAŞCU