The articles here deal with liturgical music. Two topics receive special attention: the curiously negative role that musical instruments play in ancient cult music and the development of ecclesiastical song in early Christianity. The first series of articles treats classical Greek ethical notions of instruments, the status of instruments in Temple and Synagogue, and the absence of instruments from early Christian and medieval church music. The next parts trace the psalmody and hymnody of the Christian tradition, from its roots in Judaism to the origins of Gregorian chant in 7th-century Rome. Throughout, the writings of the Christian Church fathers such as Augustine, Ambrose, Basil and John Chrysostom underpin the author’s analysis and presentation.

The differences between Old-Roman, Ambrosian, Aquileian, Gallican, and Hispanic chant, and their interconnections with each other and the Gregorian chant occupied Michel Huglo in his early career, although he returned to these questions in the 1980s and 1990s. The present volume, the second in the set of four to be published in the Variorum series, brings all this work together. Huglo's 1954 article, the first to describe the sources for Old Roman chant, recognized as distinct from Gregorian chant, is of primary significance for the historiography of Western plainchant, because it opened the debate on the relationship between Old Roman and Gregorian chant. The final section presents articles on the Latin version of the Akathistos hymn and on Byzantine chants translated into Latin that became part of the Western plainchant repertory. Les différences entre les répertoires Vieux-romain, Ambrosien, Aquiléien, Gallican et Hispanique, leurs influences réciproques et leurs relations avec le chant grégorien ont occupé Michel Huglo au début de sa carrière: il revint sur ces questions dans les années 1980 et 1990. Ce volume, le deuxième d'une série de quatre dans la collection Variorum, réunit toutes ces études. L'article de 1954 de Michel Huglo sur les sources du chant Vieux-romain, considéré comme distinct du grégorien, est de première importance pour l'historiographie du plain-chant occidental, car il a ouvert les débats sur le rapport entre Vieux-romain et grégorien. Les articles sur la version latine de l'Hymne Acathiste et sur les pièces de chant byzantin traduites en latin dans les répertoires occidentaux du plain-chant achèvent ce volume.

In Music in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, John Arthur Smith presents the first full-length study of music among the ancient Israelites, the ancient Jews and the early Christians in the Mediterranean lands during the period from 1000 BCE to 400 CE. He considers the physical, religious and social setting of the music, and how the music was performed. The extent to which early Christian music may have retained elements of the musical tradition of Judaism is also considered. After reviewing the subject's historical setting, and describing the main sources, the author discusses music at the Jerusalem Temple and in a variety of spheres of Jewish life away from it. His subsequent discussion of early Christian music covers music in private devotion, monasticism, the Eucharist, and gnostic literature. He concludes with an examination of the question of the relationship between Jewish and early Christian music, and a consideration of the musical environments that are likely to have influenced the formation of the earliest Christian chant. The scant remains of notated music from the period are discussed and placed in their respective contexts. The numerous sources that are the foundation of the book are evaluated objectively and critically in the light of modern scholarship. Due attention is given to where their limitations lie, and to what they cannot tell us as well as to what they can. The book serves as a reliable introduction as well as being an invaluable guide through one of the most complex periods of music history.

Enchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan offers the first critical overview of the hymns of Ambrose of Milan in the context of fourth-century doctrinal song and Ambrose's own catechetical preaching. Brian P. Dunkle, SJ, argues that these settings inform the interpretation of Ambrose's hymnodic project. The hymns employ sophisticated poetic techniques to foster a pro-Nicene sensitivity in the bishop's embattled congregation. After a summary presentation of early Christian hymnody, with special attention to Ambrose's Latin predecessors, Dunkle describes the mystagogical function of fourth-century songs. He examines Ambrose's sermons, especially his catechetical and mystagogical works, for preached parallels to this hymnodic effort. Close reading of Ambrose's hymnodic corpus constitutes the bulk of the study. Dunkle corroborates his findings through a treatment of early Ambrosian imitations, especially the poetry of Prudentius. These early readers amplify the hymnodic features that Dunkle identifies as "enchanting," that is, enlightening the "eyes of faith."

The origin and development of Western plainchant, and of the genres of liturgical book in which it is recorded, have occupied Michel Huglo throughout his long career, which has taken him to libraries in every corner of Europe and the United States. This volume, the first in a set of four to appear in the Variorum series, brings together analyses of manuscripts dating from the 9th to the 13th century, including Huglo's pathbreaking studies of the antiphoner of Compiègne, the first troper-prosers, and of alleluia lists as clues to place of origin. The consequences of the Treaty of Verdun (843) for the diffusion of the plainchant repertory, research in medieval musicology in the 20th century, the utility of codicology for musicological manuscript studies, and the critical edition of the Gregorian antiphoner are addressed in other studies included here. Les origines et le développement du plain-chant en Occident et l'étude des genres de livres liturgiques qui le contiennent ont occupé Michel Huglo durant sa longue carrière et l'ont conduit à visiter des bibliothèques partout en Europe et aux Etats-Unis. Ce volume, le premier d'une série de quatre dans la collection Variorum, comprend des analyses de manuscrits du neuvième au treizième siècle, notamment des études novatrices relançant les recherches sur l'antiphonaire de Compiègne, les premiers tropaires-prosaires et les listes d'alleluias comme moyen d'identification des manuscrits de chant. Les conséquences du traité de Verdun (843) pour la diffusion du répertoire de plain-chant, les recherches en musicologie médiévale au XXe siècle, l'application des méthodes de la codicologie à l'étude des manuscrits notés, et l'édition critique de l'Antiphonaire grégorien forment les sujets d'autres études réunies dans ce volume.

The introit is the entrance song to the eucharistic celebration of the Catholic Church, sung to a prescribed text that is thematically linked to the season or the particular celebration and belongs to the category of antiphonal Mass chants. The introit chant is the last of the Mass propers to be researched in detail. In this groundbreaking study, Christoph Tietze presents the history and development of the introit through the ages. He has also composed congregational settings of the proper parts of the Mass for the liturgical year. This book shows how to make these texts practical for parish use. It will help pastors, music directors, and seminarians better understand the texts for use in today's liturgies. Book jacket.

From the reception of imperial ekphraseis in Hagia Sophia to the sounds and smells of the back streets of Constantinople, the sensory perception of Byzantium is an area that lends itself perfectly to an investigation into the experience of the Byzantine world. The theme of experience embraces all aspects of Byzantine studies and the Experiencing Byzantium symposium brought together archaeologists, architects, art historians, historians, musicians and theologians in a common quest to step across the line that divides how we understand and experience the Byzantine world and how the Byzantines themselves perceived the sensual aspects of their empire and also their faith, spirituality, identity and the nature of ’being’ in Byzantium. The papers in this volume derive from the 44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, held for the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies by the University of Newcastle and University of Durham, at Newcastle upon Tyne in April 2011. They are written by a group of international scholars who have crossed disciplinary boundaries to approach an understanding of experience in the Byzantine world. Experiencing Byzantium is volume 18 in the series published by Ashgate on behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies.