G R E 



G R E 



Greek ^...«//. See AccEVT. h^ f,,„, for the vo!e,. This h the more Jikcly. „ ,h, 



Greek Bdk. bee Biur.E. > Greek fcrvice abounds in gcfticulations and manual dcx- 



Greek Church. See CiiLRClI. terity. 



Greek Church, Mufu: of I he. The fchifm between the The abate was informed, that though the oriental Greek* 



Greek ana Roman churches, which happened m the ninth have I'lgns for miifical founds equivalent to our's tlit-y fm" 



century, prevented fuch changes as were made m the Roman more by tradition than fcience. However, the dillindion'i 



was eliablifncd, in which the modern method oj writing inform him. In this it appears, that tlic tliarjcters amount 



mulic was received. But in the Greek iiles a notation pecu- to more than fifty ; among which moll of the namei. of thofe 



liar to its inhabitants is ftill In ufc, which is not only as dif- mulical terms, given by Du Cangc, from a MS. trcatife on 



fereiit tiom onr's as their alphabet, but totally unlike that in llie eccMaftical mufic of the Greeks, are to' be found 



the ancient miffals. (GlofT. Med. et Inf. Gricitatis.) Du Cange, who hai 



In examining the mod ancient of thefe m the Vatican li- fo amply coll.cled and explained the characters ufcd by the 



brary, which were written in capitals, the firll notation modern Greeks in chcn:illrv, botany, aftronomy, and other 



wiiichwe could diicover, confilltd chieP.y of accents ; and arts and fcienccs, is fiienl as to ihei'r mufical notation; nor 



w'l.n fmall letters were afterwards ufed, thefe acoiils were have we been ;.ble to acquire any information on that fubica, 



only fomewhat lengthened. In the tcnlii and eleventh cen- except that -.villi which the abate Martini has fupplied us.' 



turies, they verymuch re(emble the characters to be found The title of tii-: treatife by Lampadarius 13 the foUowine : 



in contemporary Latin miffals. However, the me'odies in 

 the lower ages became more elaborate, and the notes more 

 numerous than in thoi'e of higher antiquity. 



.St- John Damafcenus, who lived in the eighth century, is 

 celebrated by the writers of his life, and by eccK fialUeal 

 hillorians, as the compiler and reformer of chants in the 



by i^ampaiiarius 13 tne louowing ; 

 Ts;;^w',V/>iK ,;,- ,^i,:„.~.- i-yt'^ . The extrafl from it, wiiich is 

 in our podeffio'i, is too h.ng for infertion here ; nor would it 

 bj of much iiL- .;'Hild we allow it room, as no equivalents 

 to the Greek ciiaraCtei-s are to be found in our own notation. 

 But with-<eipccl to the author, we find amoog the memo- 

 r.inda which we made in the king of Sardinia's library at 



Greek church, in the fame manner as St. Gregory in the Turin, an account of a Greek MS. ol" the iiftecntJi century, 

 Roman. And Leo AUatius (De Libris Ecclef. Grxcoruni) N. 353. b. 1.24, hi which Lampadarius is often mentioned 

 under the title " Octoe'chus" (G!tTi.«;i/S- ; eight tones), tells as author of the mufic to the hymns and prayers it contains, 

 us they were compofed by J. Damafcenus. Zarlino goes Fabricius likewife, fibl. Grx-c. vol. ii. p. '269, 564, and 

 ftill farther, and informs us ( Inilit. Harm. 410. parte, cap. 586 fpcaks of a MS. in the Selden collection at Oxford, and 

 viii ) that in the firft ages of Chrillianity the ancient Greek another in the .lefuits library at Louvain, in which there are 

 notation by letters having been thrown afide, John Damaf- explanations of the notes ull-d by the modern Greeks, and 

 cenus invented new charaders, which he accommodated to mnlital compofitions by feveral authors, particularly Lam- 

 the Greek ecclefiallical tones ; and that thefe characters did padarius. In the patriarchal church of Coullanlinople there 

 not, like our's, merely exprefs fingle founds, but all the in- aiv four fingers, who are placed on the right and left fides 

 tervals ufed in melody; as a femitone, tone, third minor, of the choir ; the firll on the right iscalled lI;»-;o4.i>,TTf, the 

 third major, &c. afceiiding and defcending, with their dif- principal finger ; the firll on the left A»uT?.ia,-i;-, Lampada- 

 fereat duration. This refembles, in many particulars, the rius ; the two others who aPi'ift the principals are caMed do- 

 notation in the ecclefiaftical books of the Romilh church, be- mcjl'ic'i. It is probable that Lampadariuf , who flouriihed 

 fore the time-table, and charafters in prefent ufe were invent- about the year 13CO, either took his nauic from the office 

 ed, or, at leaft, generally received. he filled ; or, on account of his eminence in mufic, tliat his 



The abate Martini of Venice (fee "Prefent State of name was given to the office. 

 Mufic in France and Italy") having vifited the Greek ifles To iniert here the mufical characters ftill ufcd in the rituals 

 in hopes of acquiring fuch a knowledge of the mufic prac- of the Greek church out of Ruffia, and endeavour to ex- 

 tifed there at prefent, as would enable him to judge whether plain them, will perhaps be conferring but a finall favour on 

 any of the miraculous powers attributed to it by their our readers ; for from the fcarcily ot mufic written in fuch 

 ancellors ftill remained, as well as to compare its excellence charafters, fo few will be their opportunities of making ufc of 

 with that of his own country ; and as this learned and fa- any knowledge tliey may acquire by the ftudy of them, that 

 gacioub enquirer confided to us his papers on that fubiei!rt,v\e it would be like learning a dead language in which there are 



no books, or a living language without the hopes of cither 

 reading or converfing in it. 



Thole readers who may be defirous of gratifying them- 

 felves in matters of curiofity, may confe.lt Dr. 13umev*$ 

 Hillory of Mufic, vol. ii. p. 50. where they will find 

 the f(jurtcen mufical char.icters that occur in the 



fhall communicate to our readers a fl<etch of their con- 

 tents. 



The fyftem of modern Greek notation feems much more 

 complicated and obfcure than the ancient. The charaCleis 

 convey nothing to the mind either by their form or names, 

 the greatell part of which cannot be conllrned ; and the reft 



are conftrucd to no purpofe. Their fignification, as words, Greek MSS of the Evangel; ils, written in capitals dur- 



does not poir.t out their meaning as mufical charafters ; and 

 all that we can difcover is, that fome of them feem dofcrip- 

 tive of geftic'.ilations ; fuch as ajau-pa, which, perhaps, d;- 

 reftcd the prieft to look up, or ftr^ tch his hands towards 

 heaven. Orztjo-, which might direft him to make the 

 fign of the crofs, or to carry tlie crofs. Ai/^ir/zi, ^cviO; 



ing the feventh, eighth, and ninth centiu-ie.s, though 

 at prefent they are wholly unintelligible, even to the G.-tcks 

 themlelves. It is obforvable that the n-.ore ancient the ^I^S. 

 the fewer and more Un.p'e are the notes : the " Cinlex Alex- 

 audrinu':," in tlie Britiih Mufeuin has none; and the Lvan- 

 gelillerix MSS. in the Harlciaii colieft'on, 57S5, 5598, 



eontorlio. Indeed, it is faid in the papers, that fome ot thefe botli of the tenth century, haw only fuch as theic, which 

 charafters are for the X<i«owutx, or k^erdemain, and not were copied in Grtvce bv the abate Martini. 



Vol. XVI. ' ' ' 4 X The 



