Byzantine music and Western church music

Abstract

Byzantine music and Western church music share a common origin. Although their specific inherited elements may differ slightly, both can be traced back to early Christian music, Jewish music, and classical Greek music. Furthermore, the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western church music cannot be overlooked. Their similarities partly stem from shared origins, while others result from Byzantine music's influence on Western church music. As men-tioned earlier, Western churches not only directly adopted musical works from the Byzantine church but also "learned from Byzantium," developing rudimen-tary notation systems and modal frameworks. Consequently, as Paul Henry Lang noted, "Byzantium transmitted the cultural heritage and civilizational characteristics it had inherited from classical traditions to the West." From this perspective, Byzantine music can be regarded as an integral part of Western musical development. Therefore, when examining the history of Western music, we must not overlook Byzantine music.