Unicode Technical Note : Byzantine Musical Notation Version 1 . 0 : January 2005

Byzantine music is a cover term for the liturgical music used in the Orthodox Church within the Byzantine Empire and the Churches regarded as continuing that tradition. This music is monophonic (with drone notes), exclusively vocal, and almost entirely sacred: very little secular music of this kind has been preserved, although we know that court ceremonial music in Byzantium was similar to the sacred. Byzantine music is accepted to have originated in the liturgical music of the Levant, and in particular Syriac and Jewish music. The extent of continuity between ancient Greek and Byzantine music is unclear, and an issue subject to emotive responses. The same holds for the extent of continuity between Byzantine music proper and the liturgical music in contemporary use—i.e. to what extent Ottoman influences have displaced the earlier Byzantine foundation of the music.