Strictly speaking,
Byzantine Chant is the sacred
chant of Christian Churches following the Orthodox rite. This tradition, encompassing the Greek-speaking world, developed in
Byzantium from the establishment of its capital, Constantinople, in 330 until
its fall in 1453. In the
Orthodox Church today, many churches use Byzantine Chant as their primary musical tradition, including the Churches of
Constantinople,
Alexandria,
Antioch,
Jerusalem,
Romania,
Serbia,
Greece, and
Cyprus.
The Byzantine chant scale consists of seven notes: