The Virgin Mary’s Lullabies: Verbal and Musical Meaning in Byzantine Chant
The Virgin Mary’s Lullabies: Verbal and Musical Meaning in Byzantine Chant

Summary/Abstract: Byzantine chant is often called the vestment of sacred hymnology used in the Greek Orthodox liturgy. Text and music have historically worked hand in hand as channels of communication between the worshipping community and the divine. The verbal meaning conveyed by the biblical and hymnographic material is clarified, enhanced, and ultimately transformed by the melodies, which are carefully crafted upon the fundamental goal of combining textual comprehensibility with aesthetic appeal. This centuries-long balancing act resulted in the development of several types of text treatment, ranging from simple recitative for “the word of God” to highly ornate, meditative settings of “words to God.” The balance started to tip during the 13th-14th centuries when the expansion of melismas by virtuoso cantors led to the creation of ecstatic textless compositions, known as kratimata. Despite the apparent correlation of kratimata with ascetic methods of intense prayer that employ minimal or no text, post-Byzantine commentators denounced them as irrational products of Ottoman corruption. Proponents of kratimata resorted to theological speculations, calling them the Virgin Mary’s lullabies or the songs of the angels. In the midst of ongoing debates on the suitability of melismatic settings and kratimata for worship, composers and cantors have continued to compose and chant them, strongly advancing the notion that sacred music is not a mere servant, but rather an equal partner of the text, communicating layers of non-verbal meaning that can help cultivate a more direct and intimate relationship with God than mere words ever could.

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