Byzantine Influences of Medieval Serbian Church Music

of composers such as John Kukuzelis or Pseudo-John Damascene
show Kyr Stefan’s respect of the model. Ninja Sili is one example of
a surviving bilingual hymn: in the manuscript, the Greek text is in-
scribed above then below the Old Church Slavonic in red ink. In the
top right margin is the Greek incipit with neumatic signs. At the end
of the hymn, the inscribed Greek ends with the text “Alleluia,” which
is the same in both languages; indeed, undoubtedly the hymn was per-
formed in both languages. In all surviving neumatic manuscripts, the
modal signature – or martyria – is written at the top of the page, before
the beginning of a song; it is usually the letter representing the given
mode. An experienced cantor who would be familiar with the melod-
ic formulae associated with that mode would know on which note to
start the melodic phrase. In this manuscript, two martyriae indicating
the second plagal mode are found in the left margin. There are sever-
al melodic formulae, some of which are repeated several times, either
in whole or in part. The formula B (or its variant b) appears twenty-one
times; the initial note of this formula in its various repetitions is found
at different pitches, ranging from g to d1. The combination of the for-
mulae B + A appears eight times in two forms: either the final note
of formula B is simultaneously the initial note of formula A, or the
formulae are separated and simply follow each other. The general char-
acteristic of the melodic formulae is step-by-step movement, and they
follow each other in no fixed order.45 An examination of all the surviv-
ing pieces of Kyr Stefan reveals similar rhythmic-melodic phrases and
sequential material among them.
The fact that these musical works were connected with 14th and
15th -century Serbia speaks for a developed cultural climate which is
known to have existed in literature, fresco-painting and architecture.
Unlike buildings and frescos which remain to this day, it is much more
difficult to imagine and recreate the sound of medieval music. How-
ever, thanks to the written manuscripts that have survived – either by
luck or careful preservation in monasteries – we have a better idea of
the kind of cultural development that was occurring in the early docu-
mented years of the Serbs. Particularly by examining a piece of music,
it is clear to what extent Byzantine cultural practices entered into
medieval Serbian culture. However, whatever came from Byzantium
rarely stayed in its original form, but rather was adapted and modified
by the southern Slavs according to their own needs. Ninja Sili contains
several aspects of this evolution: it was written using the principle of
osmoglasje; it is bilingual; it was written in neumes and transmitted
orally. All of these musical factors came from Byzantium but even-
tually evolved to suit different needs. Also important for the sake of
Serbian history is the fact that a Serbian composer in the 15th century
known outside of Serbia was adding his nationality to the end of his
name. This means that this modification of Byzantine culture occur-
ring in Serbia was in turn influencing musical culture abroad. For a
practice that still thrives today, it is interesting to look at the begin-
nings of Serbian Orthodox chant and consider its influences as well as
how it influenced other practices and future generations.

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