At the crossroads of East and West, fifteenth- to seventeenth-century Crete became a remarkable laboratory of musical experimentation. This book takes the reader into a world where Byzantine tradition converses with Western influences, giving rise to a singular repertory—rooted in Orthodox liturgy yet imbued with the resonances of Latin polyphony.<br />The result of an ambitious international research project bringing together musicologists, historians, and liturgists, this study examines Cretan manuscripts within the religious and cultural life of the island under Venetian rule. It reveals how, through exchanges, tensions, and hybridizations, a distinctly Cretan musical identity emerged—an exceptional example of syncretism in the Mediterranean world.<br />Drawing on previously unpublished sources preserved in Crete, on Mount Athos, and in Venice, the book offers a fresh understanding of the complex relationship between Byzantine and Western traditions. Through a scholarly yet sensitive approach, it restores the vitality of an era when confessional boundaries became artistic bridges.<br />This work is not only intended for specialists of music or liturgy: it invites all readers to reflect on how cultures meet, influence, and transform one another.<br /><br /><em><strong>Flora Kritikou</strong> is Associate Professor in the Department of Music Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where she teaches Byzantine musicology. Her research focuses on musical palaeography, the cataloguing of Byzantine musical manuscript collections, and the interrelations between Byzantine chant and its Western counterparts.<br /><strong>Vassa Kontouma</strong> is Director of Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), where she holds the chair in Orthodox Christianity (15th–21st centuries). A member of the Orient et Méditerranée research unit (UMR 8167), she also serves as President of the French Institute for Byzantine Studies.<br /><strong>Nikos Maliaras</strong> is Professor of Musicology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he teaches music history and analysis. A specialist in Byzantine and Modern Greek art music of the 19th and 20th centuries, he is the founder and chairman of the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as an active conductor and a leading figure in the study and promotion of Greek musical heritage.</em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Au carrefour de l’Orient et de l’Occident, la Crète des XV^e au XVII^e siècles fut un terrain d’expérimentations musicales d’une richesse insoupçonnée. Ce livre nous plonge au cœur d’un univers où la tradition byzantine dialogue avec les influences occidentales, donnant naissance à un répertoire singulier, à la fois ancré dans la liturgie orthodoxe et traversé par les sonorités de la polyphonie latine.<br />Fruit d’un vaste projet de recherche international réunissant musicologues, historiens et liturgistes, cette étude explore les manuscrits crétois à la lumière de la vie religieuse et culturelle de l’île sous domination vénitienne. Elle dévoile comment, entre échanges, résistances et hybridations, s’est constituée une identité musicale proprement crétoise, témoin d’un syncrétisme rare dans le monde méditerranéen.<br />Appuyé sur des sources inédites conservées en Crète, au Mont Athos et à Venise, l’ouvrage renouvelle profondément notre compréhension des relations entre les traditions byzantine et occidentale. Par une approche à la fois érudite et sensible, il restitue la vitalité d’une époque où les frontières confessionnelles devenaient des passerelles artistiques.<br />Ce livre ne s’adresse pas seulement aux spécialistes de la musique ou de la liturgie : il invite plus largement à réfléchir sur la manière dont les cultures se rencontrent, s’influencent et se transforment mutuellement.<br /><br /><em><strong>Flora Kritikou</strong> est professeure associée au Département d’études musicales de l’Université nationale et capodistrienne d’Athènes, où elle enseigne la musicologie byzantine. Ses recherches portent sur la paléographie musicale, le catalogage des collections de manuscrits musicaux byzantins et les relations entre le chant byzantin et ses équivalents occidentaux.<br /><strong>Vassa Kontouma</strong> est directrice d’études à l’École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), où elle occupe la chaire de christianisme orthodoxe (XV^e–XXI^e siècles). Membre de l’unité de recherche Orient et Méditerranée (UMR 8167), elle est également présidente de l’Institut français d’études byzantines.<br /><strong>Nikos Maliaras</strong> est professeur de musicologie à l’Université nationale et capodistrienne d’Athènes, où il enseigne l’histoire et l’analyse musicales. Spécialiste de la musique d’art byzantine et grecque moderne des XIX^e et XX^e siècles, il est fondateur et président de l’Orchestre Philharmonia d’Athènes, chef d’orchestre actif et figure majeure de l’étude et de la promotion du patrimoine musical grec.</em><br />

• Preface
• Introduction: Religious Thought in Venetian Crete. A Brief History
• First Part - The Repertory
• First Chapter: Creation of the Cretan repertory – Chronological identification
• 1.1 The sources - Manuscripts of Cretan repertory
• 1.2 The compositions of the ‘particular’ Cretan repertory
• Second Chapter: The ritual behind the repertory
• 2.1 A mixed ritual: a research question
• 2.2 A ‘common’ religious identity: the testaments
• 2.3 Protopapas and Protopsaltes: two controversial roles
• 2.4 “Ritus grecus” and the “Schismatic” in Late Venetian Crete
• 2.5 The background ritual
• 2.6 Acclamations of the Venetian authorities and the latin clergy
• 2.7 The Common Masses
• 2.8 Processions
• 2.9 The procession of the Messopantitissa icon
• 2.10 Official Meals
• Third chapter: The Cretan liturgical repertory
• 3.1 Compositions for the Mass
• 3.1.2 The verses chanted ‘in the beginning of the Holy Mass’: Introits?
• 3.1.3 The Lord’s Prayer: compositions and ritual instructions
• 3.1.4 The Creed compositions
• 3.1.5 Cretan Offertories: cases study .
• 3.1.6 The Cretan Communion Chants “with verses”. Koinonikon and Communion Chant in East and West
• 3.1.1 The Great Doxology
• 3.1.7 The Cretan Communion verses “Εἰς τὸ μετὰ φόβου Θεοῦ”
• 3.2 Other compositions included in the Cretan repertory
• 3.2.1 The Psalms in the Cretan repertory. The Byzantine tradition and the introduction of new elements
• 3.2.3 Acclamations of the Venetian authorities and the Latin clergy
• 3.2.4 Composed prayers and blessings
• Second Part - The ‘Western’ elements
• Introduction: The research material
• First Chapter: Music Analyses .
• 1.1 Organikon compositions with extensive two-voice passages
• 1.2 Organikon compositions with short two-voice passages
• 1.3 Organikon compositions with indications of two-voice polyphony
• 1.4 Two-voice compositions of the 15th century
• 1.5 Cretan two-voice compositions
• 1.6 Cretan two-voice compositions not included in the repertory
• 1.7 Rules and usual practices
• Second Chapter: The Notation
• 2.1 The notation in the Organikon compositions
• 2.2 “Organikon” music phrases in the two-voice compositions of the 15th century
• 2.3 The notation in the Cretan repertory. Introduction
• 2.3.1 Modal signatures and modulation signs in the Cretan repertory
• 2.3.2 Modulation signs
• 2.3.3 The “wrong” signs
• 2.3.4 The double modal signatures in two-voice compositions
• 2.3.5 The notation in the two-voice compositions by Antonios Episkopopoulos
• 2.3.6 The so-called Protheoria in musical manuscripts of Cretan origin
• 2.4 The manuscript 31 of the Platytera Monastery of Corfu and its relation to the notation of the Cretan repertory
• Conclusions
• Sources
• Bibliography
• Index composers
• Index manuscripts
• Transcriptions