Department of Music Studies
Library of the School of Philosophy

2023-06-19

2023

Polykarpidis Polykarpos

Δημήτριος Μπαλαγεώργος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, τμήμα Μουσικών Σπουδών, Εθνικό και Καποδηστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Αχιλλέας Χαλδαιάκης, Καθηγητής, τμήμα Μουσικών Σπουδών, Εθνικό και Καποδηστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Χριστίνα Αναγνωστοπούλου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, τμήμα Μουσικών Σπουδών, Εθνικό και Καποδηστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Αναστασία Γεωργάκη, Καθηγήτρια, τμήμα Μουσικών Σπουδών, Εθνικό και Καποδηστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Θωμάς Αποστολόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, τμήμα Μουσικών Σπουδών, Εθνικό και Καποδηστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Παναγιώτης Σταματόπουλος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, τμήμα Πληροφορικής και Τηλεπικοινωνιών, Εθνικό και Καποδηστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Γεώργιος Μικρός, Καθηγητής, τμήμα Middle Eastern Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Υπολογιστική προσέγγιση της Βυζαντινής μουσικής: Η περίπτωση του Ειρμολογίου του Θεοφάνη Καρύκη

Greek

Computational approach of Byzantine music: The case of Theofanis Karykis' Heirmologion

The systematic formalisation of Byzantine music and its computational approach are uncharted research territories. The present study offers a new formalisation of Middle Byzantine notation and answers a Byzantine musicological question. The proposed formalisation, on the one hand, contributes to the systematisation of Byzantine music theory. On the other hand, it enables the creation of musical texts in digital format, through which musicological questions can be answered by computational methods. Computational methods "remove" memory and speed limitations, leading us to conclusions based on results of great statistical power.
We used the Heirmologion of Theofanis Karykis (second half of 16th century) as a representative example of the study of Byzantine music in order to create the formalisation and confirm its functionality. For the needs of formalization and Karykis’ contribution in the context of tradition, the concept of tradition as a relational system of three eras (pre-Karykis, Karykis, and post-Karykis) was conceived. For a holistic view of Karykis’ work, a biography and ergography of Theofanis’ musical compositions and embellishments was also written.
In order to answer computationally to the research question of Karykis’ contribution, three corpora (one for each era) and five computational methods (classical approach, pitch profile, melodic arcs similarity, notational texture, markovian models and distances) were created, of which the “melodic arcs similarity” is original. The first two methods examine frequency distributions of the metrophonic pitches of pieces, the third the similarity of the pieces in terms of their melodic arcs, the fourth the melodic density of the pieces, and the fifth the informational distance of the corpora as it results when they are expressed as Markov models (frequency distributions of n-grams). The musicological discussion of the results led to the conclusion that the Heirmologion of Karykis contributes significantly to the formation of tradition as it presents a different image from the previous tradition and is similar to the next one.
With the creation of the notational formalisation, the corpora, and the computational methods that were applied to musical texts of Middle Byzantine notation, we are led to the general conclusion that Byzantine musicology can also be carried out computationally. This possibility, as demonstrated on a theoretical and practical level, offers us faster data processing and more systematic consideration of Byzantine musical notations. A computational approach forces us to define everything without ambiguities. This is the reason why any computational approach that uses historical – or more broadly humanistic – concepts requires a formal definition of them, leading us to the field of Digital Humanities.

Fine arts - Entertainment

Byzantine music, computational approach, digital corpora, Heirmologion, Knowledge Representation

No

0

Yes

283

546

File access is restricted until 2024-06-17.

https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/3331382