ZNAMENNY CHANT

Znamenny Chant – One of the basic types of liturgical chant in the Russian Church from the time of its founding. Initially Znamenny Chant was monophonic, performed in unison; beginning with the mid-16th c. there is evidence for polyphonic performance of Znamenny Chant, although only one voice continued to be notated in the MSS. The 17th c. saw the appearance of notated znamenny polyphony, in 2, 3, and 4 parts, written in score format in znamenny notation. In terms of melodic structure,Znamenny Chant is comprised of melodic formulae (popevki) — kokizy, litsa, and fity — which are organized according to Eight Tones.