Хор братии Валаамского монастыря

Russian Orthodox liturgical music is the a cappella chant and choral tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, sung in Church Slavonic during services such as the Divine Liturgy, the All‑Night Vigil, and the Hours. It grew from medieval monophonic chant (especially Znamenny, but also Demestvenny and Put’) structured by the octoechos (eight-mode) system inherited from Byzantium. From the 17th century onward, polyphonic and later richly harmonized choral idioms developed alongside chant, creating a uniquely Slavic blend of ancient modal melody and Romantic choral sonority. Hallmarks include unaccompanied mixed or male choirs, free, text-driven rhythm, deep basses (oktavists), luminous chordal writing in later repertoire, and a reverent, prayerful tone that prioritizes clarity of the sacred text over display. Instruments are not used, in keeping with Orthodox canons.

Znamenny chant is a monophonic, unaccompanied liturgical chant tradition of the medieval Russian Orthodox Church. It took shape from the 11th century, building on the Byzantine octoechos system and adapting it to Slavic language, prosody, and worship. Hallmarks include strictly modal melodies (the eight glas/modes), stepwise motion with measured leaps, free rhythm governed by the Church Slavonic text, and performance in unison by cantors or choir without instruments. Its neumatic notation—called kryuki or "hooks"—encodes melodic formulae and nuanced delivery rather than exact meter. Several stylistic strata exist: stolpovoy ("pillar") as the foundational, more syllabic layer; putevoy ("path") with richer formulae; and demestvenny, the most ornate and melismatic. The overall sound is austere, meditative, and hieratic, designed to carry scripture and prayer rather than display virtuosity.

Gregorian chant is the central Western tradition of plainchant: a monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) used in the Roman Catholic liturgy. It employs free rhythm guided by the prosody of the text rather than by strict meter, and is sung in unison by clerics or scholas. Its melodies are organized by the system of eight church modes, with characteristic finalis (final), tenor/reciting tones, and melodic formulas. Repertoires include the Proper and Ordinary of the Mass (e.g., Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) and the Divine Office (e.g., Antiphons, Responsories, Hymns, Psalms). Although legend credits Pope Gregory I, modern scholarship sees Gregorian chant as a Carolingian synthesis of Old Roman and Gallican chants, standardized across Frankish realms and later the broader Latin West.

Byzantine chant is the monophonic, a cappella liturgical music of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Church, sung primarily in Greek and organized around the octoechos (eight-mode) system. Its melodies are modal rather than harmonic, unfolding in one line supported in later practice by a sustained drone (ison). The repertory sets biblical psalms and hymnic poetry (e.g., troparia, kontakia, stichera, and canons) to melodies that follow textual accent and rhetorical pacing rather than strict meter. Notation employs neumes that encode melodic direction and ornate formulae, preserving a highly codified oral tradition. The sound is characterized by free rhythm, microtonal inflections in certain modes, and an austere, prayerful timbre designed for resonant ecclesiastical spaces. Byzantine chant remains central to the worship of the Eastern Orthodox Church and has shaped a wide family of chant traditions across the Mediterranean and Slavic worlds.

Byzantine music is the sacred chant tradition of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, cultivated primarily in the Greek-speaking Christian world. It is a monophonic, vocal art that uses modal systems (the Octoechos), formulaic melodic patterns, and an ison (drone) to support the principal melody. It is performed a cappella in liturgical contexts, with texts drawn from scripture and hymnography in Greek and related Christian languages. Its notation developed a distinctive neumatic script, and its aesthetics emphasize prayerful sobriety, rhetorical declamation of sacred texts, and highly ornamented melodic gestures governed by modal grammar.