Editor’s Note: Western Culture has been influenced by many different elements, with Christianity being at the forefront. Of course, there are multiple Christian traditions that have left a mark. Here, we share a video that presents about 45 minutes of Byzantine Christian hymns. These are from the Eastern Orthodox perspective, and are quite beautiful. As you spend time with your family, if you have some time, you may find these songs not only nice to listen to, but uplifting.
If Boethius cited from this infogalactic article: https://infogalactic.com/info/O_Antiphons) is to be believed my favourite advent hymn is from the Byzantine period.
Thanks for the link: it’s lovely.
Thanks! One of our goals here is to introduce folks to various strains of the traditions that merged to become Western Culture. Since Christianity is so important in that regard, we do try to present various perspectives.
Byzantine music can occasionally sound “odd,” as it uses a different musical scale (or something like that; I am not a music scholar or anything), but can really grow on you. The Paschal (Easter) music is outstanding.