CHRYSANTHOS OF MADYTUS

(c. 1770, Madytus, northwestern Turkey – 1846, Bursa, Turkey)

Byzantine theorist. Working withChourmouzios the Archivistand Gregorios the Protopsaltes (c. 1778–1821), he wroteTheōretikon mega tēs mousikēs("Great Theoretical Book on Music"), which simplified the neumatic notation ofByzantine chant, which had grown extremely complex over the centuries, with a kind of solfege and a reduction of the traditional eightmodesinto three species: diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic. This Reformed or "Chrysanthine" notation is today the system of the Greek Orthodox Church.

See alsoGuido D’Arezzo; Oktoēchos.