ABSTRACT

The apparent peculiarity of a hesychast monk contemporary with Gregory Palamas leading the way toward greater musical virtuosity has not entirely escaped musicologists,3 but the spiritual and liturgical context of the Koukouzelian reforms has thus far remained largely undefined.4 This study will therefore be devoted to a preliminary exploration of the relationship between late Byzantine monasticism and psalmody broadly defined in an attempt to provide some tentative answers to two fundamental questions: 1. What do the writings and Vitae of hesychast fathers tell us about

chanting? 2. What was their worship really like?