CHRYSANTHOS OF MADYTUS

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

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

   See also Guido D’Arezzo; Oktoēchos.