Dance of the Tagmata - Epic Byzantine Music

Arrangement by Farya Faraji, featuring oud and sazi by Edu Giro. Artwork by J.F Oliveras. Please note that this isn't reconstructed historical music, it's modern Greek music with a historical theme. None of the melodies here are mine, I only arranged traditional passages on the violin and added my own instrumentation to it.

The tagmata were various sections of the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire whose function and arrangement evolved over time.

Whilst all my other Byzantine music used variants of the Greek folk lyras so far as bowed instruments, I wanted to pay homage to the recently introduced violin from the last two centuries. After entering the musical continuum of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western violin became a central instrument of these cultures under the Ottoman Empire and the neighbouring regions, and its versatility in terms of articulation as well as lack of frets meant it was a perfect fit for the modal musical systems of the region. The violin has now almost displaced the traditional lyra except in select regions like Crete. The violin heard here plays passage in different traditional modes of Greek music descending directly from Ancient Greek modality, and whose nomenclature is inherited from Ottoman Turkish nomenclature (itself partly based on the nomenclature of Arabic and Iranian maqam systems), these modes being: Ussak, Rast, Sabah, Nihavent and Hicaz.

I added a santouri, as well as a supporting oud and sazi played by Edu Giro, and accompanied the whole thing with a chord progression on the island lauto as is typically the case with modern Greek folk music, being largely based on simple power chord progressions.

[faryafaraji]

Arrangement by Farya Faraji, featuring oud and sazi by Edu Giro. Artwork by J.F Oliveras. Please note that this isn't reconstructed historical music, it's modern Greek music with a historical theme. Please note this isn't reconstructed historical music, it's modern folk music. The Epic Byzantine Music series is a musical project where I explore various sounds from the ethnomusicological ecosystem of modern traditional music, using sounds from modern folk traditions as they are today as a framing device for themes pertaining to the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. None of the melodies here are mine, I only arranged traditional passages on the violin and added my own instrumentation to it.

The tagmata were various sections of the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire whose function and arrangement evolved over time.

Whilst all my other Byzantine music used variants of the Greek folk lyras so far as bowed instruments, I wanted to pay homage to the recently introduced violin from the last two centuries. After entering the musical continuum of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western violin became a central instrument of these cultures under the Ottoman Empire and the neighbouring regions, and its versatility in terms of articulation as well as lack of frets meant it was a perfect fit for the modal, maqam-based musical systems of the region. The violin has now almost displaced the traditional lyra except in select regions like Crete. The violin heard here plays passage in different traditional modes of Greek music descending directly from Ancient Greek modality, and whose nomenclature is inherited from Ottoman Turkish nomenclature (itself partly based on the nomenclature of Arabic and Iranian maqam systems), these modes being: Ussak, Rast, Sabah, Nihavent and Hicaz.

I added a santouri, as well as a supporting oud and sazi played by Edu Giro, and accompanied the whole thing with a chord progression on the island lauto as is typically the case with modern Greek folk music, being largely based on simple power chord progressions.

[markscf]

'''Sorry honey, the Greek Iranian Canadian Turkish Indian French Roman English Slavic Youtube dude uploaded some Byzantine banger online, so i won't be joining you in eating those 78 mcnuggets''

[Kartlos]

>sad because of a shitty day
>Notification: Dance of the Tagmata - Epic Byzantine Music
>no longer sad

[nNikola]

Imagine a history movie about Rome for which Farya composes soundtrack 🤩

[marekfalda]

From all of the traditions you’ve explored, I think Greece slaps the hardest.

[gen.flagvanus]

Somebody give this man all the love. He did more for popularization of Byzantine than most of my school and college books. Keep it going, Farya!
By the way any thoughts of making songs about "Five good emperors"?

[SD-fpei]

Ωωω ωχ! Να μου ζήσεις Ελλαδάρα (και όλη η Ρωμιοσύνη)! Σε ευχαριστούμε, Φάρυα, για το απίστευτο μουσικό ταλέντο σου που ποτέ δεν μας απογοητεύει! Ανοίγει η ψυχή μας όποτε σ’ ακούμε! Να σε έχει ο Θεός καλά! 🇬🇷☦️

[Misterp-]

First Hikanatoi
Second Akritai
Then Varangians
And now, the Tagmata...

[anastasios]

Definitely, it sounds typical traditional Greek music with elements of the mainland and the Aegean islands.

[iibugii]

Yet another based byzantine banger from the shāhanshāh of historical music

[XristosArgyropoulos]

This guy has an extraordinary talented ability to make my day
No, to make my month

Ευχαριστώ!

[youtublore]

HOLY CRAP AS AN IRISH PERSON I WAS ONLY WAITING FOR YOUR IRISH SONGS. BUT I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE HEARD ANY FORM OF SOUND THAT MATCHES THE BEAUTY OF THIS SONG HOW DO YOU DO THIS

[Cozonac]

I have been waiting for an Eastern Roman song for so loong. Cheers Farya!

[de.a.]

Beautiful music, and strong as tsipouro with anise!

[Knullthelethalprotector]

Another masterpiece from legend 👏👏 Greetings from İstanbul (Constantinople).

[Rissamlu]

These were the professional troops of the Empire, standing troops rather than conscripts.

[ShadowOfBonaparte]

Каждый раз, когда здесь публикуется новое творение — это поистине великий день для всего человечества.

[midnightbard]

I found your byzantine music while learning for my graduation exams from history and they really helped me to enjoy the whole process even more. Your songs still hold a special place in my heart, thank you for doing this!

[DimiDrolUA]

Сижу, слушаю старые треки по византийской и римской тематике и думаю, вот бы круто было, если новый трек выйдет. Фарья услышал меня. Спасибо!)

[fallennarcotic]

I think these kind of songs by farya are the best. They feel like something you’d hear walking into a medieval taverna just sitting there drinking your tsipouro