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This dissertation examines the historical phenomenon of nonsense syllables in the chant of the Byzantine church. This practice appears already in ancient Greek music and has gone by the terms of kratēmata and teretismata, as well as with a number of other denotations. Three different hypotheses as to the historical roots and development of this singing practice are examined and analyzed thoroughly, namely those of Gregorios Stathis (1979, 2014), Diane Touliatos (1989), and Grigorios Anastasiou (2005). The foundations, results and consequences of these theories are then reassessed in the light of critical examination of the 14th century treatise Ἁρμονικά (Harmonika) of Manuel Bryennios (Magdalen College MS Gr 13), of the 10th century Book of Ceremonies (in Latin cited as De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae and in Greek cited as Ἔκθεσις τῆς βασιλείου τάξεως) of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porfirogenitus, and of different versions of the liturgy of the so-called “Service of the Furnace” (Athens, National Library, MS 2047; Athens, National Library, MS 2406; Iviron Monastery, MS 1120; S-Sinai, Mt. Sinai, MS 1527; and Lavra Monastery, MS 165). Further light is shed on the matters by analysis of a sound recording of a kratēma by Xenos Korōnis (c. 1320-1350), as sung by Panagiotis Tsinaras in the twentieth century, and by considering the tradition alongside nonsense-syllable singing in other religious singing traditions, in order to understand the practice in a broader anthropological context.

The critical examination and synthesis of previous theories of origin and development of Byzantine nonsense-syllable singing offers a number of conclusions, where I argue for new, qualified hypotheses that may be laid as foundations for further research. It is concluded that the nonsense syllables seem to have served a number of functions and purposes: as incantations (sometimes with pagan and ritual associations), as mimesis of nature (birds and cicada), for the intonation of texted chant, as well as for singing practice and solmization purposes. It is also argued that the non-semantic vocalization that this singing constitutes amounts to a type of proto-programmatic music, with layers of mimetic singing and a rare sense of heightened expression in a context which otherwise focus strongly on the religious text and its context.