From the 8th century onwards, the first attempts at music notation appeared in Byzantium, which evolved and led to the development of a complete system known as "Middle Byzantine notation" by the mid-12th century.

These musical signs assisted in the practice and teaching of chanting until the early 19th century, when the reform of the "New Method" took place with its center in Constantinople. Professor Christian Troelsgård, a leading contemporary exponent of the renowned "Copenhagen School," gathers in this book his knowledge and experiences, as well as those of the representatives of Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae, regarding both the decoding of Middle Byzantine notation and the various aspects of Byzantine Hymnody (octoechos, types of composition, repertoire, etc.).

The manual begins with four introductory chapters that gradually introduce the reader to issues concerning the language of Byzantine hymns and troparia, the genres of Byzantine musical notation, and various ways of transcribing the old musical signs onto the staff or into an alphabetic system, with an emphasis on the transcription system used in this book.

The main part of the manual follows, which contains a systematic teaching of Middle Byzantine notation. The reader can learn and deepen their knowledge regarding aspects such as:

• a geography of the spread of Middle Byzantine notation, based on representative musical manuscripts,
• the symbols of Middle Byzantine notation: voiced, unvoiced with their characteristic positions, variations,
• the old octoechos: theoretical foundations, sounds-resonances, cadences, the phenomenon of chromaticism, variations,
• genres and types of composition, with an emphasis on the repertoire of the old Byzantine period (simple chanting, automela-similar, irmoi, stichera, examples from the Chanting and Hymnody members) and an opening towards the well-tuned repertoire.

By providing a large number of musical examples transcribed onto the staff and using accessible and comprehensible language, the author successfully combines the immediacy required by a teaching manual with the depth of a scientific work that delves into the problematic aspects of studying a musical tradition that goes so far back in time.