When in 1875 Queen Olga of Greece insisted a multi‐part chant be introduced in the Athens Cathedral, a widespread debate about the influence of Western European culture upon Greek‐Orthodox tradition was initiated in Athens. With a significant part of this debate originating in mid‐century Vienna, and Russian musical influences affecting the form of the otherwise ancient Byzantine chant, the issue of polyphony acquired cultural‐historical dimensions intimately connected to historical continuity and the Orthodox‐Christian musical tradition. The debate transformed rapidly from a musicological enquiry into a matter of national identity, and an otherwise innocent aesthetic choice showcased the musical dimensions of Greek national claims at continuity. This article examines the historical contingencies that fuelled this debate, showcases the importance of patronage for musical transference and highlights the potency of Greek national Orthodoxy as a carrier of historical continuity for the ethnic group, here seen through music.

The article details the institutional, political and cultural conditions in nineteenth-century Athens, in relation to the reception and development of Western opera and Greek ecclesiastical music. Through the examination of important institutions such as the Theatre of Athens and the University of Athens, the article compares the popularity of Italian opera with the underdevelopment of institutions for education in church music, it analyses the impact of limited musical education in the country, and explains how the absence of musical policy –either for Western music or the Greek-Orthodox chant – resulted in music turning into a token of local cultural resistance against Western European influence.

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