The idea that the Deuteros modes (second authentic and second plagal) of Greek liturgical chant already had a chromatic character before the end of the Byzantine era has gained wide acceptance in the last decades. Trying to go one step further and reconstruct the scales of these modes, the present article attempts a new interpretation of certain crucial passages in late Byzantine treatises, which can provide important clues, if interpreted in connection with the description of the modes in modern Greek music theory and their actual characteristics in the written and oral tradition. The resulting structures can serve as a basis for future transcriptions of chants, at least for the late and post-Byzantine repertory.

The alleluia was the last proper chant of the Mass to be standardized. Through the twelfth century and beyond, different churches assigned different alleluias to the same Masses, and the composition of new alleluia chants flourished throughout the latter Middle Ages. The Masses from Easter to the octave of Pentecost witness this. A collation of ca. 200 manuscripts demonstrates that identical series of chants are to be found only in sources emanating from the same church (or churches in the same city). Most of the alleluia chants from the eleventh century onward have New Testament or non-scriptural texts, as opposed to the psalmic texts of the earlier post-Pentecostal alleluias. The musical style is varied, ranging from the richly melismatic manner traditionally associated with the alleluia to much more modest melodies with few or no large melismas. A number of the latter can be associated with the reforms of Guillaume de Volpiano at Dijon and in Normandy in the years after 1000.

The interpretation of chromatic content in fourteenth-century music has been widely debated. While most studies have focused on contrapuntal necessity, this study advocates an approach that begins from the perspective of melody. Using the ballades, virelais and rondeaux of Guillaume de Machaut as a central repertory, it proposes that not only are chromatic inflections in Machaut's monophonic songs derived melodically, but that many chromatic inflections in Machaut's polyphonic songs also arise from melodic rather than contrapuntal requirements. Because of their implied semitone motion – arguably crucial to tonal organization – they can have an impact on the definition of tonal structure by privileging the individual pitches they decorate, particularly but not exclusively in cadential melodic formulas or progressions.

An effort to catch up on missing discs to be included in the Second Edition of my discography has resulted in an unusually long list this year. ‘Christus Rex’ (1997, no. 2) proved to be the first disc in a series featuring Hervé Lamy, a soloist with the Chœur Grégorien de Paris. It has been followed by ‘Spiritus Domini’ (no. 1 in the list below) and ‘Pater Noster’ (no. 3) to form a Trinitarian programme of chants related to each of the Three Divine Persons. In a similar vein, ‘Le Livre d’Heures de Charlemagne' (no. 2) offers groups of chants that focus on the Carolingian chant reform and other aspects of the king's life. Most of the chants belong to a soloist, Lamy's superb professional tenor a perfect vehicle for interpretations that are faithful to current standards yet inspired by a sensitive interpreter. Credo IV, leading off no. 1, is not a good choice for a solo, but it is sung with great panache. The Ambrosian Gloria and the Te Deum on the same disc are better alternating with the men's schola. For the rest, the Exsultet (on no. 3), lamentations, lessons from Office and Mass, and offertories with verses are ideal selections. An original touch also in no. 3 is a passage of St Matthew's gospel that leads into the communion chant Pater si non potest. The Laudes Regiae, heard on the earlier disc already, are sung again for Charlemagne, Pope Leo and Archbishop Hincmar. These are magnificent examples of recorded chant.