Kondakar Notation

Kondakar Notation 

a type of Old Russian staffless musical notation. The name is derived from the Kondakarion — songbooks written in the notation.

Kondakar notation uses combinations of sticks, dots, and commas like the znamennyi, or kriuki, notation, but adds various “curlicues” that are written above the other symbols; thus, kondakar notation is in the form of two lines. Its origins and meaning were unknown until the mid-20th century, when it was established that the notation was of Byzantine origin and was used to record melodies of the melismatic style. The problem of deciphering kondakar notation has not yet been solved.

REFERENCES

Smolenskii, S. V. O drevnerusskikh pevcheskikh notatsiiakh. [St. Petersburg, 1901.]
Uspenskii, N. D. Drevnerusskoe pevcheskoe iskusstvo, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1971.
Floros, C. “Die Entzifferung der Kondacarien-Notation.” In Musik der Ostens, vols. 3–4. Kassel, 1965–67.
Floros, C. Universale Neumenkunde, vols, 1–3. Kassel, 1970.

N. D. USPENSKII