Psaltes (Cantor)

DIMITRI CONOMOS

One of the minor clerical orders in those Orthodox Churches that employ monophonic chants. The chief cantor, the protopsaltes, initiates choral performances by intoning a conventional formula or, more frequently, by singing one or two starting notes to establish the pitch. The earliest testimonies to a solo cantor are from Constantinople (second half of the 4th century) where, in the responsorial exe­cution of scriptural verse – especially psalm­ody – the cantor sang refrains which were repeated by the congregation. In Byzantium there were two choirs, each with its own leader: the protopsaltes for the right choir and the lampadarios for the left.