The 8 Gregorian Church Modes

“Dorian * Hypodorian * Phrygian * Hypophrygian * Lydian * Hypolydian * Mixolydian * Hypomixolydian

The exact origins of this eightfold organization of modes that completely dominated the church music of medieval Christendom remains contentious. Most authorities accept that the Carolingian court borrowed them from ninth-century Byzantine liturgies, which themselves arose out of the ancient priestly chants of the Near East.

Just as in ancient Greece, generation after generation of writers sought to define the effects of their emotions. Dorian was considered to be serious and to tame the passions; Hypodorian tended towards the mournful and tearful; Phrygian incited passion and led towards mystical revelry; Hypophrygian was the mode of tender harmony that tempered anger; Lydian was the music of cheerful happiness; Hypolydian was the tone of devout and emotional piety; Mixolydian united pleasure and sadness; and Hypomixolydian aspired to a sense of perfection and secure, contented knowledge.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.