Romanos | |
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![]() Icon of Romanus the Melodist (1649) | |
The Melodist | |
Born | Late 5th-century[1] Emesa (modern-day Homs, Syria) |
Died | After 555[1] Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) |
Venerated in | |
Feast | October 1 (October 14 N.S.)[2] |
Attributes | Young man vested as a deacon, standing on a raised platform in the middle of a church, holding a scroll with his Kontakion of the Nativity written on it. He is surrounded by the Patriarch, the Emperor, and members of the congregation. His icon is often a combined with that of The Protection of the Mother of God, which falls on the same day. Sometimes he is depicted as a deacon holding a censer in his right hand and a small model of a church in his left. |
Patronage | Music |
Romanos the Melodist (Greek: Ῥωμανὸς ὁ Μελωδός; late 5th-century – after 555) was a Byzantine hymnographer and composer,[1] who is a central early figure in the history of Byzantine music. Called "the Pindar of rhythmic poetry",[3] he flourished during the sixth century, though the earliest manuscripts of his works are dated centuries after this.[4] He was the foremost Kontakion composer of his time.[5]