Musicology Annotation << Back Echoi structure of the eight-echoi doxastichon «By the Divine Command» Shchepkina Nadezhda A. The phenomenon of multiple-echoi hymns involves the embedding in such hymns of special symbols, the medial echos martyry-signs, which differ from the initial echos designation of a certain hymn. Such martyry-signs appear at the beginning (or sometimes in the end) of neumatic text lines throughout the entire hymn. The textual analysis of fi ve Russian and four Greek manuscript copies of the eight-echoi doxastichon «By the Divine Command» made it possible to identify a common pattern associated with the insertion of medial martyry-signs. The embedding of the martyry-signs reflects modal shifts in various parts of a hymn, although it appears that such written directions are not always to be observed in actual performance. The comprehensive analysis of the manuscripts makes it evident that although sometimes a martyry-sign does not appear in a hymn, the modal shift could also be performed upon an oral instruction of the cantor aware of the nine-echoi structure of the hymn. Further study of the ssues associated with the transcription of multiple-echoi hyms appears to be promising and favorable for a deeper understanding of cross-cultural interaction between Byzantine Empire and Ancient Rus. Keywords: eight-echoi hymn, medial martyry-signs, notated hymns, Greek and Russian manuscripts of XII–XIII ss. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.01.2019.408 Contacts: E-mail: nadjach@yandex.ru Pp. 34-40.