This study is the fruit of my long-term engagement with the interpretation of music and poetry. This path, from long ago until very recently, was marked and defined by the presence of people who, sometimes openly and sometimes unsuspectedly, inspired, guided and encouraged me. Here I will mention by name those who were directly involved in the creation of this book. My gratitude and thanks to those who shall not be named are no less. Errors, omissions and oversights are solely my responsibility. This book is a translation and edited form of the doctoral thesis I prepared during the period 2003-2007 at King's College London under the supervision of Roderick Beaton. The persuasiveness of the book's arguments owes much to his rigorous, methodical and knowledgeable guidance, which was, in a rarely encouraging way, open to new views and interpretations. The comments of the thesis examiners, David Holton and Dimitris Giova, were particularly helpful in turning it into a book. David Ricks offered his crucial advice as second thesis supervisor and his discreet and generous help as chair of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at King's during the final editing of the book. [...] (From the preface of the publication)