Ioasaph the New Koukouzelis (late 16nth–early 17nth century)
Monk Ioasaph of Vatopaidi, nicknamed the New Koukouzelis, flourished in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. His works contain embellishments of older melodies, transcripts according to the Vatopaidian and more generally Athonite manner of expression, and abridgments of the “broader” older musical compositions. Ioasaph set a “Nyn ai dynameis” to music in the second plagal mode, which is by far the most popular of his works. Moreover, we find various prosomia troparia accentuated by Ioasaph according to mode “set to music by kyr Ioasaph the new Koukouzelis”. Ioasaph was a forerunner to the forthcoming period of renewal and to the first flourishing of church music during the period of the Turkish Rule. Together, he and the prestigious Arsenios the Younger created a profound personal musical tradition that left a pronounced mark on the Athonite tradition of chant and established Vatopaidi as a pole of attraction “for those desiring to learn music”.