Ioannis Arvanitis: This seems to be a later practice. In the musical manuscripts of the 14th and 15th cent., one can find an adaptation of the 44th psalm without the extra verses -only an 'Alleluia' is added- as Antiphons for the feasts of the Mother of God, ie as the third 'stasis' (third part) of the Polyeleos, with Psalm 134 and Ps. 135 being the first and second part respectively. It seems that in that period all three 'staseis' of the Polyeleos were sung in Theotokos' feasts. One can find musical settings of these two psalms and the Antiphons (Eklogai) in the manuscripts. Perhaps around the 17th cent., as I can deduce from the mss, the second and third staseis fell out of use or , more correctly, only one stasis was sung, preferably the ps. 134, as one can find settings only of this (the old ones , 'Koukoumas' and 'Latrinos', and Chrysaphis' the New and Balasios' in 17th cent.), and only one setting of ps. 135 (by Petros Bereketis). This tradition of setting into music only ps. 134 was then followed by the composers of the 18th cent. (Ioannis Trapezountios, Daniel Protopsaltis, Petros Lampadarios etc.). On the other hand, ps. 44 which was the Eklogi of Hypapanti (this is its proper place in the Eklogarion) became the Polyeleos of all Theotokos' feasts. It seems that Petros Bereketis (end 17th/begin 18th cent.) was the composer of the additional verses sung in this Polyeleos and maybe this is the reason he is called a 'Melodos' (poet and composer). So, the Polyeleos was reduced only to one set of psalm verses : usually the entire ps. 134 or (rarely) the entire psalm 135 or , in the feasts of the Theotokos, the collection of ps. 44 with its additional 'salutations' (the adding -or 'troping'- of non scriptural text in the Polyeleos was an older custom). All the above described reflects the Constantinopolitan tradition (all the above mentioned composers lived in Constantinople) which was, of course, disseminated everywhere. The full singing of the Polyeleos remained in the practice of the Holy Mount Athos. There one can hear the Constantinopolitan (moderately melismatic) musical settings but also local syllabic settings of the three staseis. This tradition was probably unknown to the followers of the Constantinopolitan tradition, as eg. in Athens. Syllabic settings of the Athonite tradition of the Polyeleos were first sung in Athens by the great Greek writers Alexandros Papadiamandis and Alexandros Moraitidis who had received them as a tradition from their home island Skiathos where, in the Monastery of the Annunciation, many 'Kollybades' from Mount Athos have found a shelter. These syllabic settings were unknown to the Athenean singers who followed the Constantinopolitan tradition. Psalm 135 was written down and became widely known (it acquired even a polyphonic form and used to be taught to school teachers and children choirs; I remember this since my childhood, around '70's). In the 19th cent. some Eklogai were composed by Constantinopolitan composers in a moderately melismatic style and acquired the status of a 'Polyeleos' for a certain feast. The last developement in the Polyeleos, from the 19th cent. and through Constantinopolitan and Athonite composers, is the addition of 'salutations' to other Eklogai. Eg. the Eklogi to St. Demetrios is completed by 'salutations' in the honour of Him and appears as ''Polyeleos in the honour of St. Demetrios''. This practice is now continued by some, chiefly Athonite, composers although it is not so widely disseminated and has not yet surpassed the older tradition (at any rate, Polyeleos is a patr of a whole night service and something like that is difficult to be strictly followed in the urban churches). It seems that this developement didn't happen in the Russian Church. The most wellknown music for the Polyeleos of the Theotokos in the Byzantine tradition are the setting by Theodoros Phokaeus (in the plagal 4th mode) and another by Chourmouzios Chartophylax (in the 4th, legetos, mode).