Ancient Greek music

[Alexias]

There was a programme on BBC 4 last night about, mainly, ancient Greek music. For anyone with access to BBC iplayer, you may be able to catch it on there, or perhaps it will turn up on PBS America. It was called Discovering the Music of Antiquity.

Anyway, a small piece of folder papyrus was found in the Louvre which they managed to unfold and found a piece of music written down in the 2nd century BC. The Greeks had a system of musical notation, with some 1600 characters/symbols, and it seems this is well-known enough to have been computerised so that ancient Greek music can be heard again today. This song is believed to be from Euripides 'Medea' and is Medea protesting that she did not kill her two sons by Jason but that she entrusted them to a nursemaid. The brief song was performed by a male bass singer, as it would have been in the original theatre been performed by a male actor, and the deep tones were meant to signify the darkness of Medea's character.

Another Greek song has survived on a stele, I believe found in what was Constantinople, and I think they mentioned that one other song has survived.

The programme also featured the aulos, the double flute which seems to have been played at every event in ancient Greece. It is more resonant and deeper than a modern flute, which is rather breathy in comparison.

The programme also featured ancient Egyptian harps, which weren't very impressive, and Roman circular horns (I can't remember the name). They did not mention that these horns might have some connection with Celtic war horns, which are much louder and more impressive, even though the Roman army used these circular horns in much the same way that more modern armies used the bugle for signalling manoeuvres.

Finally, no music survives from Egypt or Rome, but it does from Greece.

[sikander]

Greetings Pothosians,
There is an excellent exploration in the collection "Music of Greek Antiquity" put out by The Hellenic Art of Music.A bit old now, but if you like the history of music, a good collection

Regards,
Sikander

[Jeanne Reames]

While we're on the topic of ancient Greek music, let me plug my friend Bettina's work.

Multiple lyres on ancient models, aulos, and she has a beautiful voice, too. She's also the

Bettina Joy DeGuzman

"Bettina Joy de Guzman is a multi-instrumentalist and Classicist, composing with replica ancient music instruments and ancient poetry, based on research. She has performed for National Archaeological Museum in Athens, among other universities and and international organizations. She has taught ancient languages, history, and mythology. As President of California Classical Association South, she organizes panels twice a year. She is co-creator and host of Cosmote TV, History Channel, “Ancient Greek Culture, Now!” which aired January 2021 in Greece. She is a 2021 Associate and Grant recipient, and Visiting Artist, for The Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University."

Look her up on Youtube and Spotify!