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Ancient Music CEIPS VILLA DE COBEÑA CURSO 2018-18 DPTO. MÚSICA ANCIENT MUSIC INTRODUCTION Ancient music is music that developed in literate cultures, replacing prehistoric music. Ancient music refers to the various musical systems that were developed across various geographical regions such as Mesopotamia, India, Persia, Egypt, China, Greece and Rome. We will study the heritage of Greece and Rome because they are very important in the Western culture. The ideals of art and beauty had their origin there and the philosophy was based on Plato and Aristotle thoughts. During later historical periods, men looked to the past, to Greece and Rome, to learn and be inspired. Moreover, European poetry and drama are built from the ancient Greek and Latin traditions. In the arts, philosophy or politics, we could study their works to imitate them but in music it is not possible because it was not preserved. Recently 40 musical fragments have been recovered, but the things that we known about the music of this period is thanks to written stories, paintings or sculptures. Why did the music of Ancient Greece disappear in the Middle Ages? Because music was linked to pagan religious practices, practices that the primitive church did not like. Therefore, not only was the music kept outside the church, but all the memories were also erased. However, there were some features of ancient musical practice that survived the Middle Ages: the musical theory that would be the basis of medieval theory. This was due to the importance that Pythagoras, Plato or Boethius gave to music. Their theories are the basis of Western musical thought. Therefore, to understand medieval music we must know the ancient musical theory. MUSIC IN THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF ANCIENT GREECE We have much more information about the musical theories of the Greeks than about their music. The word music (mousike in Greek) comes from muse (each of the nine goddesses of the arts and sciences) and refers to the art of conjugating sounds. It also includes poetry and dance. Music was related to mathematics and astronomy and along with physical education achieved a full education for the men. Greek mythology attributed a divine origin to music and explained that the inventors and the first musicians were gods and demigods like Apollo, Dionysus or Orpheus. Music had magical powers: they thought that it could heal and purify body and mind and alter the human will, power that could be used for good or for evil. Therefore, music and dance were an important part of religious ceremonies. 1 CEIPS VILLA DE COBEÑA CURSO 2018-18 DPTO. MÚSICA Characteristics of Greek music - Monodic music - Improvised - Melody and rhythm deeply linked to the rhythm of poetry Musical theory The study of musical theory has its origin in the Pythagorean school that develops the study of intervals from a tensioned string (monochord). We owe them the concepts of intervals and scales. Although its scales were composed of 4 sounds in descending order and were called tetracordos. Notation The Greeks provide the first system of musical notation. It is an alphabetical musical script in which the symbols were placed on the text. The pitch of the sounds were indicated by the letters of the alphabet, and the rhythm, with dashes and dots. Examples of music that have survived to nowadays - Fragment of a choral song from Orestes of Euripides - Hymns of Apollo - Seikilos Epitaph (engraved on a tombstone). This is one of the oldest surviving examples of a complete musical composition, including text and musical notation. It is dated to the second century B.C. It was written by a Greek poet, born in Sicily. The song’s text is introduced with the following inscription: "I am a tombstone, an image. Seikilos placed me here as an everlasting sign of deathless remembrance" 2 CEIPS VILLA DE COBEÑA CURSO 2018-18 DPTO. MÚSICA Translation: Mientras vivas, brilla, no sufras por nada en absoluto. La vida dura poco, y el tiempo exige su tributo. Instruments In the cult of the god Apollo, the lyre was the characteristic instrument . The lyre o zither is a string instrument that was used alone and to accompany singing and recitation of epic poems. The string instruments were therefore related to this god, to beauty and perfection ( Apollonian) On the other hand, in Dionysus cult it was the aulos the main instrument. Identified as a flute is actually a reed in strument normally used in pairs. Wind instruments, on the other hand, are related to human passions, wildness and barbarism (Dionysian). Zither Aulos Lyra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_q1qJSqVqg Aulos music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR2JcBGZ6bE 3 .
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