Download I. Music in Antiquity

I. Music in Antiquity
A. Only historical traces of the music from past eras
survive.
1. Physsical objects, such as musical instruments
2. Visual images of musicians and instruments
3. Writings about music and musicians
4. Music as preserved in notation
B. Ancient Greek music influenced Western music.
1. The ancient Greeks left more surviving evidence
than other ancient cultures.
2. Western music has its roots in antiquity, especially
in ancient Greek theoretical writings.
II. Prehistoric Music-Making
A. Before 36,000 b.c.e.: Whistles and flutes made from
animal bones survive from the Stone Age in Europe
(HWM Figure 1.1).
B. Sixth millennium b.c.e.: Images in Turkish cave
paintings show drummers accompanying dancers
and driving out game.
C. Fourth millennium b.c.e.
1. Surviving Bronze Age metal instruments include
bells, cymbals, rattles, and horns.
2. Stone carvings show plucked stringed instruments.
III. Ancient Mesopotamia (see map, HWM
Figure 1.2)
A. Home to several cultures, the first true cities, and
the first known forms of writing (cuneiform)
B. Some clay tablets written in cuneiform mention
music.
C. Pictures show music-making with instruments.
D. Surviving instruments include lyres and harps.
1. Lyres (see HWM Figures 1.3 and 1.4)
a. Strings run parallel to the resonating
soundboard.
b. A crossbar supported by two arms secures the
strings.
c. The number of strings varies.
III. Ancient Mesopotamia (see map, HWM
Figure 1.2) (cont.)
1. Harps
a. Strings are perpendicular to the soundboard.
b. A neck attached to the soundbox secures the
strings.
A. Other instruments from the period include lutes,
pipes, drums, bells, and other percussion
instruments.
B. The ruling class left the most evidence because
they could buy instruments and hire scribes.
C. Most uses of music in ancient Mesopotamia were
similar to those of today.
1. For rituals, including weddings and funerals
III. Ancient Mesopotamia (see map, HWM
Figure 1.2) (cont.)
1. In daily life, including nursery songs, work songs,
and dance music
2. For entertainment at feasts
3. For religious ceremonies and processions
4. Epics sung with instrumental accompaniment
A. Written documentation from Mesopotamia
1. Word lists from ca. 2500 b.c.e. include terms for
instruments, tuning procedures, performers,
techniques, and genres (types of musical
composition).
2. The earliest known composer is Enheduanna (fl. ca.
2300 b.c.e.).
III. Ancient Mesopotamia (see map, HWM
Figure 1.2) (cont.)
a. She was a high priestess at Ur.
b. She composed hymns (songs to a god) to the
god and goddess of the moon.
c. Only the texts of her hymns survive.
1. Babylonian musicians began writing about music
ca. 1800 b.c.e.
a. Instructions for tuning a string instrument using a
seven-note diatonic scale (playable on the white
keys of a piano)
b. Interval theory, with names of intervals used to
create the earliest known notation (see HWM
Figure 1.5)
III. Ancient Mesopotamia (see map, HWM
Figure 1.2) (cont.)
i.
HWM Figure 1.5 dates from ca. 1400–1250
b.c.e.
ii. Not enough is known about the notation to
transcribe it.
iii. The poem seems to be a hymn to the wife of
the moon god, but the language (Hurrian)
cannot be translated entirely.
a. Although Babylonians had a form of notation,
musicians most likely performed from memory,
improvised, or used notation as a recipe for
reconstructing a melody.
b. Babylonian music theory seems to have
influenced later Greek theory.
IV. Other Civilizations
A. Instruments, images, and writings about East Asian
musical cultures survive, but they seem not to have
influenced Greek or European music.
B. Egyptian sources include artifacts, paintings, and
hieroglyphic writings in tombs, but scholars have
not been able to determine whether there is any
notated music.
C. The Bible describes ancient musical practices in
Israel (which in turn influenced Christian music),
but ancient copies of the Bible may not have any
notation.
V. Ancient Greece (see HWM Figure 1.6)
comprised a wide area and left us enough
evidence to construct a well-rounded view of
its musical culture.
VI. Instruments and Their Uses
A. Evidence of Greek instruments survives in writings,
archaeological remains, and hundreds of images on
pots.
B. Aulos (see HWM Figure 1.7)
1. A reed instrument
2. The body consisted of two pipes with fingerholes.
3. Pitch could be changed by position in the mouth, air
pressure, and fingering.
4. Images show the two pipes being fingered the
same, but they could produce octaves, parallel fifths
or fourths, drone, and unisons.
5. The aulos was used in the worship of Dionysus.
VI. Instruments and Their Uses (cont.)
a. Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, hence
the drinking scene in HWM Figure 1.7.
b. The aulos accompanied or alternated with
choruses in the great tragedies of Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides that were written for
Dionysian festivals.
C. The lyre (see HWM Figure 1.8)
1. There were several types, but they usually had
seven strings and would be strummed with a
plectrum, or pick.
2. The player held the instrument in front, supporting it
on the hip and from a strap around the left wrist.
3. Both hands were free to touch the strings.
a. The right hand strummed the strings.
VI. Instruments and Their Uses (cont.)
b. The fingers of the left hand touched the strings,
perhaps to dampen them or to create harmonics.
4. The lyre was associated with Apollo, god of light,
prophecy, learning, and the arts (especially music
and poetry).
a. Both men and women played the lyre.
b. Learning to play the lyre was a core element of
education in Athens.
c. The lyre was used to accompany dancing,
singing, weddings, and the recitation of epic
poetry such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
d. The lyre was also played for recreation.
VI. Instruments and Their Uses (cont.)
5. The kithara was a large lyre.
a. Used in processions, sacred ceremonies, and in
the theater
b. Played standing up (see HWM Figure 1.9)
D. Rise of virtuosity
1. By the sixth century b.c.e. or earlier, the aulos and
kithara were played as solo instruments.
2. Contests and music festivals became popular after
the fifth century b.c.e.
a. An account of a musical competition in 582 b.c.e.
describes a performance for aulos.
b. HWM Figure 1.9 comes from a jar (amphora)
awarded as a prize in a contest.
VI. Instruments and Their Uses (cont.)
3. Famous artists performed for large crowds, gave
concert tours, and demanded high fees from
wealthy patrons.
4. Women were excluded from competition but could
perform recitals, often to critical acclaim.
5. Other than the virtuoso soloists, the majority of
professional performers were slaves or servants.
VII. Greek Musical Thought
A. We know about Greek musical thought through two
kinds of writings:
1. Philosophical doctrines that describe music’s place
in the cosmos, its effects, and its proper uses in
society
2. Systematic descriptions of the materials of music
(music theory)
B. Music in Greek mythology
1. Gods and demigods were musical practitioners.
2. The word music (from mousiké) comes from the
Muses.
VII. Greek Musical Thought (cont.)
C. Performance of music
1. Music as a performing art was called melos (the
root of the word melody).
2. Music was monophonic, consisting of one melodic
line.
3. There was no concept of harmony or counterpoint.
4. Instruments embellished the melody while a soloist
or chorus sang the original version, creating
heterophony.
5. Music and poetry were nearly synonymous.
a. There was no word for artful speech without
music.
b. Many Greek words for poetic types are musical
terms—e.g., hymn.
VII. Greek Musical Thought (cont.)
D. Music and number
1. Pythagoras and his followers recognized the
numerical relationships that underlay musical
intervals—e.g., 2:1 results in an octave, 3:2 a fifth, and
4:3 a fourth.
2. Harmonia was the concept of an orderly whole
divisible by parts.
a. The term applied to the order of the universe.
b. Music was allied to astronomy through the notion
of harmonia.
VII. Greek Musical Thought (cont.)
c. Mathematical laws were the underpinnings of
musical intervals and the movements of
heavenly bodies alike.
d. From Plato’s time until the beginning of modern
astronomy, philosophers believed in a “harmony
of the spheres,” unheard music created by the
movement of planets and other heavenly bodies.
E. Music and ethos
1. Greek writers believed that music could affect
ethos, one’s ethical character.
a. Music’s mathematical laws permeated the visible
and invisible world, including the human soul.
VII. Greek Musical Thought (cont.)
a. The parts of the human soul could be restored to
a healthy balance (harmony) by the correct type
of music.
2. Aristotle’s Politics sets out a theory of how music
affects behavior (see HWM Source Reading, page
16).
a. The Mixolydian, Dorian, and Phrygian melodies
(combinations of mode, melodic turns, and
general style) each had specific effects on the
listener.
VII. Greek Musical Thought (cont.)
b. Aristotle argued that music should be part of
education because of its power to influence a
person’s soul.
c. The theory of imitation holds that a person will
imitate the ethos of the music they hear.
d. Aristotle admits that music is enjoyable (see last
sentence of HWM Source Reading, page 16)
and enjoyment is acceptable when part of
education and ethos.
e. He discourages high-born citizens from training
to become professionals or entering in
competitions because performing for pleasure
alone is menial and vulgar.s
VII. Greek Musical Thought (cont.)
3. Plato’s Republic urges balance between gymnastics
and music, and only certain types of music, in
education.
a. The Dorian and Phrygian harmoniai fostered the
virtues of temperance and courage.
b. Music should not have complex scales or mixed
genres, rhythms or instruments.
c. Changes in musical conventions could lead to
lawlessness in art and anarchy in society.
d. Plato’s uses for music are more restrictive than
Aristotle’s.
VIII. Greek Music Theory
B. Aristoxenus, Harmonic Elements and Rhythmic
Elements (ca. 330 b.c.e.)
1. Distinguishes between continuous movement of
voice and diastematic (intervallic) movement
2. Defines note, interval, and scale
3. Intervals defined abstractly (versus Babylonian
definition based on specific strings of the lyre or
harp)
C. Tetrachord theory
1. Tetrachord: four notes bounded by a perfect fourth
VIII. Greek Music Theory (cont.)
2. Three genera (classes) of tetrachord, defined by the
second and third pitches, descending (see HWM
Example 1.1)
a. Diatonic: tone - semitone – tone
b. Chromatic: minor third - semitone – semitone
c. Enharmonic: major third - quartertone –
semitone
d. Intervals varied in size, creating “shades” within
each genus.
3. The genera were an attempt to explain actual
musical practices.
4. Aristoxenus said the diatonic was the oldest genera;
the enharmonic, the most difficult to hear.
VIII. Greek Music Theory (cont.)
D. Greater Perfect System (see HWM Example 1.2)
1. Tetrachords put together to form a two-octave range
a. Tetrachords with common outer notes are
conjunct
b. Tetrachords with a tone between them are
disjunct
2. One added note at the bottom (Proslambanomenos)
3. The middle note was called mese.
4. Each of the four tetrachords was named.
a. Meson: the tetrachord beginning with mese and
descending
VIII. Greek Music Theory (cont.)
b. Diezeugmenon (disjunct): beginning a tone
above mese and ascending
c. Hypaton (conjunct): the tetrachord below Meson
d. Hyperbolaion (conjunct): the tetrachord above
Diezeugmenon
5. Although the pitches had names, there was no
absolute fixed pitch.
E. Species (the ways that perfect consonances could
be divided)
1. Cleonides noted that the perfect fourth, fifth, and
octave could be subdivided in a limited number of
ways in the diatonic genus.
VIII. Greek Music Theory (cont.)
2. The perfect fourth could be divided three ways (see
HWM Example 1.3a).
a. S - T - T (semitone - tone - tone)
b. T - T – S
c. T - S – T
3. The perfect fifth has four species (see HWM
Example 1.3b).
4. The octave has seven species (see HWM Example
1.3c).
a. Octave species result from combinations of
species of fourth and fifth.
VIII. Greek Music Theory (cont.)
b. Cleonides used names the “ancients”
supposedly used:
i. B-b: Mixolydian
ii. c-c': Lydian
iii. d-d': Phrygian
iv. e-e': Dorian
v. f-f': Hypolydian
vi. g-g': Hypophrygian
vii. a-a': Hypodorian
c. The Babylonians recognized the same diatonic
tunings.
VIII. Greek Music Theory (cont.)
d. Medieval theorists used the same names for
their modes but they do not match Cleonides’
species.
F. Other meanings for the names used by Cleonides
1. Styles of music practiced in different regions of the
Greek world (see map, HWM Figure 1.6)
2. Harmoniai
a. Scale types or melodic styles
b. Plato and Aristotle used the ethnic names with
and without prefixes
3. Tonoi (singular: tonos)
a. Scale or set of pitches within a specific range
b. Associated with character and mood, the higher
tonoi being more energetic.
IX. Ancient Greek Music
A. Surviving pieces and fragments
1. About forty-five survive.
2. Most are from relatively late periods, i.e., from the
fifth century b.c.e. to the fourth.
3. All employ a notation that places letters above the
text to indicate notes and durations.
4. The earliest fragments are choruses from plays by
Euripides (ca. 485–406 b.c.e.).
5. Later works include hymns and an epitaph on a
tombstone.
6. The musical style is consistent with music theory of
the time.
IX. Ancient Greek Music (cont.)
B. NAWM 1 Epitaph of Seikilos (see HWM Figure 1.10
and Example 1.4)
1. HWM Example 1.4 shows the Greek notation above
the transcription.
a. Alphabetical signs indicate the notes.
b. Marks indicating doubling or tripling of the basic
rhythmic unit are above the alphabetical signs.
2. Melody
a. Diatonic
b. The range is an octave.
c. The octave species is Phrygian.
IX. Ancient Greek Music (cont.)
d. The tonos is Iastian, a transposed version of
HWM Example 1.2.
e. The melody balances rising and falling gestures
with each line.
f. In keeping with the Iastian tonos, the text
suggests moderation.
g. The epitaph urges readers to be light hearted
while also acknowledging death.
C. NAWM 2 Fragment from Euripides’ Orestes
1. Survives on a scrap of papyrus from ca. 200 b.c.e.
(see HWM Figure 1.11)
IX. Ancient Greek Music (cont.)
2. Only the middle portion of its seven lines of text
survives.
3. The style is consistent with descriptions of
Euripides’ music.
a. Combines diatonic with either chromatic or
enharmonic genus
b. Instrumental notes are interspersed with vocal.
4. The text is a chorus for women.
5. The meter of the text uses dochmaic foot, used for
passages of intense agitation and grief.
6. Chromatic or enharmonic notes reinforce the ethos
of the poetry.
X. Music in Ancient Rome
A. Less evidence survives for music of ancient Rome
than for ancient Greece.
1. No settings of texts survive.
2. Images, written descriptions, and some instruments
are all that remain.
B. Romans took much of their musical culture from
Greece.
1. Lyric poetry was often sung.
2. Cicero, Quintilian, and others believed cultured
people should be educated in music.
X. Music in Ancient Rome (cont.)
3. In the first and second centuries c.e., when other
aspects of Greek culture were imported, virtuosity,
choruses, and competitions became popular.
C. Roman instruments
1. The tibia, an instrument similar to the aulos, was
used for ceremonies and theater.
2. Other instruments included the tuba, a long straight
trumpet.
X. Music in Ancient Rome (cont.)
3. The most characteristic instruments were the cornu
and buccina, circular horns.
4. HWM Figure 1.12 shows tibias and cornus used in a
funeral procession.
D. Production of music declined when the Roman
economy declined.
E. Roman music seems not to have influenced later
musical developments in Europe.
XI. The Greek Heritage
A. Many characteristics of Greek music continued in
later Western music.
1. Music remained essentially melodic until the
eleventh century.
2. The meter and rhythm of the text influenced the
music.
3. Memory and musical conventions played an
important part in many later traditions.
XI. The Greek Heritage (cont.)
B. Greek musical thought influenced later
generations.
1. Plato’s idea that music can influence
character persists today.
2. Medieval music theory and church music used
Greek concepts.
3. Opera composers looked to the Greek
tragedies for models of how to combine music
and drama.
4. In the twentieth century, composers looked to
the Greeks for inspiration.