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lutes-of-the-world · 1 year

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Hey, just saw your post about Egal the Bard or whatever his name is having inaccurate instruments and making inaccurate music. Your info was very helpful about the instruments, but could you please speak more to why it's musically inaccurate? Or maybe, do you have video examples of what traditional medieval ensemble music sounds like?

Thank you for asking! I run this blog to share things with the intellectually curious.

The misrepresentation of historical music is my pet peeve. I was not kind to this burnout bard, this short-shift schop, this miniature Minnesinger, because he is making the work of medievalists harder. I don't care if someone wants to play bard, but they shouldn't advertise their modern pop stylings as having been informed by the sonic architecture of the middle ages.

Here's the lowdown on medieval European instrumental music:

A lot of it came from North Africa and the Middle East. The Maghrebi Arab-Berbers, whom the Europeans called the Moors, conquered Andalusia and added it to the Umayyad Empire, which was huge and was comprised of Arabs, Persians, Turks, formerly-Byzantine Christians, and Jews. They brought instruments like the lute and shawm with them, and these instruments subsequently spread across Europe. The Moors brought a lot of culture to Europe in general: Córdoba became the European center of learning, especially in math, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy. The three Abrahamic faiths coexisted peacefully (well, after the invasion, and until the Christian Reconquista and subsequent expulsion of the Jews). Arabic, Persian, and Syriac cultures had also preserved classical Greek writings, and as Europeans returned from their various Crusades, they brought this knowledge with them. Aristotle inspired the monastic, literate intellectual life of medieval Europe, and Plato, via Arabic transmission, later inspired the Italian Renaissance.

We don't know how medieval instrumental music sounded, as we have no recordings and very few surviving instruments, and because most of the music and music theory that was written down was sacred a capella music recorded by literate monks and nuns. Secular instrumental music was seen as a baser art, although that was the opinion of the monastic intellectuals, whose perspective is the only one that survives in writ. History is written by the ruling classes.

We can gather clues by looking at medieval depictions of instrumentalists. Illustrations are often simple and stylized, and historicist luthiers' recreations based solely on iconography tend to be cartoony and rough (like anime cosplay!). They should be relegated to theatre props. However, iconographic evidence may be augmented with the study of surviving "folk" music traditions (pardon the classist label. All music is folk music because all music is made by folks!). Some European folk instruments are very old and have evidently changed very little over the centuries, and many of their Middle Eastern and North African progenitors are still played, and the artistry of the great instruments like the oud (lute) and qanoun (psaltery) has been cultivated to greater depths than were ever reached in Europe, because their roots are so much older. The European genius is just as brilliant, but fickle: it often discards its old tools for new ones. For instance, the barbat, the Central Asian/Greater Iranian lute, has been played since ancient Mesopotamian times, and its descendents are more popular today than ever before.

Unfortunately, the Anglophone medieval European academic scene is still overcoming its inherited Eurocentrism, and Arabic scholarship is largely inaccessible to us due to language barriers. I'm sure everything is thoroughly documented and annotated in Arabic scholarship...

If we want to imagine what medieval Al'Andalus sounded like, our best bet is to listen to traditional Andalusian ensembles. The Arab-Andalusian Orchestra of Fez is over a century old - the oldest Andalusian ensemble that is still active - and its repertoire goes back to the middle ages:

youtube

Note the melodic intervals sound European, not Arabic. The ensemble prides itself on this. European tuning theory has changed subtly over the centuries, but from its earliest Greek roots it is still recognizable to the modern western ear. Traditional Andalusi music is similarly familiar, though Arabic, Persian, and Turkish music sound microtonally exotic to unaccustomed ears.

We have a treasure, a 13th century Galician illuminated songbook from the court of Alfonso X, el Sabio, of Castile. It's called the Cantigas de Santa Maria and it is full of sacred and pseudo-sacred Marian poems with notated melodies and illustrations of musicians.

Here are scenes from the musical life of Alfonso's court:

Here is a leading European early music ensemble's imagining of how it MAY HAVE sounded:

youtube

Here is another glimpse of the past, the painted ceiling of the Capella Palatina of Palermo, Sicily, Fatimid in style, from the 12th century. There are a lot of images of musicians on the six pages of this website.

In short, one mustn't take recordings of recreations of medieval music as gospel. Musicologists, music historians, and historical performers like myself do as best to be as authentic as we can, but the further we look back in history, the more we must engage in creative guesswork. It can be seen as artistic collaboration across time.

"The past is a foreign country."

- L.P. Hartley

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anguigenus · 4 years

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Thinkin’ bout the bardic coven

Under the cut: origins of the term “bard”, what I think the bardic coven’s role will be, and how their magic might work. Some spoilers for AOAW and YBOS.

Origins:

Bard was originally a profession in Celtic cultures which recorded history through poetry/song. Generally, they served a patron, and would detail the deeds of their patron and the patron’s ancestors in their poetry.

TOH likely took most of their inspiration from the D&D bard, a spell casting class which utilizes music to cast their magic. In D&D, their magic is often either buffs/debuffs or some kinds of mind control. As to the inspiration for the D&D bard, this is an except from The Strategic Review Vol. 2, No. 1, where the bard first appeared:

. . . I believe it is a logical addition to the D&D scene and the one I have composed is a hodgepodge of at least three different kinds, the norse ‘skald’, the celtic ‘bard’, and the southern european ‘minstrel’. The skalds were often old warriors who were a kind of self appointed historian whose duty was to record the ancient battles, blood feuds, and deeds of exceptional prowess by setting them to verse much like the ancient Greek poets did. Tolkien, a great Nordic scholar, copied this style several times in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (for example Bilbo’s chant of Earendil the Mariner). The Celts, especially in Britain, had a much more organized structure in which the post of Barbs as official historians fell somewhere between the Gwelfili or public recorders and the Druids who were the judges as well as spiritual leaders. In the Celtic system Bards were trained by the Druids for a period of almost twenty years before they assumed their duties, among which was to follow the heroes into battle to provide an accurate account of their deeds, as well as to act as trusted intermediaries to settle hostilities among opposing tribes. By far the most common conception of a Bard is as a minstrel who entertained to courts of princes and kings in France, Italy and parts of Germany in the latter middle ages. Such a character was not as trust worthy as the Celtic or Nordic Bards and could be compared to a combination Thief-Illusionist. These characters were called Jongleurs by the French, from which the corrupt term juggler and court jester are remembered today . . .

Bardic Coven’s Role:

If we look to the origins of bards, it makes sense to me that the bard coven might focus on recording history / stories. However, it’s important to remember that Emperor Belos was the one who founded the coven system. Belos is also re-writing history to portray the wild-magic witches in a negative light, so he might not want them to tell stories about what happened before his reign. Instead, he probably would want to use them for propaganda: convincing people that his way is best and singing his praises.

It could also make sense for the bard coven to have some sort of mind-altering powers. We’ve already seen illusions and healing, so I don’t think it would be out of place to give the bard coven powers over the mind.

How their magic might work:

I think the most obvious way for their magic to work would be through music. The main question would be if they use instruments or conjure the music magically.

If they use actual instruments, I think they would probably cast spells to enchant the music in some way. The main way that comes to mind is simply by casting a magic circle over the bell or mouthpiece of the instrument. This works out quite well because most wind instruments that I can think of are circles, or some sort of tube. This method would also work well for some percussion instruments, like drums.

If they conjure the music, I think it would probably require a separate music circle for each part in the music. Skilled bards would likely be able to conjure multiple lines of music at once. Since the music itself is coming from a magic circle, it would make sense for it to be already “enchanted”.

If there’s a glyph for music, it would probably be formed when enchanted music moves something like sand or water with its vibrations.

#sorry for the wall of text #I'll probably add a tldr pretty soon #meta #toh meta #the owl house meta #toh #the owl house #de anguigenis

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ultraclairedg · 3 years

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Weaponised Magical Musical Instruments

Imagine you are a warrior, out on the battlefield, in full armour ready for the fight. You draw your great sword and prepare to let out a terrifying roar of defiance when unexpectedly you hear the sounds of a flute being played. A flute! You think, what the hell? Why are you hearing flute music on the battlefield? The music gets louder and louder and suddenly you are on the ground, writhing in pain, holding your head in your hands while your bowels evacuate involuntarily. All your comrades around you are in the same condition. Battle over!

Music is powerful. It has the ability to make you feel happy, sad, joyful, melancholic, amorous or terpsichorean. Musical instruments, whether magical or not, play a huge role in all forms of fantasy and science fiction but they are not often thought of as weapons in their own right. But, there are many examples. Below are just a few that I’ve come across from various sources.

Possibly the oldest, and one of the most fantastical examples of the use of a musical instrument as a weapon of mass destruction comes from the Bible. In the Old Testament book of Joshua, the Israelites use their rams’ horn “trumpets” to bring down the walls of Jericho, after which the only creatures left alive, including horses, donkeys, cattle and sheep, were the spy/prostitute Rahab and her family. As there is absolutely no archaeological evidence that this ever happened, we should certainly call it a work of fantasy and put it as our first example.

Another of the oldest and most famous examples of the use of a magical instrument is the flute used by the Pied Piper of Hamelin to entice the rats and then the children away from the town. While this is not a weapon in the traditional sense it is certainly a powerful instrument of control and is interesting in that the player seems to have the ability to decide who/what is affected by it. First only the rats follow the music until they drown themselves in the Weser River. Then the children are affected but not the adults. In one account the adults are said to be in church because it was a holy day but as most children know if you are a member of a religious family there is no way adults will let you stay at home by yourself on a holy day. This all supposedly happened in the year 1284 – a pretty exact date for something that is clearly fictional so it could be assumed that something quite awful did happen to the children of Hamelin around this time, plague possibly as it is carried by rats, and the Pied Piper represents death. What is interesting is that there is a street in Hamelin called Bungelosenstrasse or “Street with no drums”. It is believed to be the street where the children were last seen and dancing or playing music is still not allowed on this street even today.

Science fiction/fantasy books often feature music being used in some form, though not usually as a weapon. One of these is “The Crystal Singer” (1982) by Anne McCaffrey. In this book, the planet Ballybran is the only place where special crystals can be mined which are used in a variety of technologies and are therefore very valuable. To mine these crystals, the miners use the perfect pitch of their voices, so it is clear that some kind of sonic frequency comes into play. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to use these perfect voices, amplified to a great degree, as weapons, much like a very high note breaking a glass.

Another more recent book in which music played a very central role is “Ready Player Two” by Ernest Cline. If you’ve read the book or seen the movie “Ready Player One”, you’ll know that the main character, Wade Watts, plays a virtual reality game to win a massive prize. I don’t want to go into details here in case anyone doesn’t know it and would like to read the book or see the movie at some point. “Ready Player Two” picks up Wade’s story, and, like “Ready Player One” he has to use a variety of virtual tools in his virtual world to continue playing the game. Prince’s music (the artist formerly known as) plays a central role in the story and one of the tools that Wade has to pick up happens to be one of Prince’s famous guitars, which is used as a weapon in an arena battle. I have to admit I’ve never been a huge fan of Prince so the fact that events concerning his life and work are so central to the plot meant that I wasn’t as engaged with this book as Prince fans would be.

Another genre where using musical instruments as weapons is a major feature is Chinese wuxia. Never heard of it? Well, if you’ve ever seen “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” or “Hero”, you’ve seen wuxia. Wuxia (loosely translated as martial hero) is a genre of traditional Chinese film, series and manga where the central character is a martial arts expert who follows a code of ethics to right wrongs and deal justice. Wuxia includes the use of fantastical kung fu techniques such as flying and levitation and also the use of the flute and the guqin and guzheng (traditional Chinese zithers, although the guqin is most often used as it is smaller and easier to carry than the larger guzheng) to overcome enemies. One of the most popular Chinese drama series from 2016 was “Love O2O”. This series used an interesting mix of live action and anime as the characters played the very popular RPG game “A Chinese Ghost Story” – a real game that can also be played by players outside China is you are so inclined. At the end of the clip below, you can see the main character using his guqin as a weapon.

(youtube clip fan made connecting real game with Love020 series)

While “Love 020” shows a Chinese MMORPG, there are a number of other RPG games that allow the player to multi-skill up to Bard class, a character that uses magical music and instruments. If you want to find out which ones, just do a Google search. Here’s a link to one I haven’t played but as the Mabinogi is so close to my heart (See previous posts) I’m posting it here.

Think that all this is too fantastical to have any bearing on real life? Think again! The LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) has been described as a “sound cannon” and “sonic weapon”. It is used for crowd control in the US and is extremely dangerous for human health. Depending on the length of exposure and decibels used, LRADs can, at the least, cause tinnitus, at worst, vomiting and blood and/or mucus from the ears with lasting effects on hearing. LRADs were first used by a US police department in Pittsburgh in 2009 to control protests during the G20 summit held there that year. Since then, a number of US police departments have used LRADs for crowd control.

So, once again, what some people have dismissed as pure fantasy has become reality. Gotta love that about sci fi and fantasy.

Linguistic Phun

Terpsichorean – pertaining to dance. From the name of the Ancient Greek Muse of Dance, Terpsichore, who also invented the harp and education.

(I do not own the rights to the images shown in this post or the Youtube content.)

#Magical Musical Instruments #Jericho #Hamelin #LoveO2O #Ready Player Two #LRAD #Sonic Weapons

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dormouse-iii · 4 years

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Organs of the Circus

Calliope is a very old name that would later belong to an instrument that wouldn’t exist for centuries after its creation. It was a beautifully crafted tool often used in entertainment mainly the Traveling Circus although originally meant to replace church bells.

It’s very light and up beat sounding and is usually played on those speakers at either Disneyland, or the fair, or other huge theme parks. It was invented in the U.S in 1850 by A.S. Denny and later patented in 1855 by Joshua C. Stoddard. An article on Mechanical Music Digest quotes the Player Piano Treasury has a description of the instrument by Harvey Roehl.

“…The first instrument consisted of 15 whistles, of graduated sizes, attached in a row to the top of a small steam boiler. A long cylinder with pins of different shapes driven into it ran the length of the boiler. The pins were so arranged that when the cylinder revolved, they pressed the valves and blew the whistles in proper sequence. The different shapes enabled the operator to play notes of varying length. Later, Stoddard replaced the cylinder with a keyboard. Wires running from the keys to the valves enabled the operator to play the instrument like a piano.”

It was a large cylinder “clockwork music box” with large and usually bronze whistles coming from the top and upper panel into the lower panel where the boiler is. The first design used pins to push steam through the pipes to play different notes and keys; they were later replaced with a piano keyboard and wires instead with the frame becoming a more modern looking upright piano instead of a cylinder for playability. Some people called it the Steam Organ as some were often mounted to steam boats and looked like smaller organs that operated on steam.

Some might confuse Calliopes with Fairground Organs (Sometimes called Band Organs) which are entirely separate. The main difference being that Fairground Organs never used steam and were always more mechanical and automatic. Those used in dance halls and ballrooms were dubbed “Dance Organs” which were quitter que to being played inside.

The Fairground Organ used either a crank similar to a music box or strips of data called music rolls in a music book. They were designed to be played without an actual performer and are keyboard less. For the most part electronic nowadays or completely replaced with standard speaker sound systems were a grand addition to the Fairgrounds themselves with their own Fair Organ Preservation Society.

They were essentially large elegantly designed jukeboxes that sometimes came with animatronic puppet bands and other instruments like wooden whistles and xylophones for further entertainment making them rather large, the world’s largest being the Wurlitzer Model 164 Band Organ according to organ historian Stephen Bicknell.

One of the most popular and decorative being The Moriter aka The Emperor which was almost as big as a pipe organ.

“The Mortier is a fascinating beast: where the fairground organ is tarty like a can-can girl the Mortier takes you straight into the world of Maigret and Edith Piaf.”

There are a few odd exceptions of the Fairground Organ’s punch card reading ability mixed with the keys and design of the Calliope. Although they are rare, some Calliopes used rolls too such as the CA-43 Tangley Calliaphone Calliope one of the last calliopes to be manufactured in the modern age that is even equipped with SD midi compatibility.

Named after the ancient Greek goddess of music and poetry, it was often held on a pedestal just as high as a tribute to her. The Chief of Muses, Calliope, (also spelled Kalliope) goddesses of music, song, and dance whose name means “beautiful voice”.

She is the daughter of Zeus and the Titan goddess Mnemosyne being the oldest of the younger muses as well as the wisest and most assertive sister making her the leader. She is often referred to as The Muse of Epic Poetry, normally depicted with a tablet or scroll in hand.

Calliope was also the goddess of eloquence and would appear before mortal kings as they were infants to glaze their lips in honey. This was so that whenever they spoke, their voice and words would be almost as beautiful as hers.

Greek myths tell stories of her marriage Thracian king Oeagrus and their wedding in Pimpleia given them their children; Orpheus and Linus. Orpheus was and heroic bard in most Greek mythology, and his brother Linus the creator of rhythm and melody.

Of course no beauty comes without flaws. You see, the ancient Greeks would spell Calliope’s name two ways; C-A-L-L-I-O-P-E and K-A-L-I-O-P-E (sometimes spelled with two l’s) this created a split in musical communities about how it should be spelled and pronounced.

· Kal-e-ohp

· Kal-e-ohp-ee

· K-all-e-ohp

· K-all-e-ohp-ee

Or even the Calliaphone as suggested by Norman Baker, one of the world’s last Calliope builders.

“Reedy's Mirror” a magazine or paper company that’s name was later changed to “The Mirror” in its revival in the 1920s tried to settle the pronunciation debate with a section from poem that spelled it in a very rare fashion and pronounced them both ways.

It was called “The Kallyope Yell” (Spelled K-A-L-L-Y-O-P-E) and is a poem written by Vachel Lindsay in November of 1913. Vachel was a very famous poet for his time with his first book ‘Where Is Aladdin’s Lamp’ in 1904. Despite his parents hostility towards his work he still made many a classic poem.

I am the Gutter Dream,

Tune-maker, born of steam,

Tooting joy, tooting hope.

I am the Kallyope,

Car called the Kallyope.

Willy willy willy wah hoo!

Although it was an almost magically constructed machine it was often difficult to maintain. The older generation of Calliopes, widely known as steam organs, were very difficult to maintain due to the issues with moisture and travel. A Calliope player would have to clean and polish each part before and after a performance, god forbid it rains.

Eventually a newer generation of Calliopes were made to accommodate the nomad lifestyle of the instrument. First, the new age were called Air Calliopes as the name suggests these Calliopes used compressed air as opposed to steam. These were more portable as well as easier to maintain and durable however, no new technology is flawless.

While yes, the Air Calliope was far easier to set up, move, and fix; they were far quieter. Older generation Calliopes and Fairground Organs could be heard miles away all around the midway, from the boardwalk to the forest. These newer ones were not only quieter but also mostly run on either helium or gas both of which were more costly than the old boiler was; both were very costly at the time and even more so now. The few Fairground Organs and Calliopes that survived years of war, transport, tear, and wear are both expensive and delicate.

What used to be a staple of entertainment and fun is as ghostly as the wail the organ pipes themselves, fading into the memories and sounds of the great Carnival its self.

+o+

#Circus Circus!#Calliope #Kalliope #music #carnival music #circus music #vintage #facts #clown history #instruments #mythology #research

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lumen-tellus · 5 years

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in which i finally figure out some more backstory for my ak envoy oc lol:

Name: Illyse Sirenidis

Species: Human/Siren

Age: 14 (at start) -> 16 (at the end of the Shadow Knight arc)

Class: Bard/Sorcerer

Titles: Siren Child; Envoy of Gaia; Songstress of Tragedies

Appearance: Pale green eyes; straight white hair reaching her waist; a petite figure further stunted by improper care in childhood; has a preference for simple and modest dresses in white, black, or pastel colors.

Personality: Quiet and docile to a fault. Has extreme difficulty voicing her opinions or opposing anything she doesn’t like or want to do - unless the situation demands it for the sake of others (but not herself, never herself). This tends to pair in an effective but awful way with her people-pleasing habits. Even so, she is a naturally gentle person who tries not to do harm of any sort.

Family:

Father: Elmen (Human | Deceased) A fisherman who was charmed by a siren and then left with the burden of raising a child born from the union. While it never became clear whether this relationship was based on true love, the troubling beliefs surrounding sirens and their offspring eventually reared their ugly heads - resulting in him losing any affection he had for his lover and daughter.

Even now, behind closed doors, the villagers of Port Skandia wonder whether his disappearance on stormy waters was, truly, an unfortunate accident that met his fishing excursion... or something more intentional.

Mother: Melpomene (Siren | Alive) One of the few remaining members of a mythic species that continue to live in the oceans near the south of the Midgard continent. Various stories tell of their ability to charm sailors into false love and immediate death through their songs, while any children born between them and a land-walker are viewed with pity at best or disdain at worst.

And much like the stories, she abandoned her child into the care of her human lover, never to reappear before them in any form.

Fixed Notes:

Fears a pointless death.

Her siren heritage allows her to “hear the voices of the sea”. Which, if you asked her to explain, is literally that. The ocean literally speaks to her. No one, not even her, knows how that works but it does so she isn’t going to question it.

With the above ability, she has often heard the untranslatable songs of sirens and other creatures carried over the ocean waves. It is through these songs that she learnt the unique language that sirens use between themselves, and for their singing in particular.

Despite being a bard and a half-siren, she is reluctant to sing due to the stories of a siren’s songs in her hometown. As such, her performances are through instruments (mainly her lyre) alone - unless you really, really request otherwise. Even then, the songs she will sing are in the common language, as that is the only language she is fluent in outside of her mother’s, and that is an absolute no-go.

Her heritage has not gifted her with the ability to breathe underwater, unfortunately.

Her heritage, though, certainly has given her a gift for music and a great intuition for discerning emotions, be it in people, animals, nature or inanimate objects.

Her full name comes from the siren’s language - the strange spelling arises because of how unpronounceable said language is for human tongues. As such, though her given name isn’t really pronounced this way, most people tend to pronounce it as Elise.

(^ that’s the in-universe explanation anyway. her first name is really me just making a fancy name, while her surname comes from ancient greek for ‘of the sirens’ bc im lazy)

Tentative Notes:

Likes reading and spending time alone in nature.

Despite living in a fishing port for most of her life, she doesn’t have the faintest idea of how to actually fish - despite having an innate talent for it, were she to try. She’d also feel too bad for the fish to really keep at it anyway.

Has a complex relationship when it comes to land and sea - because she is naturally drawn to the sea, but cannot live within its depths. Similarly, she feels out of place with people on land, but her duties as the envoy require her to be there. She essentially feels that the world lowkey shuns her all the time.

A siren’s song is, while magical, more than just for controlling or brainwashing people. The truth of their singing is that they can imbue and convey emotions to a great effect, to the point of overriding what another person feels and thinks. As such, in fact, sirens are creatures of emotion, being sensitive to such things and place great cultural importance on the messages of the heart.

MELPOMENE MIGHT BE ROYALTY?????? lol

#rp stuff

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autodidact-adventures · 7 years

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Music History (Part 1): Ancient Greece

Many ancient cultures believed that music had magic powers – that it could heal sickness, purify the body & mind, and work miracles. In the Old Testament of the Bible, David cures Saul's madness by playing the harp (1 Samuel 16:14-23); shouting and trumpet-blasts bring down the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6:12-20). In the Greek Dark Age (c.1100-800 BC), bards sang long poems in praise of heroes.

The Greeks believed music to have been invented by gods & demigods, who were also the earliest musicians – for example Apollo, Amphion (twin brother of Zethus) and Orpheus. Music was an essential part of religious ceremonies.

The main instrument for the cult of Apollo was the lyre; for the cult of Dionysus it was the aulos. Both of these instruments probably came from Asia Minor. The lyre and kithara (a bigger lyre) had 5-7 strings, and this later increased to 11. They were played solo, and to accompany epic poems (which could be sung or recited).

The aulos is sometimes incorrected translated as “flute”. It was a single-reeded instrument (sometimes double-reeded), with twin pipes. Its usage in the worship of Dionysus was to accompany the singing of dithyrambs, poems which were the predecessors of the Greek drama. In the classical age, the great tragedies of writers such as Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles had choruses (and other musical sections) that were accompanied by the aulos, or had alternating singing/aulos sections.

Psalteria were string instruments that were plucked with the hand, as opposed to with a plectrum. (The lyre & kithara used plectrums.) There was also a wide variety of percussion instruments.

The lyre and aulos were played independently as solo instruments from the 500's BC onwards (or perhaps earlier). Sakadas of Argos won a musical competition at the Pythian Games in 582 BC. He played Nomos Pythicos, an aulos composition that portrayed the battle between Apollo and the serpent Python.

After the 400's BC, kithara and aulos competitions became more & more popular, and so did festivals of instrumental and vocal music. As instrumental music became more independent, the number of virtuosi increased, and thus the music became more & more complex and show-offy.

Audiences of thousands would gather whenever famous musicians appeared. Kitharodes (singers who accompanied themselves on the kithara) gave concert tours and got very rich from them, especially after they'd become famous from winning competitions.

There were also famous women musicians – they were banned from competing in the games, but special decrees were written to allow the best to perform outside of the contests. However, they could only play string instruments, as the aulos was considered to be suitable only for slaves, courtesans and entertainers.

Sons of elite citizens were taught to play the aulos or kithara, and some of them aimed to reach the level of a virtuoso. (In Roman times, Nero managed this.) But Aristotle didn't approve of this, believing that music education shouldn't focus on show and flash:

The right measure will be attained if students of music stop short of the arts which are practised in professional contests, and do not seek to acquire those fantastic marvels of execution which are now the fashion in such contests, and from these have passed into education. Let the young practise even such music as we have prescribed, only until they are able to feel delight in noble melodies and rhythms, and not merely in that common part of music in which every slave or child and even some animals find pleasure.

Little survives of Greek music – about 45 pieces & fragments, from about the 200's BC – 300's AD. Some of them were written during the period of Roman dominance, but with Greek texts. All used a system of Greek notation. The most well-known are:

Euripides' Orestes – fragment of a chorus (lines 338-344), from a papyrus c.200 BC. The music may have been written by Euripides.

Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis (lines 783-793).

Two Delphic hymns to Apollo, which are mostly complete. The second one is from 128-127 BC.

Epitaph of Seikilos – a tombstone epigraph probably from the 00's AD.

Hymn to Nemesis, Hymn to the Sun, and Hymn to the Muse Calliope, written by Mesomedes of Crete (100's AD).

Orestes fragment.

youtube

From these pieces & fragments, and from Greek writings on music, we know that it was mostly monophonic. Some was heterophonic – with instruments playing the melody along with a singer/ensemble, and embellishing it.

Greek music was not polyphonic. The melody & rhythm of music was tied up with that of poetry. There is no evidence that Greek music practice was continued by the early Christians.

Greek Theory

The legendary founder of Greek music theory was Pythagoras (c.500 BC), and its last important writer was Aristides Quintilianus (300's AD). Greek writings on music can be divided into two categories: a) about the nature of music, its place in the cosmos, its effects, and its place in human society (i.e. philosophy); and b) descriptions of musical composition. Western music in the medieval era was greatly influenced by Greek musical theory.

For the Greeks, the word music had a much wider meaning, being tied up with maths, poetry, and astronomy (sometimes). Music and maths were intertwined and inseparable, and it was believed that numbers were the key to the entire universe (both in the physical & spiritual sense). Therefore, music corresponded to the harmony of the cosmos, and was a microcosm of it.

Plato explained this belief in Timaeus, which was the most well-known of his dialogues during the Middle Ages, and also in his Republic. His views on the nature & uses of music affected medieval & Renaissance ideas about music, and its place in education.

Some Greek philosophers saw music as being connected with astronomy as well. Claudius Ptolemy (100's AD) was the most systematic music theorist of antiquity, and he was also the leading astronomer of those times. People like him believed that mathematic laws ordered both the celestial bodies and music intervals. Certain modes (and certain notes) corresponded with certain planets, the distances between them, and their movements.

Plato wrote about the “music of the spheres” in the Republic. This was the (inaudible) music that the planets' revolution produced. This idea was taken up by people writing about music in the Middle Ages and later (including Shakespeare & Milton).

The Greeks saw music & poetry as almost the same thing. Plato defined melos (song) as a mixture of speech, rhythm and harmony. Lyric poetry was poetry that was sung to the accompaniment of the lyre (hence the term “lyrics”). The Greek word for “tragedy” has the word ōdē (“the art of singing”) in it. Many of the Greek words for different kinds of poetry were musical terms, such as hymn.

Aristotle's Poetics states that language, melody and rhythm are the elements of poetry, and that “There is another art which imitates by means of language alone, and that either in prose or verse...but this has hitherto been without a name.” I.e., there was spoken poetry, with no music involved, but there was no word for it.

The Doctrine of Ethos

Greek writers believed that music had moral qualities (although they disagreed on which ones worked in which ways), and that it could influence or change a person's character or behaviour. This worked with the Pythagorean belief that music's pitch & rhythm was governed by those same mathematical laws that governed the physical & spiritual world. Numerical relationships kept the soul in harmony. Therefore, because music followed this numerical system, and could penetrate the soul, it could change a person, whether for better or for worse.

The belief that the legendary musicians of mythology could perform miracles was related to this, as well.

Aristotle wrote about how music could influence a person's behaviour. Music imitated the passions or states of the soul, he wrote, and a piece of music that imitated courage (for example) could make a person feel courageous. But listening to music that aroused the wrong kinds of passions (such as indolence) would distort a person's character in the long run (and vice versa).

Both Plato and Aristotle believed that a person's character could be molded the right way through a system of public education, with gymnastics to discipline the body, and music to discipline the mind.

In his Republic (c.380), Plato wrote that too much music would make a man effeminate or neurotic, but too much gymnastics would make him ignorant, uncivilized, and violent. “He who mingles music with gymnastics in the fairest proportions, and best accommodates them to the soul, may be rightly called the true musician.”

Plato was quite strict on what sort of music was suitable to listen to. Men who were being trained to govern shouldn't listen to melodies that expressed softness or indolence. In fact, they should only listen to music in Dorian and Phrygian modes, because they expressed temperance and courage. Other modes were not appropriate.

He criticized the current style of music, which used many notes & complex scales, and mixed incompatible genres, rhythms and instruments. Musical conventions should be stuck to once established, he believed, because lawlessness in art & education would lead to the same thing in society.

The saying “Let me make the songs of a nation and I care not who makes its laws” was a pun on the Greek word nomos, which meant “custom/law” and also the melodic scheme of a piece of music.

Aristotle wasn't as strict as Plato when it came to suitable modes & rhythms, and he wrote about that in his Politics (c.330 BC). He believed that music could be listened to for enjoyment as well as education. Also, he believed that emotions such as pity & fear could be “purged” by using music & drama to induce them in people.

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phynxrizng · 7 years

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HISTORY ON LAMMAS/LUGHNASADH...WELCOMING THE HARVEST

Humanities › Religion & Spirituality

Lammas History: Welcoming the Harvest

Source by , Patti Wigington/ THOUGHT CO.com Updated January 22, 2017

THE BEGINNING OF THE HARVEST:

At Lammas, also called Lughnasadh, the hot days of August are upon us, much of the earth is dry and parched, but we still know that the bright reds and yellows of the harvest season are just around the corner.

Apples are beginning to ripen in the trees, our summer vegetables have been picked, corn is tall and green, waiting for us to come gather the bounty of the crop fields.

Now is the time to begin reaping what we have sown, and gathering up the first harvests of grain, wheat, oats, and more.

This holiday can be celebrated either as a way to honor the god Lugh, or as a celebration of the harvest.

CELEBRATING GRAIN IN ANCIENT CULTURES:

Grain has held a place of importance in civilization back nearly to the beginning of time. Grain became associated with the cycle of death and rebirth.

The Sumerian god Tammuz was slain and his lover Ishtar grieved so heartily that nature stopped producing. Ishtar mourned Tammuz, and followed him to the Underworld to bring him back, similar to the story of Demeter and Persephone.

In Greek legend, the grain god was Adonis. Two goddesses, Aphrodite and Persephone, battled for his love. To end the fighting, Zeus ordered Adonis to spend six months with Persephone in the Underworld, and the rest with Aphrodite.

A FEAST OF BREAD:

In early Ireland, it was a bad idea to harvest your grain any time before Lammas -- it meant that the previous year's harvest had run out early, and that was a serious failing in agricultural communities.

However, on August 1, the first sheaves of grain were cut by the farmer, and by nightfall his wife had made the first loaves of bread of the season.

The word Lammas derives from the Old English phrase hlaf-maesse, which translates to loaf mass. In early Christian times, the first loaves of the season were blessed by the Church.

HONORING LUGH, THE SKILLFUL GOD:

In some Wiccan and modern Pagan traditions, Lammas is also a day of honoring Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god. He is a god of many skills, and was honored in various aspects by societies both in the British Isles and in Europe. Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-NAS-ah) is still celebrated in many parts of the world today. Lugh's influence appears in the names of several European towns.

HONORING THE PAST:

In our modern world, it's often easy to forget the trials and tribulations our ancestors had to endure. For us, if we need a loaf of bread, we simply drive over to the local grocery store and buy a few bags of prepackaged bread. If we run out, it's no big deal, we just go and get more.

When our ancestors lived, hundreds and thousands of years ago, the harvesting and processing of grain was crucial. If crops were left in the fields too long, or the bread not baked in time, families could starve. Taking care of one's crops meant the difference between life and death.

By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables.

Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings.

SYMBOLS OF THE SEASON

The Wheel of the Year has turned once more, and you may feel like decorating your house accordingly. While you probably can't find too many items marked as "Lammas decor" in your local discount store, there are a number of items you can use as decoration for this harvest holiday.

Sickles and scythes, as well as other symbols of harvesting Grapes and vines Dried grains -- sheafs of wheat, bowls of oats, etc. Corn dolls -- you can make these easily using dried husks Early fall vegetables, such as squashes and pumpkins Late summer fruits, like apples, plums and peaches

CRAFTS, SONG AND CELEBRATION

Because of its association with Lugh, the skilled god, Lammas (Lughnasadh) is also a time to celebrate talents and craftsmanship.

It's a traditional time of year for craft festivals, and for skilled artisans to peddle their wares. In medieval Europe, guilds would arrange for their members to set up booths around a village green, festooned with bright ribbons and fall colors.

Perhaps this is why so many modern Renaissance Festivals begin around this time of year!

Lugh is also known in some traditions as the patron of bards and magicians. Now is a great time of year to work on honing your own talents.

Learn a new craft, or get better at an old one. Put on a play, write a story or poem, take up a musical instrument, or sing a song. Whatever you choose to do, this is the right season for rebirth and renewal, so set August 1 as the day to share your new skill with your friends and family

Found in THOUGHT CO.com/ Patti Wigington

Reposted by, PHYNXRIZNG

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phynxrizng · 7 years

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SOURCE, New post on Coven Life® Lammas History: Welcoming the Harvest by Lady Beltane The Beginning of the Harvest: At Lammas, also called Lughnasadh, the hot days of August are upon us, much of the earth is dry and parched, but we still know that the bright reds and yellows of the harvest season are just around the corner. Apples are beginning to ripen in the trees, our summer vegetables have been picked, corn is tall and green, waiting for us to come gather the bounty of the crop fields. Now is the time to begin reaping what we have sown, and gathering up the first harvests of grain, wheat, oats, and more. This holiday can be celebrated either as a way to honor the god Lugh, or as a celebration of the harvest. Celebrating Grain in Ancient Cultures: Grain has held a place of importance in civilization back nearly to the beginning of time. Grain became associated with the cycle of death and rebirth. The Sumerian god Tammuz was slain and his lover Ishtar grieved so heartily that nature stopped producing. Ishtar mourned Tammuz, and followed him to the Underworld to bring him back, similar to the story of Demeter and Persephone. Pagan Wheat Ritual Wicca Celebration In Greek legend, the grain god was Adonis. Two goddesses, Aphrodite and Persephone, battled for his love. To end the fighting, Zeus ordered Adonis to spend six months with Persephone in the Underworld, and the rest with Aphrodite. A Feast of Bread: In early Ireland, it was a bad idea to harvest your grain any time before Lammas -- it meant that the previous year's harvest had run out early, and that was a serious failing in agricultural communities. However, on August 1, the first sheaves of grain were cut by the farmer, and by nightfall his wife had made the first loaves of bread of the season. The word Lammas derives from the Old English phrase hlaf-maesse, which translates to loaf mass. In early Christian times, the first loaves of the season were blessed by the Church. Honoring Lugh, the Skillful God: In some Wiccan and modern Pagan traditions, Lammas is also a day of honoring Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god. He is a god of many skills, and was honored in various aspects by societies both in the British Isles and in Europe. Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-NAS-ah) is still celebrated in many parts of the world today. Lugh's influence appears in the names of several European towns. Honoring the Past: In our modern world, it's often easy to forget the trials and tribulations our ancestors had to endure. For us, if we need a loaf of bread, we simply drive over to the local grocery store and buy a few bags of prepackaged bread. If we run out, it's no big deal, we just go and get more. When our ancestors lived, hundreds and thousands of years ago, the harvesting and processing of grain was crucial. If crops were left in the fields too long, or the bread not baked in time, families could starve. Taking care of one's crops meant the difference between life and death. By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables. Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings. Symbols of the Season The Wheel of the Year has turned once more, and you may feel like decorating your house accordingly. While you probably can't find too many items marked as "Lammas decor" in your local discount store, there are a number of items you can use as decoration for this harvest holiday. Sickles and scythes, as well as other symbols of harvesting Grapes and vines Dried grains -- sheafs of wheat, bowls of oats, etc. Corn dolls -- you can make these easily using dried husks Early fall vegetables, such as squashes and pumpkins Late summer fruits, like apples, plums and peaches Crafts, Song and Celebration Because of its association with Lugh, the skilled god, Lammas (Lughnasadh) is also a time to celebrate talents and craftsmanship. It's a traditional time of year for craft festivals, and for skilled artisans to peddle their wares. In medieval Europe, guilds would arrange for their members to set up booths around a village green, festooned with bright ribbons and fall colors. Perhaps this is why so many modern Renaissance Festivals begin around this time of year! Lugh is also known in some traditions as the patron of bards and magicians. Now is a great time of year to work on honing your own talents. Learn a new craft, or get better at an old one. Put on a play, write a story or poem, take up a musical instrument, or sing a song. Whatever you choose to do, this is the right season for rebirth and renewal, so set August 1 as the day to share your new skill with your friends and family. From: Beltane | January 31, 2017 at 4:57 PM | Tags: Harvest, Lammas. Lughnasadh, Pagan, Witchcraft | Categories: Lammas/Lughnasadh, Pagan History, Rituals, Sabbats | URL: http://wp.me/p5XfOi-26I Comment Comment See all comments SOURCE, Coven Life.COM Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Coven Life®. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://covenlife.co/2017/01/31/lammas-history-welcoming-the-harvest-2/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.co POSTED by, PHYNXRIZNG

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