Curiosities of Music
A Collection of Facts, not generally known, regarding the Music of
Ancient and Savage Nations
By
LOUIS C. ELSON
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OLIVER DITSON COMPANY
BOSTON
New York Chicago
CHAS. H. DITSON & CO. LYON & HEALY
Copyright, MDCCCLXXX, by J. M. STODDART & CO.
Copyright, MCMVIII, by OLIVER DITSON COMPANY
TO MY ESTEEMED FRIEND,
Dr. C. Annette Buckei,
THIS LITTLE WORK IS DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
In this work, I have endeavored to bring together the most curious
points in the music of many nations, ancient and modern. As the work
originally appeared in a magazine (“The Vox Humana”) I was obliged to
avoid any extended research into disputed points, such as Hebrew music,
Greek music, water organs, etc., as being too abstruse for periodical
reading. Yet many of the facts contained in its columns have not yet
found their way into English literature. This was so entirely the case
with Chinese music, that I was tempted to somewhat transgress my limits
on this subject, it being, apparently, a neglected one. In all the other
chapters I have merely sought out such facts as would interest, and
present a comprehensive idea to the general reader, whether musical or
not.
My hearty thanks are due to Col. Henry Ware, and Mr. J. Norton, of
Boston, for many facilities afforded and suggestions offered, in the
course of compiling this book. If it fills an unoccupied niche, however
small, in musical literature, it will have fulfilled the desire of
The Author.
CONTENTS
I Introduction 7
The Hindoos 8
II Ancient Egyptian 15
III Biblical and Hebrew 26
IV Ancient Greek Music 35
V The Public Games of Greece 39
VI The Philosophers, and Greek Social Music 53
VII Greek Theatre and Chorus 67
VII The Dances of Ancient Greece 79
VIII Ancient Roman Music 85
IX Music of the Roman Theatre 95
X Music of the Roman Empire 99
XI History of Chinese Music 114
XII Chinese Music and Musical Instruments 142
Of the Sound of Stone 145
Of the Sound of Metal 148
Of the Sound of Baked Clay 149
Of the Sound of Silk 149
The Sound of Wood 151
The Sound of Bamboo 153
The Sound of Calabash 155
Miscellaneous Instruments 156
The Sound of the Voice 158
XIII Chinese Musical Compositions and Ceremonies 162
Hymn to the Ancestors 164
XVI The Chinese Theatre and Dances 176
XVII Music of Japan 201
XVIII Music of Savage Nations 229
XIX African Music 251
Praise of Dingan, A Very Celebrated Chief 254
XX Music of the Early Christian Church 280
Greek Church 288
Syrian Church 290
The Armenian Church 292
The Churches of Africa 293
General Synopsis of Early Christian Music 296
XXI The Ambrosian and Gregorian Chant 299
XXII Music in Europe from the Fifth Century 308
XXIII The Ancient Bards 323
XXIV The Troubadours and Minne-Singers 329
XXV Curiosities of the Opera. Modern Composers, and Conclusion 352
Footnotes 364
Index. 365
CURIOSITIES OF MUSIC.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Music has been broadly defined by Fetis as “the art of moving the
feelings by combinations of sounds;” taken in this broad sense it may be
considered as coeval with the human race.
Vocal music, in a crude form, is as natural in man, to express feelings,
as it is for a cat to purr or a lion to roar; as regards instrumental
music, the primitive man might have found in every hollow tree a
reverberating drum, and in every conchshell or horn of cattle, the
natural beginnings of instrumental music; we shall find later that many
nations ascribe the discovery of their music to the accidental appliance
of some natural instrument; our surest guide in watching the rise of the
art, should be the manner in which savage peoples, yet in a state of
nature, produce music, and we shall find too, that even the lowest in
the scale, even those beings who make the monkey tribe nearer and dearer
to us, as possible relatives (the bushmen of Australia for example),
have still a method of “moving the feelings by means of combinations of
sounds.”
It is therefore, really in barbarous nations, that we may, reasoning by
analogy, find in what state music existed when our own ancestors were in
a state of nature; but in order to give a more chronological character
to our sketches we will begin with the _Music and Musical Mythology of
the Ancients_.
THE HINDOOS.
With this people, and the Egyptians we find proofs of the existence of a
musical system at a time which far antedates the earliest reliable
Scriptural records.
Among the Hindoos especially, as far back as history extends, music has
been treated not only as a fine art, but philosophically and
mathematically. According to the oldest Brahminical records, in their
all-embracing “Temple of Science,” it belongs to the 2d chief division
of Lesser Sciences, but its natural and philosophic elements, are, with
a nice distinction, admitted into their holiest and oldest book, the
_Veda_.[1] Of course it has a divine origin ascribed to it, in fact the
entire realm of Indian music is one tale of Mythology.
According to Brahminical accounts, when Brahma had lain in the egg three
thousand billion, four hundred million of years (3,000,400,000,000) he
split it by the force of his thought and made Heaven and Earth from the
two pieces; then Manu brought forth ten great forces, which made Gods,
Goddesses, good and evil spirits and Gandharbas (Genii of music), and
Apsarasas (Genii of Dance), and these became the musicians of the Gods,
before man knew of the art. Then Sarisvati, Goddess of Speech and
Oratory, consort of Brahma, at Brahma’s command brought the art to man
and gave him also his finest musical instrument, the Vina, of which
hereafter. Music then found a protector in the demi-god Nared, one of
the chief Indian musical deities, while Maheda Chrishna helped it along
by allowing five keys, or modes, to spring from his head (_a la_
Minerva) in the shape of Nymphs, and his wife Parbuti, added one more;
then Brahma added thirty lesser keys, or modes, and all these modes were
also Nymphs.
The Hindoo scale has seven chief tones and these tones are represented
as so many heavenly sisters.
In the Indian legends, music is represented as of immense might. All
men, all animals, all inanimate nature listened to the singing of Maheda
and Parbuti with ecstasy.
Some modes were never to be sung by mortals, as they were so fiery that
the singer would be consumed by them. In the time of Akber, it is
related, that ruler commanded Naik Gobaul, a famous singer, to sing the
Raagni[2] of Fire; the poor singer entreated in vain, to be allowed to
sing a less dangerous strain; then he plunged up to his neck in the
river Djumna, and began: he had not finished more than half of his lay
when the water around him began to boil; he paused (at boiling point)
but the relentless, or curious Akber, demanded the rest, and with the
end of the song the singer burst into flames and was consumed. Another
melody caused clouds to rise and rain to fall; a female singer is said
once to have saved Bengal from famine and drought in this manner.
Another lay caused the sun to disappear and night to come at midday, or
another could change winter to spring or rain to sunshine. All these
typify beautifully the might of music with this race. Of the four chief
tone systems, two also have divine origin, from Iswara and from Hanuman
(the Indian Pan), the others come from Bharata Muni who invented the
drama with music and dance, and from Calinath.
When Chrishna was upon the earth as a shepherd, there were sixteen
thousand pastoral Nymphs or Shepherdesses who fell in love with
him.—They all tried to win his heart by music, and each one sang him a
song, and each one sang in a _different key_, (let us hope not all at
once). Thence sprang the sixteen thousand keys, which according to
tradition once existed in India.
In order that the full extent of Hindoo Musical Mythology may be
conceived, we will now sketch the tones which are employed.
We have stated that there are seven chief tones; these tones have short
monosyllabic names; as we give to our notes the syllables, _do_, _re_,
_mi_, etc., the Hindoos call their scale tones _sa_, _ri_, _ga_, _ma_,
_pa_, _dha_, _ni_, _sa_, which are certainly as easy to vocalise upon as
our _solfeggi_; in fact the language is very well adapted to music, as
it has all the softness, elegance and clearness of the Italian. Von
Dalberg says that Sanscrit unites the splendor of the Spanish, the
strength of the German, and the singableness of the Italian.
With the resemblance of seven chief tones, however, the similarity ends,
for while our scale has only half tones as smallest interval, the
Hindoos have quarter tones, and not equally distributed either; thus:
whole small half whole whole small half
tone whole tone tone tone whole tone
Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa
¼¼¼¼ ¼¼¼ ¼¼ ¼¼¼¼ ¼¼¼¼ ¼¼¼ ¼¼
In theory it will be seen that the octave is always a half tone flat,
but practically they correct this by singing it on its proper pitch. On
six of the above intervals they found their chief modes but they form
various lesser modes on each interval, i. e., they could give ten
different modes, or scales, starting from C alone.
These six chief styles, are, of course, six Genii, corresponding to the
six Hindoo divisions of the year, these are each married to five Nymphs,
the thirty lesser styles; each Genii has eight sons, who are each
wedded, also to Nymphs, one apiece. There seem to be few celibates in
Hindoo Mythology, therefore an exact census gives to this interesting
family six fathers, thirty mothers, forty-eight sons, forty-eight
daughters-in-law, or one hundred thirty-two in all, each of them being
the God or Goddess of some particular key, and each of them, of course,
having a distinctive name; we shall not give the various names, but to
illustrate the relationship among them, the following will suffice; the
four 1-4 tones beginning on the fifth tone of the scale, _Panchama_ (or
_Pa_) are the Nymphs _Malina_, _Chapala_, _Lola_ and _Serveretna_, while
the next full tone (_Dha_) is owned by Santa and her sisters; if _Dha_
should be flatted 1-4 tone which would give it the same pitch as the
highest 1-4 tone of _Pa_, (called Serveretna), the poetical Hindoo would
not say “_Dha_ is flat,” but “_Serveretna_ has been introduced to the
family of _Santa_ and her sisters.”[3]
Although the musical art of the Hindoos had such an early existence, it
seems not to have developed or receded much since ancient days; they
possess airs to which the European ear instantly, and involuntarily
attaches harmony, (auxiliary voices), and yet they have not the
slightest craving for harmony. They are completely satisfied to express
all emotion by melody, sometimes combined with the dance, and yet do not
feel the monotony, which would be obviated by additional voices.
But it must be said that, so far as melody goes, they have great taste
and discrimination; the music often approaches the European in form and
rhythm, and the Hindoo seems to feel instinctively the importance of the
tonic, and dominant, and often finishes the phrases of a melody with a
half cadence.[4]
Of the Hindoo instruments the Vina takes the lead; as before mentioned,
they ascribe to it a divine origin; it has four strings and is
incorrectly defined as a lyre by many commentators, but it is rather a
guitar than lyre, and is made of a large hollow bamboo pipe, about 3½
feet long, at each end of which are two large hollow gourds, to increase
the resonance: it may be roughly compared to a drum major’s _baton_,
with a ball at _both_ ends, while the strings extend along the stick; it
has a finger-board like a guitar, and the frets are not fastened
permanently on it, but stuck on by the performer with wax.
The tone is both full and delicate, sometimes metallic and clear and
very pleasant. The music composed for it is usually brilliant and rapid,
and the Hindoos seem to have their Liszts and Rubinsteins; in the last
century Djivan Shah was known throughout all India as a _virtuoso_, on
the Vina.
They ornament their Vinas sometimes very richly and there are paintings
of their chief performers, sitting with magnificent Vinas leaning
against their bodies, this being the attitude of the player. They also
have possessed from time immemorial, a three-stringed violin, so that
Raphael and Tintoretto may not have committed an anachronism in painting
Apollo with a violin.[5]
A Guitar called Magoudi, finishes the list of characteristic stringed
instruments.
The instruments of percussion and wind instruments are more numerous.
They possess four kinds of drums, and their popular, secular dances are
usually accompanied by the Vina, for the melody, and drums, bells and
cymbals.
Flutes they have possessed from remotest antiquity, and a muffled drum
called Tare for funeral occasions, and they also have a double flute
with a single mouth piece. We will not dwell further upon their
instruments; there is but one, the _Vina_, which is really fitted to
produce beautiful music.
The Hindoos complain that their old music is deteriorating and such
singers as Chanan or Dhilcook, two vocal celebrities of the last
centuries, have passed away. When one inquires for the miracle-working
Ragas, (improvised songs) in Bengal, the people say there are singers
probably left in Cashmere who can give them; and should you inquire in
Cashmere they would send you to Bengal for them, but in reality there
seems to have been comparatively little change in the style of Hindoo
music from its earliest days.
CHAPTER II.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN.
The ancient Egyptians ascribed the origin of music to opposite causes,
some legends giving its invention to beneficent Deities, while other
legends are interpreted to give its origin to Satan, the evil principle,
or at least the principle of sensuality, as represented by the buck
Mendes. Hermes (or Mercury) is accredited with first having observed the
harmony of the spheres, and the lyre also is represented as being his
invention, in the following legend:
A heavy inundation of the Nile had taken place, and when the waters
receded, there was left upon the banks a tortoise, who went the way of
all tortoises, and after a time was completely dried up by the sun; the
tendons however, which were attached to the shell, remained, and became
tightly drawn by the expansion of the shell. Hermes, wandering upon the
bank, accidentally struck his foot against it; the tendons resounded,
and Hermes thus found a natural lyre.
This legend is however found also in Hindoo and Greek Mythology, and may
be one of those tales, springing from Arian root, which belong to almost
every race. We also find an Egyptian Apollo and Muses in other musical
legends, according to Diodorus Siculus.
“When Osiris was in Ethiopia,—the Egyptian God Osiris was a sort of
blending of Bacchus and Apollo—he met a troupe of revelling satyrs, and
being a lover of pleasure and taking delight in choruses of music, he
admitted them to his already numerous train of musicians. In the midst
of these satyrs were nine young maidens, skilled in music and divers
sciences.”
The Egyptians also considered Horus, brother of Osiris, (equivalent to
the Greek Apollo) as God of Harmony.
Thus three Gods have the honor of fostering Egyptian music, Osiris,
Horus, and Hermes.
Hermes, or (by his Egyptian name) Thoth, was the especial God of many
sciences, and is said to have written two books of song, or works
relating to the song-art. According to Diodorus, the Lyre which he had
invented had three strings, which represented the three seasons of
Egypt; the deepest string was the wet season, the middle one the growing
season, the highest the harvest season: the tones of Egyptian music seem
to be taken from the seven heavenly planets, as known to the ancients,
and from this circumstance Ambros hazards the conjecture that the
diatonic scale was known to them.
Among the mythical musical personages of the earliest Egyptian music,
may be mentioned Maneros, who was son of the first king of Egypt, who
succeeded the second dynasty of demi-gods.
He seems to be analogous to the Linus, (son of Apollo), of the Greeks;
he died young, and the _first_ song of the Egyptian music[6] was in his
honor; it was a lament over his untimely end, the swift passing away of
Youth, Spring, etc. The song was sung under various guises, for Maneros,
Linus, Adonis, etc., among various ancient nations, and Herodotus was
surprised at hearing it in Egypt. But in course of time the song itself,
and not the king’s son was called Maneros, and gradually diffused its
influence, (the warning of the passing away of Joy) through Egyptian
social life; at their banquets a perfectly painted statue of a _corpse_
was borne round and shown to each guest, and there was sung the
following warning:
“Cast your eyes upon this corpse
You will be like this after Death,
Therefore drink and be merry now.”[7]
The song also from being a mournful one, became in time joyous and
lively,[8] Plutarch thinks that the words Maneros, became synonymous
with “Good Health.” The fashion was after the conquest of Egypt,
imitated in Rome.[9] The ancient Egyptian music was really a twofold
affair and is well symbolized in being attributed by some to good, by
others to evil gods; for it was used in the religious services of the
highest gods, (except, according to Strabo, in the services of Osiris,
at Abydos) and on the other hand was degraded as a pastime for the
lowest orders.
The musicians were not held in any respect, and were not allowed to
change their occupation, but were obliged to transmit it from father to
son and were also probably compelled to live in a certain quarter of the
cities wherein they dwelt.[10]
Of course there were celebrated singers and performers, and also leaders
of the chants, and royal singers, who were exceptions to the foregoing
rule, but according to Diodorus Siculus, the Egyptians not only
considered music a useless art, but even a hurtful one, as it enervated
the soul and made man effeminate. Yet for all this there are found among
ancient sculptures many representations of singers and musicians
evidently belonging to the higher classes, though we cannot but believe
that these exceptions only prove the rule, and even to-day music is
considered a sensuous and rather unmanly art, by Eastern nations.
Among the most ancient songs of Egypt there seem to have been little
refrains sung by the working classes while at labor; there is here not
conjecture but absolute certainty, for the words of part of one of these
songs are preserved, on an ancient picture of threshers of grain, oxen,
etc.; the threshers sing, according to Champollion’s learned
deciphering,
“Thresh for yourselves, oh oxen,
Thresh for yourselves;
Measures for your masters,
Measures for yourselves.”
In a grotto at _El bersheh_ there is also a painting of the
transportation of a colossal statue from the quarry, and here also while
one hundred and seventy-two men are laboring at the ropes, one is
perched upon the statue and is giving the time of a refrain, which all
are to sing.
The custom of singing while at work still exists in Egypt, as, for
example, sailors sing a particular song when starting on a voyage,
another when there is danger of a collision, another when the danger is
past.
Music was a chief portion of the Egyptian funeral ceremonies, and on the
walls of nearly all the tombs of ancient days, are found paintings of
the funeral ceremonies; the greater part of what is known of their
instruments comes from this source; the best singers and players were
engaged for the purpose by the richer classes, and sang mournful chants,
being similar to the professional mourners at present found in the East.
The music was probably chiefly melodic, or one-voiced, though this
subject has some ambiguity attached to it, our only guide as to their
music being the representations in the tombs, etc., as not a scrap of
actual music has been left to us; but when we consider the furious
controversy about, and the different interpretations of the fragments of
Greek music which time has left us, this may be an _advantage_ rather
than otherwise. There is one painting[11] left, which seems to confirm
the idea that the Egyptians knew something of the effect of harmony.
This painting represents two harpers at one side and three flute players
at the other, while between them are two singers, one of whom seems to
be following with his voice the melody of the harpers, while the other
sings with the flutes; this seems to intimate that the Egyptians
possessed, at least _two-voiced_ harmony.
Chappell, in his admirable History of Music, says that it is
mathematically impossible, that all of the instruments represented in
their paintings should have been played in unison.
The music of Egypt was for a long time regulated by the Government, that
is all innovations were punishable by law; probably this referred only
to religious music, and did not affect popular music.
In all ages there seem to have been two distinct schools of music, the
scientific, and popular. There is no doubt that while the early European
theorists held that _only consecutive fifths and fourths_ were musical,
the populace had a less forced and more beautiful style, and it is more
than probable that in Egypt the popular music was totally different from
the sacred.
All the songs appear to have been accompanied by a clapping of hands,
and therefore the rhythm was probably strongly marked. The effect of
this clapping of hands is by no means unpleasant, and is still used by
the negroes of America in some songs and dances, and among various
barbarous nations. It seems curious to think, that in witnessing these
lively dances, one may be beholding a counterpart of the enjoyments of
four thousand years ago, or that in witnessing the _pirouettes_ of a
ballet dancer, we are amusing ourselves in the ancient Egyptian manner;
the latter fact is proved by ancient paintings, however. Other ancient
Egyptian dances were similar to the modern jigs, clog dances and
breakdowns, as is amply shown by figures found both in Upper and Lower
Egypt.
The Egyptians had also dances with regular figures, forward and back,
swing, etc.; these dances were restricted to the lower orders, the upper
classes being forbidden to indulge in them.
If we could transport ourselves back to Thebes in its days of grandeur,
we should be somewhat astonished at the slight change, in comparison
with what is usually supposed, from our own times. Imagine the time of a
great religious festival. The Nile is crowded with boats, loaded to
their utmost capacity, with passengers, offerings, etc. Sometimes
hundreds of thousands came to Thebes or Memphis, and especially to
Bubastis, on such occasions. From each boat is heard playing and
singing. Within the city all the streets are full; here march by a troop
of Pharaoh’s soldiers, all the privates uniformed alike, their marching
regular, and their drill well attended to; at their head is a military
band, (picture found at Thebes) of trumpeters, drummers beating the drum
with their _hands_, and other performers; along that mighty avenue of
Sphinxes is marching a procession to one of the temples: here also
musical instruments, particularly flutes, head the column, and a
processional hymn is being sung, to which the white-robed priests keep
time while marching, as they carry the sacred golden barge of the God,
full of treasure of various kinds.
Here is passing along, a deputation from some far off tributary prince
in the heart of Æthiopia, carrying presents for the king, and all around
is life, bustle, and enjoyment. In some of the temples music is
sounding, (the temple of Osiris, at Abydos, being the only exception,)
and the clang of the sistrum is often heard. Truly the life of ancient
Egypt was as joyous and varied as that of more modern times.
The sistrum was, until the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt, which gave to
the world the wonders of this store house of antiquity, considered the
representative of Egyptian music. It was merely a short, oval hand frame
which held three or four metal bars; sometimes bells were hung upon
these bars, and by shaking the instrument, as a baby shakes a rattle,
which it really in principle resembles, a jingling of the bars or bells
was produced.
Latterly it has been thought that the sistrum was not a musical
instrument at all; but, like the bell sounded at the elevation of the
Host in Catholic churches, was used as a means of riveting and
impressing the minds of the worshippers. At all events the sistrum takes
no rank among Egyptian musical instruments. The harp was really the
instrument on which they lavished the most attention; paintings, and
fragments of harps have been found, in the so-called “Harpers’ Tomb,”
which caused Bruce to exclaim that no modern maker could manufacture a
more beautiful piece of workmanship.
The ancient Egyptian harps look very modern indeed, except for the fact
that they have no front board or “Pole,” and it seems strange that they
could bear the tension without its support; the pitch could not have
been at all high. There was a species of harp, of the compass of about
two octaves, with catgut strings, (wire strings the Egyptians had not),
found in a tomb hewn in the solid rock at Thebes, so entirely preserved
that it was played upon by the discoverer, and gave out its tones _after
being buried 3000 years_. Of course the strings perished after exposure
to the air.
Fetis, to whom musical history owes so much, has here fallen into a
singular mistake. He says “it would scarcely be believed that the
ancient Egyptians with whom the cat was a sacred animal, should have
used _cat-gut_ strings on their instruments, but the fact is proved
beyond a doubt.” This is all very true, but M. Fetis seems not to have
known the fact that cat-gut has not its origin in the _cat_, but is
almost always, in reality _sheep-gut_.
The list of instruments of ancient Egypt embraces harps of various
numbers of strings, Nabla, from which come the Roman _Nablium_ and
Hebrew _Nebel_, a sort of Guitar; Flutes, single and double, (a flute
player often headed the sacred processions, and Isis is said to have
invented the flute.) Tambourines and hand drums; sometimes the Egyptians
danced to a rhythmic accompaniment of these alone.[12] The flute was
generally played by men, and the tambourines by women. Lyres, of various
shapes, often played with the hand, but sometimes also with a plectrum,
(a short, black stick, with which the strings were struck,) trumpets,
cymbals, and some metal instruments of percussion. There are many
paintings in which entire orchestras of these instruments are playing
together, but probably all in unison.
There exists an excellent painting from a Theban tomb,[13] in which we
see an Egyptian musical party in a private house. Two principal figures
are smelling of small nosegays, while two females offer to them
refreshments; three females are dancing and singing for the amusement of
the guests, who sit around, apparently having a very enjoyable time;
below are seen slaves preparing a banquet, which is to follow the music.
The Egyptians often had music before dinner.
Another application of music is pictured in a very ancient painting,
given by Rosellini,[14] in his great work; in it is seen a woman nursing
an infant, while a harper and singer are furnishing music, possibly to
lull the child to sleep; in almost all these paintings the singers are
represented with one hand to their ear in order to catch the pitch of
the instruments more readily.
But the most interesting painting has been copied, in the folios of
Lepsius,[15] from a tomb of great antiquity; it represents a course of
_musical instruction_ in the department of the singers and players of
King Amenhotep IV. (18th Dynasty). We see several large and small rooms,
connecting with each other; furniture, musical instruments and
implements are seen all around, especially in the small rooms or
closets. In the large rooms are the musicians, engaged in practising and
teaching; one teacher is sitting, listening to the singing of a young
girl, while another pupil is accompanying her on the harp; another girl
stands attentively listening to the teacher’s instructions, (_class
system_ evidently); in another part two girls are practising a dance,
while a harper accompanies; other musicians are variously engaged. In
one room is a young lady having her hair dressed, and in another, a
young miss has leant her harp against the wall, and is sitting down with
a companion to lunch. This certainly gives a fair insight into the music
life of old, and we leave Egyptian music, of which _as music_ we know
nothing, with more satisfaction after this glance at the _Royal Egyptian
Conservatory of Music_.
CHAPTER III.
BIBLICAL AND HEBREW.
The earliest scriptural mention of music is in Genesis, Chapter IV.
where Jubal is spoken of as “Father of those who handle the harp and
organ.” But harp and organ must by no means be confounded with our
modern instruments of the same name. The harp was probably an instrument
of three strings, while all the very ancient references to an organ,
simply mean a “Syrinx” or Pan’s pipes. The music of Biblical History is,
as is almost all the music of ancient nations, combined to a great
extent with the dance; the dances of the ancients were what to-day would
be called pantomimes, expressing joy, sorrow, fear, or anger, by the
motions and expressions of face and body, rather than by the feet.
The real character of the ancient Hebrew music, as well as of many of
the musical instruments, is involved in utter obscurity, and no clues to
enlighten the investigator, remain in the modern music of this usually
most conservative of peoples; much of their musical system was borrowed,
until David’s time certainly, from the Egyptians.
The music of the modern Jews is tinged in almost every instance with the
character of the music of the people around them; thus the same psalms
are sung in a different manner by German, Polish, Spanish, or Portuguese
Jews.
One little trace of their primitive music remains; on the occasion of
their New Year, a ram’s horn is blown, and between the blasts on this
excruciating instrument the following phrases are addressed to the
performer,—
_Tahkee-oo, Schivoorim, Taru-o._
These words, which also have a reverential meaning, may possibly at one
time have been addressed to the ancient musicians, to give to them the
order of the music. Strong presumptive proof that this blowing of the
trumpet is the same as it was in King David’s time is found in the fact
that it is blown in the same rhythm, by the Jews _all over the world_.
It certainly requires no forced interpretation to call the Ram’s horn
(Schofer) one of their early instruments, as it would be their most
natural signal-call both in peace and war.
In all the Jewish theocracy, the music naturally took a theosophical
character, and is seldom detached from religious rites; we shall find
the same spirit running through other of the ancient civilizations, even
barbarians seeming to share in the almost universal impulse to praise
the Deity with this art, and this should prove to supercilious critics
that however ill-sounding the music of other races may appear to our
ears, to _them_ it was a highly considered art, and as such, merits our
attention.
David may be regarded as the real founder of Hebrew music. He must have
possessed great skill even in his youth, as the instance of his being
able to soothe Saul’s crazed mind with his music, proves. This may be
regarded as one of the earliest notices of the effects of music in
mental disease. What the nature of his inventions and reforms in music
afterwards were, and how far he remodelled the style which had been
brought from Egypt, cannot now be known, as Jerusalem has been pillaged
nearly twenty times since his reign, and every monument, or inscription
which might solve the enigma, has long been destroyed.
There are still marks and inflections in the Hebrew Scriptures which are
evidently intended to show the style in which they were to be chanted.
Regarding the instruments spoken of in Scripture as being used in the
Temple there is also no certainty. In the Talmud there is mention of an
organ which had but ten pipes, yet gave one hundred different tones;
this instrument is placed about the beginning of the Christian Era, and
is called _Magrepha_; it is said of it, that its tones were so powerful
that when it was played, the people in Jerusalem could not hear each
other talk. Pfeiffer conjectures that it was probably not an organ, but
a very loud drum. There are other authorities who have endeavored to
prove that the _Magrepha_ was simply a _fire shovel_; they contend that
it was used at the sacrifices of the Temple to build up the fire, and
was then thrown down, with a loud noise, to inform people outside how
far the services had progressed. The reader has liberty to make his own
choice, for the authorities are pretty evenly balanced,—_organ_, _drum_,
or _fire shovel_.
We must make some allowance for Oriental exaggeration in musical
matters, for when Josephus speaks of a performance by 200,000 singers,
40,000 sistrums, 40,000 harps, and 200,000 trumpets, we must imagine
that either Josephus’ tale, or the ears of the Hebrews, were tough. All
these statements only enlarge a fruitless field, for in it all is
conjecture.
The flute was a favorite instrument both for joy and sorrow: the Talmud
contains a saying that “flutes are suited either to the bride or to the
dead.”
The performance of all these instruments seems to have been always in
unison, and often in the most _fortissimo_ style.
Calmet gives a list of Hebrew instruments including viols, trumpets,
drums, bells, Pan’s pipes, flutes, cymbals, etc., and it is possible
that these have existed among them in a primitive form.
The abbé de la Molette gives the number of the chief Jewish instruments
as twelve, and states that they borrowed three newer ones from the
Chaldeans, during the Babylonian captivity.
According to records of the Rabbins, given by Forkel, the Jews possessed
in David’s time, thirty-six instruments.
Some of the instruments named in the Scriptures are as
follows:—_Kinnor_, usually mentioned in the English translation as a
harp, so often alluded to in the Psalms, (“Praise the Lord with harp,”
etc., xxxiii:2,) was probably a lyre, or a small harp, of triangular
shape: that the Hebrews possessed a larger harp is more than probable,
for they were in communication with Assyria and Egypt, where the harp,
in a highly developed state, was the national instrument, but it is a
matter of much dispute, as to which of the musical terms used in the
Scriptures was intended to apply to this larger harp.
The _Nebel_, or _Psaltery_, was a species of Dulcimer.
The _Asor_;—When David sang of an “instrument of ten strings,” he
referred to the asor, which is supposed to have been a species of lyre,
with ten strings, and played with a _plectrum_, a short stick of wood,
or bone, usually black, with which the strings were struck.
The _Timbrel_ or _Taboret_, was a small hand drum, or tambourine,
probably of varying shapes and sizes; the hand drum was derived from
Egypt, for it was customary for women to dance in that country entirely
to the rhythm of drums and tambourines; the military hand drum had the
shape of a small keg with parchment over the ends; that is to say, the
diameter at the middle was greatest.
_The Organ_;—as before stated this was simply a set of pandean pipes.
_Cymbals_;—there seems to be no doubt that the Hebrews possessed various
instruments of percussion of divers shapes.
_Trumpets_;—apart from the ram’s horn, and other curved horns which were
called trumpets, there also existed a straight trumpet of more
artificial construction. “Make thee, two trumpets of silver: of one
piece shalt thou make them.” Numbers ix:2.
It is probable that the sistrum, the guitar, and pipes, were also
possessed by this nation; about nineteen instruments are mentioned in
the scriptures, but some of the meanings are so dubious that they have
been translated by the general terms, harp, lute, psaltery, timbrel,
etc.
How many different opinions are held, upon Hebrew music may be judged
from the fact that the word “_Selah_,” which was probably a musical
term, and is found in so many of the psalms, has given rise to the most
vehement and fruitless controversy. Hesychius says that it means a
charge of rhythm, in the chanting; Alberti denies this, as it sometimes
occurs at the end of a psalm, where certainly no change is possible:
some have suggested that it meant a modulation from one key to another;
Forkel, however, thinks that the Hebrews were not so far advanced in the
science of music as to understand modulation, but Fetis upsets Forkel by
remarking that the modulations, though not harmonic, might have been
purely melodic, by the introduction of tones, foreign to the key, as
occurs in many eastern melodies.
Herder says also “the Orientals even of our day, love monotonous chants,
which Europeans find doleful, and which at certain passages or phrases,
change totally and abruptly their mode and time: the word _Selah_ was
without doubt an indication of such a change.” The last part of this
opinion, Fetis sets down as pure hypothesis.
Two ancient Greek versions of the Old Testament give the meaning of the
word as “forever,” and as “for all ages.”
Alberti thinks the word is a recapitulation of the chords of the psalm:
Rosenmüller proves that this is impossible in some cases.
Augusti thinks it is an expression of joy similar to “Hallelujah.”
David Kimchi thinks it a sign of elevation of the voice; Mattheson and
Pfeiffer agree in the opinion that it signifies a _ritornella_, or short
symphony between the verses, to be played by the instruments alone.
Eichhorn thinks it means _Da Capo_, but Rosenmüller and Gesenius, (the
latter treats the matter with great erudition, and his opinion is
entitled to respect,) both think that it signifies a rest in the song
part, as we might write _Tacet_.
Gesenius has found almost the only corroborative testimony of the whole
controversy in the fact that the grammatical root of the word Selah, is
repose, or silence.
La Borde has boldly, not to say audaciously, given a unique
interpretation. He says “David invented the art of shading the sounds;
the word _Selah_ is equivalent to the Italian word _smorzando_,
extinguished, dying away.” And then he gives a highly colored picture of
the beauty and grace of the effects produced, though all that he proves
is that he has a little stronger imagination than the others. We must
also give the curious opinion of Wolff, who thinks that “_Selah_” has no
sense whatever, and was only added to fill up the metre of a verse.
Several other eminent writers, including Fetis, who gives a full account
of this war of opinions,[16] decline to hazard an opinion in so dark a
matter.
Another conjectural description of the mode of singing among the ancient
Hebrews, is the commentary of Herder on the song of Deborah and Barak,
Judges v.; he says, “probably verses 1-11 were interrupted by the shouts
of the populace; verses 12-27 were a picture of the battle with a naming
of the leaders with praise or blame, and mimicking each one as named;
verses 28-30 were mockery of the triumph of Sissera, and the last verse
was given as chorus by the whole people.”
One cannot fail to observe some resemblance between this music and the
slave music of some sections of the southern states: in the
camp-meetings, and religious services, a tune which is well known to all
is chosen, and as the spirit moves, often a whole song appropriate to
the occasion is improvised. Of some such description must have been
Miriam’s song, after the downfall of Pharaoh’s host; she probably chose
a tune which was familiar to the people, and improvised, while the
people kept the rhythm, or sang refrains.
Of course the element of poetry was immeasurably greater among the
Israelites than among the Negroes, but the similarity of improvisation
and religious fervor is noticeable.
When Miriam sang, there was as yet no distinctive style of Hebrew music;
we must remember that she had obtained an Egyptian education, and that
up to David’s time the music was an imitation of the Egyptian school.
The raptures of some commentators as to the exceeding beauty of the
music of David, are quite safe, for it is easy to affirm where no one
can bring rebutting evidence, but if it partook of the loudness of most
ancient and barbarous music,—“Play skillfully, and with a loud noise,”
Psalms xxxiii:2—our modern music may after all be some compensation for
its utter loss and oblivion.
CHAPTER IV.
ANCIENT GREEK MUSIC.
The mythology of Greek music is too well known, for us to go into any
details upon the subject; with this people every thing relating to
music, was ennobled and enriched by an applicable legend, or a finely
conceived poem. In fact music (mousiké), meant with the Greeks, all the
æsthetics, and culture that were used in education of youth, and the
strictly _musical_ part of the above training had special names, as
_harmonia_, etc., to designate it.
The subject of Greek music has given rise to more commentary and
dispute, than any other in the entire realm of musical history.
The mode of notation employed was peculiar; it consisted in placing the
letters of the alphabet in various positions, straight, sideways, etc.,
and sometimes even, fragments of letters were used.
There are in existence but three authentic Greek hymns[17] with music,
viz: hymn to Calliope, to Apollo, and to Nemesis; there is also in
existence, some music to the first eight verses of the first Pythian of
Pindar, which Athanasius Kircher claimed to have discovered in a
monastery near Messina, but the best authorities reject this as
spurious. The copies of the above hymns are not older than the fifteenth
century, and have probably been much perverted by the ignorance, or
half-knowledge of the transcribers, who seeing a fragment of a letter,
would restore the whole letter, or change its position, thereby greatly
altering the character of the music.
To this fact is to be attributed the dense fog, which has prevented us
from fully understanding the ancient Greek music.
On this slight foundation however, learned writers have built an edifice
of erudition which consists of countless volumes of pedantry and
ingenuity, mixed with a large amount of abuse for those who did not
agree with their solution.
As we intend to deal, in these articles, more with curious musical facts
than with musical systems, we will dismiss this branch of the subject
entirely by referring the reader to the best representative works of
this monument of research, which are Chappell’s History of Music, vol.
I., Ambros’ Geschichte der Musik, vol. I., pp. 218-513, Fetis’ Histoire
Generale de la Musique, vol. III., pp. 1-418. Kiesewetter, and Drieberg
also have written profoundly on the subject. These will give the
different opinions held in the matter.
The _scale_ of the Greeks, is however, definitely known, and was similar
to our minor scale, although it contained no sharp seventh. Play on any
pianoforte the notes, A B C D E F G, and you have played the Greek one
octave diatonic scale.
The nomenclature was however different, and some commentators have
forgotten to explain the fact, that what the Greeks called the _highest
note_, meant the longest string of the instrument, and consequently the
_lowest_ tone.
Another fact which has given rise to much controversy is the pitch of
the lyre or phorminx; it seems that the mode of tuning this instrument
varied in Greece at different epochs, and even in different localities
at the same epoch.[18]
The word harmony (harmonikē) has also been misunderstood, as it does not
mean harmony in our sense of the word, but the arrangement and rhythm of
a melody. Whether the Greeks understood harmony or not, in the modern
sense, has been the chief cause of the before-mentioned “Battle of the
Books.”
The lowest note of the scale was called Proslambanomenos, and had not
the importance of the middle note, called Mese, which really became the
principal note of the scale.
The Greek music practically, was very like our present minor modes, and
the singing of some young Greek of two thousand years ago, would
probably have sounded pleasantly to modern ears.
The earliest Greek scale had but four tones, and was probably used to
accompany hymns. It might still suffice for many church chants.[19]
People seldom think how much music can be manufactured from three or
four notes; Rousseau gave a practical illustration of it in the last
century, by writing a not very monotonous tune, on three notes. But an
instrument founded on so few notes might also have been used to give the
pitch to the voice in reciting, or half-singing a poem. We must remember
that the poems of Greece were chanted in public; and even in modern
days, orators pitch their voices higher than in conversation, when
addressing an assembly.
Early Grecian music experienced its first real onward movement, when
Egypt was thrown open to foreigners. Up to the reign of Psammetichus I.,
(664 B. C.) Egypt was closed to aliens, exactly as China has been closed
in days not long gone by. Psammetichus first opened his kingdom to the
Greeks, and Pythagoras learned enough in Egypt to greatly change the
character of Greek music. Though some Greek writers with an excess of
zeal, have made the statement that he taught the Egyptians, by bringing
to them the seven-stringed lyre. Considering the fact that the Egyptians
had as many as twenty-two strings, the claim is rather audacious.
But what placed the Greeks in advance of all other ancient nations, in
music, was the fact that they early recognized its rank as a _fine art_.
CHAPTER V.
THE PUBLIC GAMES OF GREECE.
The public games of Greece in which music and musical contests were a
feature, gave to the art a decided impetus, for when competition began,
musical study must have preceded.
The Olympic games were celebrated at Olympia every fifth year, in July,
and lasted five days. They were dedicated to Zeus (Jupiter), and were
established (according to some re-established, having existed in
Mythical ages) by Iphitos, king of Elis, in the ninth century before the
Christian era.
For a long time none but Grecians were allowed to compete in them. If
there existed internal war in Greece at the time, an armistice was
effected during the games. The contestants were trained for ten months
previous to the contest. The prizes awarded to the victors were wreaths
of wild olive twigs, cut from a sacred tree which grew in the
consecrated grove of Olympia, and the victors were presented to the
spectators, while a herald proclaimed the name of each, his father, and
his country.
The first day opened with a sacrifice to Zeus, after which a contest of
trumpeters took place. This contest was not regularly instituted until
396 B. C., but after that period it was not interrupted. There are still
annals left of the most celebrated contestants; Archias of Hybla, gained
the prize for three successive Olympiads; and Athenæus says that
Herodorus of Megara, a most famous trumpeter, gained the prize _ten
times in succession_. Pollux says he gained _seventeen_ victories, which
is well-nigh incredible, but both agree in saying that this remarkable
performer was in one year crowned in the four great sacred games, the
Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian. His music was so loud that the
audience were sometimes stunned by the concussion. Other anecdotes of
this wonderful trumpeter remain. He was of giant stature, and slept upon
a bear skin, in imitation of Hercules and the lion skin. He could play
upon two trumpets at the same time, and when he did so, the audience had
to sit farther away than usual, on account of the immense sound. His
performances were of great use in military affairs. Once at the siege of
Argos, the troops were giving way when Herodorus began to sound his two
trumpets, which so inspired the warriors of Demetrius, that they
returned to the fight and won the victory.
The trumpet cannot really be classed among Grecian musical instruments,
as it was rather a signal than any thing else. It was blown when heralds
made any proclamation, in military movements, etc., and seems to have
been appreciated only by the loudness with which it was blown.
It was also frequently played at the Olympic games during the
horse-races, to inspirit the animals.[20]
In fact at the public games the music had a most noisy character, and
trumpeters were proud of bursting a blood vessel, or otherwise injuring
themselves by excess of zeal.
The contest of trumpeters was the only musical (?) one of these games,
though flute-playing took place on the fourth day, when according to
Krause,[21] the _pentathlon_ took place. This was a set of five athletic
games; leaping, running, throwing spear, throwing _discus_, and
wrestling. Here flute-playing also served to animate the contestants.
The flutes too, considering the purpose for which they were used, must
have been played in a violent manner.
Harmonides, a young flute-player, on his first appearance at the games
wishing to _astonish_ the audience, began by giving such a tremendous
blast on his instrument, that he expired on the spot, probably having
burst a blood vessel, and having literally blown himself out with his
first note. The audience was probably astonished.
The sacred games next in importance, were the Pythian. These games were
at first celebrated by the Delphians, every ninth year, but about 590 B.
C., the Amphyctions (another Grecian tribe) obtained the control of
them, and instituted them every fifth year. They took place on a plain
near Delphi, and were in honor of Apollo, commemorating his victory over
the serpent Python; the good principle defeating the evil principle, as
in Egyptian, and most other mythologies. Pindar’s odes have celebrated
the victories at some of these games. Being dedicated to Apollo, it was
but natural that music, (under this head, the Greeks understood most of
the accomplishments of the muses,) should play the most important part.
Religious poems were chanted, with an accompaniment upon the lyre or
phorminx. The first poet-musicians who gained the prize were
Chrysothemis,[22] Philammon, an earlier poet-musician than Homer, and
Thamyris. According to Pausanius, all these singers were probably
priests of Apollo. The Amphyctions first established prizes for songs
with flute accompaniment, and for flute _solos_. Cephallon obtained a
prize for songs accompanied by Kithara, a small lyre, and Echembrotus
one for songs with flute, while Sacadas of Argos took the prize three
consecutive times for his flute solos. After him came Pythocritus of
Sicyon, who won the prize at these games six consecutive times, which
covers an interval of _thirty years_ of triumphs.
Athletic sports also were introduced later. The prizes were, as at
Olympia, wreaths only.
The use of the flute both as solo instrument, and as accompaniment, was
however, soon abolished, it being used as funeral music, and for dirge
playing among the Amphyctions, and therefore having too many melancholy
associations to allow of its use in these festive games. Finally _solos_
on the small lyre (kithara) were allowed prizes.
It is said that at one of these contests a flute player gained the prize
in a singular manner. He was playing the straight flute, when the reed
in the mouth-piece became closed by accident, on which he instantly
changed the position of his instrument, and played it as an _oblique_
flute; his presence of mind was rewarded, by winning the prize.
The Nemean games were commemorative of the slaying of the Nemean lion,
by Hercules. There was no musical contest in the games, but flutes were
used, to stimulate the athletes, and were probably allowed prizes.
The Isthmian games celebrated upon the Isthmus of Corinth, whence their
name, were similar to the Nemean; music not being of any importance in
them.
In Chios there has been found a stone on which the names of the victors
in the musical contests are inscribed. From it we learn that prizes were
given for reading music at sight, rhapsodizing, accompanying the voice
with a small harp played with the hand, and accompanying with kithara
played partially with the fingers of the left hand, and partially with a
_plectrum_ held in the right hand.
The lesser games of Greece were also not inconsiderable. The great
festival of Athens was the Panathenæa, held in honor of Athene the
patron goddess of the city. It was established according to tradition,
about 1521 B. C., and was at first intended for the citizens of Athens
only. It took place about the middle of July.
At the later Panathenæa, the people of all Attica used to attend. There
seem to have been two divisions of this festival, a greater and lesser
Panathenæa, the former being celebrated every four years, the latter
every year. The lesser Panathenæa consisted of recitations, gymnastics,
musical competitions, and a torch race in the evening, the whole
concluding with the sacrifice of an ox. The greater, was even more
extensive. The Homeric poems were sung, dramatic representation took
place, magnificient processions marched to the temple of Athene Polias,
and the whole city was full of mirth and gayety. The prizes were jars of
oil made from the sacred tree on the Acropolis.
Pericles, (fifth century B. C.,) gave to music a greater prominence than
ever before in these games, by erecting a structure especially for
musical entertainments and contests, the Odeum, in the street of the
Tripod; this edifice was very well adapted in its acoustical properties,
for according to Plutarch’s description, the roof was dome-shaped, or
nearly so, and vast audiences could hear solos distinctly.
In Sparta, in the month of August (Carneios) there were celebrated the
great Carneian games, which lasted nine days. In these games musical
contests also took place, and dances of men, youths, and maidens, as
well as gymnastic exercises. Sparta also had a special building for
musical purposes. Theodore of Samos erected the Skias, a building for
musical uses, in the market place. Sparta was in fact, the cradle of
Grecian music.
In the early days, songs were learned and transmitted down, from mouth
to mouth. Homer’s poems were preserved in this manner for five hundred
years. In Sparta however, they first began to crystallize into form and
regularity. Yet strange to say, Sparta gave birth to no musicians of
eminence, even though she was so long the arbiter, and director of
Grecian musical taste.[23]
Terpander of Lesbos, one of the founders of Greek music, came early to
Sparta. He is reported to have gained the prize at the first musical
contest of the Carneian games, B. C. 676, and is said to have studied in
Egypt, but he certainly could not have done so before his first advent
in Sparta, for Egypt was at that date still closed to foreigners, and
had even guards set to prevent the landing of strangers by the sea.[24]
Terpander gained the Pythian crown four times in succession, and was the
most famous poet-musician of his time. His fame spread through all
Greece, but it was especially in Sparta that he won renown, for his
high, manly and earnest strains awoke a sturdy and manly response in the
bosoms of the rugged Spartans. It is probable however that at the first
visit to Sparta, his songs were not so powerful. At that time, (676 B.
C.) he probably sang chiefly the poems of Homer. We say _sang_, but it
is not even sure that they had, what we should call a tune, attached to
them; they were possibly recited in a musical pitch of voice, which
could not be called even a chant.
There was at this time, little music among the Spartans, and that of
rather martial, or else of religious character; as for example we learn
that the Spartans marched into battle to the sound of many kitharas, as
did also the Cretans, and it was supposed to have been in honor of the
Gods, that they did so; though Thucydides, more practically, says that
it was only that they might move forward regularly and in time. On
Terpander’s second visit to Sparta, he changed the entire mode of
Spartan music, and enlarged it. The return happened in this wise:—
At the beginning of the second Messenian war Sparta was in great
perplexity. Messenia by alliances with other tribes threatened
destruction from without. Within all was dissension; agriculture
prostrate, antagonism between those who had lost their lands through the
wars and those who possessed them, a demand for a new distribution of
land, and prospective anarchy. At this juncture, the Oracle of Delphi
was consulted, and gave reply that “discord would be quelled in Sparta
when the sound of Terpander’s harp was heard there,” and told the
Spartans, also to call the counsellor from Athens. So Terpander was sent
for, and also the counsellor Tyrtaeus from Athens.
The effect of Terpander’s songs upon the populace on this occasion is
described as something remarkable; men burst into tears, enemies
embraced each other, and all internal dissension was at an end.[25]
It is recorded therefore, that Terpander with his harp had quelled all
dissension in Sparta, but by this anecdote we may see that in what the
ancient Greeks called music, the words really played the most important
part. To show this yet more clearly, we will here give an instance from
later Athenian history where the same power was exerted for a similar
purpose. A war between Athens and Megara, for the possession of the
island of Salamis, had resulted in such continued disaster to Athens,
that the Athenians had left the island to its fate, and it was forbidden
upon penalty of death to broach the subject to the public again. Solon
however, attired himself as a messenger from the island to the
Athenians, and in this character sang a song which roused such a martial
spirit, that on the instant a large body of volunteers was formed, who,
under Solon, effected its reconquest.
Terpander and Tyrtæus composed most of their songs in march rhythm, and
after this the Spartans sang hymns, while marching into battle to the
sound of many kitharas, which were afterwards displaced by the more
penetrating flute.
Terpander also composed love songs, and banquet songs as well as nomes
or hymns, and his choruses were sung at all Spartan festivals and
sacrifices, they were taught to Spartan youths and maidens, and all
seemed to vie in doing him honor. He had really helped the music of
Greece to a higher plane, for it is said that he enlarged the lyre or
phorminx from four strings, to seven, and also made improvements in the
scale.
Contemporary with this poet-musician was Olympus, who must not however
be confounded with an Olympus who lived six hundred years previously,
that is, about 1250 B. C. Plato says that the music of Olympus was
especially adapted to animate the hearers. Plutarch says that it
surpassed in simplicity and effect, all other music. He is said to have
composed the air which caused Alexander to seize his arms, when it was
sung to him; according to Aristotle his music filled all hearers with
enthusiasm. Much relating to Olympus must however be relegated to the
land of myths. It has even been doubted whether he ever really existed,
though that is carrying scepticism too far.
Among the other characters which existed on the borderland of Greek
musical history, may be mentioned Polynestos, and Alcman who brought to
Sparta in its full glow, the love song, (Lydian measure). Alcman seems
to have been easily aroused to sing of female beauty, and composed some
choruses especially for the
“Honey-voiced, lovely singing maidens,”
which were sung by female voices only.
The fragments which remain of Alcman’s verses do not justify the immense
fame which he seems to have enjoyed in Greece. Alcman was preceded by
Thaletas of Crete, who was sent for by the Spartans 620 B. C. to sing to
the Gods, in order that Sparta might be freed from a severe plague,
which was then ravaging the state. The plague ceased, and Thaletas for a
time stood at the head of all Spartan music. That country as above
mentioned, either would not, or could not encourage home talent.
Sacadas of Argos came soon after with a yet more luxurious style, and
introduced the flute as an accompaniment to chorus music.
To this foggy period of history, also belongs Tisias of Himera, who made
an indelible impression on Greek music. He was the first who regulated
the motions of the chorus, and who reduced chorus singing to a settled
system; from the fact that at one period of the song, (the _epode_, or
_finale_) he made the chorus stand quiet, instead of dancing he received
the nickname of “Stesichorus.” In some of the works of Stesichorus, one
can easily see the germ of the choruses of Æschylus or Sophocles.[26]
If in the ancient Grecian music, the composer, poet, and performer seem
to be spoken of in common, the reader must recollect that in those days,
_all three_ branches of the art were united in one individual. It will
also aid some readers, if we define here what the functions of the Greek
chorus were. In the earliest days, the whole chorus simply sang refrains
after the solo of some cultivated singer; gradually whole compositions
were entrusted to their charge. Pantomimic action probably always
existed in connection with their songs, as with almost all ancient
singing. Stesichorus first gave them different historical or
mythological subjects to act, in a dramatic manner. At a later epoch the
chorus entered in a peculiar manner into the action of the drama. They
stood upon the stage as interested spectators of the various events;
they advised the Protagonist or only individual character[27] as to his
course of action, and when some startling incident, a murder for
example, had taken place, they would strongly express their feelings,
horror, dismay or fear, and thereby intensify the effect upon the
audience.
An imitation of the Greek chorus may be found in Schiller’s “Bride of
Messina.”
Stesichorus was deservedly honored as the founder of Greek chorus music,
and a statue was erected to his memory. Among those next following his
era we find Ibycus, a poet-musician attached to the court of Polycrates,
tyrant of Samos. This mighty sea king and despot had a considerable
liking for music; for we learn also that he kept a choir of beautiful
boys, whose duty it was to sing sweet Lydian melodies during his meals.
About 580-70 B. C. Alcæus and Sappho became leaders in Grecian musical
culture, or poetry, for the two are inseparable. The two poets seem to
have formed a mutual friendship. Of Sappho we have remaining an ode to
Aphrodite which makes it a matter of regret that the remains of her
poetry are so fragmentary.[28] At Mytilene she seems to have gathered
around her a large and elegant circle, composed entirely of females to
whom she taught poetry and music; in fact her house must have been a
musical university for her list of scholars embraces names from all
parts of Greece. Ottfried Müller[29] compares her life, surrounded by
all these fair followers, with that of Socrates surrounded by the flower
of Athenian youth.
Sappho’s career is the more wonderful from the fact, that among the
ancient Greeks, the entire mission of woman was supposed to consist in
rearing her family, attending to the first education of her sons, who at
an early age passed into the hands of their teachers, teaching
housewife’s duties to her daughters, and attending to them herself;
according to Pericles, that woman was most to be prized of whom no one
spoke, either in praise or blame.
Sappho’s poetry had great effect even on the rough character of Solon,
the law giver; hearing for the first time one of her songs, which his
nephew sang to him, he vehemently expressed the wish that he might not
die before he had committed to memory so beautiful a song.
Sappho’s name is almost the only female one in the whole realm of
ancient Greek music, which was pure, noble, and uncontaminated.
Latterly, even her character has been assailed, but the accusation has
been refuted by Herr Welcker, of Bonn, (in the _Rheinisches Museum_,)
Ottfried Müller and other learned writers. After her, music as practiced
by the female sex, was handed over to the most degraded, (the _Hetarae_)
and seems to have borrowed from Egypt many lowering qualities,[30]
including dancing girls and ribald songs.
Anacreon of Teos, introduced into Greece the light, airy songs, in
praise of woman, wine, etc., “It is no great stretch of fancy,” says a
thoughtful writer,[31] “to imagine his songs as expressing our modern
_Allegretto Grazioso_, _Andante Scherzoso_, etc.”
From precisely this point however (the lack of signs of expression in
all Greek music) another writer[32] deduces the opinion that Greek music
must always have been in a crude state, and by no means of the beauty
which some enthusiasts ascribe to it.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PHILOSOPHERS, AND GREEK SOCIAL MUSIC.
From the sixth century B. C., music may date its entrance into the
positive sciences, for Pythagoras, born about 570 B. C., first began to
analyze music from a scientific point of view, and to ascertain how far
it rested upon natural laws. Pythagoras is said to have been the son of
a wealthy merchant. He was as before mentioned, one of the earliest
Greeks in Egypt, and after having been instructed for some time by the
priests, had at last the honor of being admitted into the Egyptian
college of priesthood.
After remaining in Egypt twenty-two years, he spent some time among the
Chaldeans, and at last returned, full of wisdom, to his native Samos.
But here the sensuality of the court of Polycrates was so little to his
taste, that he departed to the city of Croton in southern Italy, where
he founded the order of Pythagoreans.
With the order itself, we have little to do, but when we consider that
its founder was the pioneer of scientific musical research, its
proceedings become in some degree interesting.
“All is number and harmony” was the fundamental maxim of this
philosopher,[33] and he sought for the laws in music, therefore, in
nature. This led to some mistakes of course, for the laws of nature had
not been made clear enough for thorough guidance, in that era. It is
said that Pythagoras one day, passing by a blacksmith’s shop heard the
blows of different hammers sound the fundamental, fourth, fifth, and
octave, and entering, he weighed the different hammers, thereby
obtaining the proportion of these intervals to each other.
This story has been proved to be a silly myth, for the proportions given
are wrong. He should have weighed the anvils not the hammers, and anvils
of such difference in size as would be requisite to produce these
intervals would not be seen in blacksmiths’ shops.
Pythagoras taught that not the ear, but mathematics, should be the guide
in music. He held that the universe was constructed on a musical plan,
and was probably the first to introduce among the Greeks the theory of
the music of the spheres. The fact that man could not hear this
music,[34] was explained by the statement that the sounds were either
too deep or too high for our ears. The reasoning was plausible enough,
and has been confirmed by science, for sounds of less than sixteen
vibrations in a second are inaudible on account of their depth, and
those exceeding 38,100 vibrations in a second are too high for the human
ear to perceive.[35] Starting from this premise Pythagoras formed a
scale founded on the seven planets, as known to the astronomers of that
time. This was its form:
Moon. Mercury. Venus. Sun. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn.
E F G A B C D
The sun was Mese, the controlling middle note, around which all the
others circled.
The order of Pythagoreans were held together by the firmest ties, and
Pythagoras has been, not inaptly, compared in this capacity with
Ignatius Loyola. His adherents, who numbered about three hundred were,
in most cases, wealthy and noble, and the power of the society was
always upon the side of aristocracy.
Pythagoras was very select in the admission of members, exercising great
vigilance lest improper or undesirable persons should be allowed to
enter; in this he was guided not a little by his skill in Physiognomy.
The initiates had, it is said, to pass through a most rigorous and
lengthy period of probation, they were obliged to maintain silence for
five years,[36] and in other ways had their powers of endurance,
severely tested. After entering the brotherhood,[37] the mode of life
was entirely dictated by Pythagoras. The members were clothed in pure
white. They were forbidden all animal food, and beans. They had
different grades of advancement among themselves, the highest being
undoubtedly instructed in a purer religion than that which obtained
around them, though outwardly they conformed with the religion of the
populace. Mathematics, music, and astronomy were studied, and gymnastics
regularly practised.
Playing upon the lyre was obligatory, and none of the order went to
sleep at night, without having previously purified his soul, and set it
in harmony through music; and at rising in the morning, the strength for
the day’s labors and duties, was sought for in the same manner.
Pythagoras wrote many songs as correctives to undue excitement and
passion; he is said once to have brought to reason a young man beside
himself with jealousy and wine, by the power of a song.
Clinias, a Pythagorean, took up his harp and played whenever any passion
arose in his breast; to a person who asked him the reason of the action,
he replied, “I play to compose myself.”
While the music of Terpander, Olympus, etc., was intended for high state
and religious purposes, that of Pythagoras was intended to bring the art
into domestic and inner life. Choruses were, however, also chanted by
his followers, and were adapted to various occasions, as for example, at
the opening of Spring, the scholars would gather in a circle around the
harper, who played the accompaniment, and sing pæans of welcome to the
opening season. Other philosophers also allowed music to enter into
their teachings, though not to so great a degree, but almost all of them
understood enough of music to form an opinion.
Plato seemed decidedly to object to instrumental music, for he says “the
using of instruments without the voice is barbarism and
charlatanry.”[38]
Aristotle was disposed to allow more freedom, for he spoke of music as a
delicious pleasure, either alone (instrumental) or accompanied with
voice; but in instrumental solos he admitted the lyre and kithara only,
and rejected the flute, which he thought not to be a moral instrument,
and only capable of inflaming the passions.
The philosophers as a class were really not very advantageous to musical
progress, for they fought tooth and nail for the old school of music.
They sought only moral effects by the means of great simplicity, and any
intricate innovations displeased them; but in spite of their resistance
the art began to improve.
The Skolion, or banquet song had a great influence on the music of
Athens. At the banquet, or symposium, the harp was passed from hand to
hand, and each person who made any pretence to education or good
breeding was expected to be able to improvise or at least to sing a good
_skolion_.
There was certainly in the time of Pericles, music enough to choose
from, for there is much evidence that the Athenians of that day
possessed an extensive library of music;[39] and it was in this era, the
early part of the fifth century B. C., that the social music reached its
height.
Themistocles once being present at a banquet had the harp (kithara)
presented to him, and was desired to sing his _skolion_; full of
confusion and shame he was obliged to acknowledge his ignorance of
music, and we can judge of the value in which the art was held, by the
sneers and jests which were pointed at him. At last stung to the quick
by the sharp witticisms, he retorted, “it is true I do not know how to
play the kithara, but I know how to raise an insignificant city to a
position of glory.”
The _skolion_ was a really poetical and worthy song, and must not be
confounded with those lower and vulgar songs which were sung to the
guests by hired jesters and buffoons.[40]
The subjects of the _skolion_ were sometimes of rather a lofty style;
praise of heroes,[41] calls to the gods, rules of life, often joyous,
sometimes sedate; but in all of them a less exact rhythm and style were
allowed than in other compositions. A few have been preserved to our
day; one begins, “my kingdom is my spear and sword,” another composed by
Chilon contains the following beautiful thought; “Gold is rubbed upon
the touchstone, and thus is tested, but the soul of man is tested by the
gold, if it be good or evil.” But the kithara, although used in the
_skolion_, was not the only instrument of the fashionable young men of
ancient Athens, for the flute found great favor among them; in fact
flute playing grew to be quite a mania for a time. It was part of the
musical education of youth. Most of the teachers of the instrument came
from Bœotia.
Flute players of ability were held in high honor; the art of flute
playing received such an impetus that different flute schools were
established in Athens; even rival methods of playing and teaching
existed.[42]
Flutes were played in almost every place where music was required, to
accompany hymns, at worship, and even sometimes the Greeks represented
the combat of Apollo and the Python on this instrument, with kithara
accompaniment; this may be considered as the earliest “song without
words” in existence.
The ancients had some other attempts at tone pictures. Once an Athenian
kitharist played to Dorian, a representation of a storm at sea; on being
asked how he liked it, that ancient wit answered, “I have seen a better
storm in a pot of boiling water.” This would make the origin of the
phrase “a tempest in a teapot,” over two-thousand years old.
Sometimes all Athens was divided into cliques for this or that flute
player; and the price paid for flutes were appalling, some being sold as
high as three thousand dollars, many flute-makers becoming immensely
wealthy.
It received a slight check however, when Alcibiades, about 409 B. C.,
declined to play it, alleging as a reason, that it spoilt the shape of
the mouth. Alcibiades stood at the head of the fashion as well as of the
state, and after such a _dictum_ the _beau monde_ of Athens laid aside
the flute; but some ingenious flute maker took alarm, and invented a
mouth-piece which obviated the difficulty, and which Alcibiades found
more to his taste, on which it resumed its place in popular favor.
In Sparta it led the chorus, and was the military instrument, but the
Spartans disdained to make it a study, and only felt bound, at this era,
to discriminate between good and bad music.
In some Ionian cities, the human victims were led to the sacrifice, or
to their execution to the sound of flutes; and this dead march (called
the Nome of Kradias) was said to be peculiarly depressing.
Plutarch makes a warm defence of the flute, against the criticisms of
Plato and Aristotle. “The flute” he says “cannot be spared from the
banquet, leads the hymns to the gods, and with its rich and full tones
spreads peace and tranquillity throughout the soul;” but we must
remember that this was written at a much later epoch, when flute playing
became more universal than in the days of Pericles, and when the
instrument had probably been altered and improved.
Flute players sometimes made large fortunes. Nicomachus was known for
his wealth in jewels acquired by his skill on the instrument.
Lamia was one of the most famous of Athenian flutists. This female was
celebrated through Greece and Egypt for her skill, as well as for her
wit and beauty. The latter was not overrated, for a portrait of her has
been discovered in a signet, which amply confirms the accounts of her
charms. Although born in Athens, she went early to Alexandria, in Egypt,
to study her art; somewhat as our modern musicians go to Italy or
Germany. She was received with open arms at the Egyptian court, and was
detained for a long time. Captured by Demetrius Polyorcetes, she soon
succeeded in conquering her conqueror, and on her return to Athens, a
temple was built to her, and she was worshipped under the name of _Venus
Lamia_. Her powerful “friend” Demetrius, may have had something to do
with this deification, but at all events, there were still left some
Greeks (Lysimachus for example) who had the manliness to protest against
the desecration, for the character of Lamia was far different from that
of Sappho.
It was not flute players only who earned immense salaries, for we learn
that Amabœus the kitharist, received nearly one thousand dollars for
each performance, and all flute-players, and kitharists, were welcomed
and honored at the courts of Greece, Egypt and Asia.
Ptolemy Philadelphus gave a large musical festival in Alexandria, Egypt,
about 280 B. C., at which six hundred skilled singers, kitharists and
flutists assisted; there have been larger festivals in point of numbers
in ancient times, but few, where so much educated talent assisted.
Ptolemy Physcon[43], an amiable Egyptian ruler, 146 B. C., who married
his brother’s wife, killed his baby nephew, or step-son on the wedding
day and afterwards married his niece, or step-daughter (for he made the
relationship very mixed) winding up by killing all the progeny as
_finale_, seems to have patronized and enjoyed music, in spite of his
family troubles.
Ptolemy Auletes, 80 B. C., was known as the “flute lover,” and though
king of Egypt was yet a very skilful virtuoso on this instrument.
We must not omit here to mention a species of Greek music which was an
outgrowth of the sacred games.
We have already stated how great the honor of achieving a victory at
these games was considered; and it was very natural that when a whole
city celebrated with joy the triumph of one of its sons, the poets would
also sing in high strains, the praises of the successful hero. These
poems soon became a necessary adjunct to the festivities, and may be
said to form a school of their own. They were chanted by a chorus under
the direction of the composer; and although at first they may have been
spontaneous, yet afterwards they became entirely a matter of purchase.
When a young man had carried off the victor’s wreath, he would
frequently send word at once to some famous poet-musician, to write a
chorus in his honor. Sometimes the city itself would order the poem, and
in Athens about 540 B. C., statues began to be erected to the victors
who were natives of that city.[44] Simonides, born about 556 B. C., may
be regarded as the founder of this style of composition, and he
certainly was the founder of the custom of receiving pay for laudatory
verses.
His contemporaries sneered greatly at him for this, and Pindar proves
him to have been very avaricious, but it really seems to have been no
more than just that the poet should have been compensated for his
exertions, as he not only had to write the poetry and music for the
occasion, but also to drill the chorus and lead the singing.
The ceremony of praise to the victor was either celebrated at the
conclusion of the games, upon the spot, or upon his return home;
sometimes also in after years, to keep alive the remembrance of past
triumphs.
The festivities were both religious and social. They began with a
procession to the temple, after which sacrifices were offered, either in
the temple, or in the victor’s house; this was followed by a banquet, to
which came the poet with his chorus, and intoned the triumphal ode, the
latter being considered the greatest event of the occasion.[45]
Simonides seems to have been in the market for all kinds of Epinikia, or
triumphal odes. Leophron of Rhegion, having won a race with mules at one
of these games, ordered a chorus on the subject from the poet; Simonides
felt a little indignant at the proposal and replied, curtly “I don’t
sing about mules,” but Leophron being very anxious in the matter,
offered a large price, upon which Simonides reconsidered his
determination, and wrote the ode. It began by saluting the mules in an
ingenious manner, only noticing one side of their ancestry,—“Hail! oh ye
daughters of the stormy footed horse.”
Simonides was not wholly, however, in this lower line of poetry; he
often competed in public musical, or poetical contests, and won
fifty-six oxen and tripods by such means. Even at eighty years of age he
added another to his lengthy list of victories. He was also considered
as very learned, and was sometimes reckoned among the philosophers.
One of his chief competitors at Athens, was Lasus of Hermione, who was a
practical and theoretical musician of some eminence.
Among the works of Lasus, there are some which are curiously
constructed. In his hymn to Diana, and in the Centaurs, the letter S
(sigma) is entirely avoided. The flute-players who accompanied the
choruses greatly disliked the hissing sound of S. as it did not blend
easily with their playing, and it was this fact which probably led Lasus
to so curious a style of poetry.
Among the scholars of Lasus was Pindar, (born in the spring of 522 B.
C.,) who came from a noble Theban family. Pindar’s parents were musical,
and there were several flute-players in his family, but he soon became
far more than a mere flute-player. He came to Athens, to study music, at
a very early age, for after his return to Thebes he began a further
course of studies under Corinna and Myrtis, two famous poetesses, then
in Bœotia, all of which was done before his twentieth year.
He strove in public contests with the two latter, but always
unsuccessfully; Corinna defeated him five times, which result, Pausanius
thinks, may have been partly due to her personal charms.
Corinna once offered to beautify Pindar’s early efforts with
mythological allusions, but on his bringing her a poem, the first six
verses of which touched on every part of Theban Mythology, she smiled
and said: “One must sow seed by handsfull, not by bagsfull.”
Pindar’s poetic career began very early, for at twenty years old he
wrote his first Epinikion (triumphal ode), in honor of a youth of the
tribe of Aleuads.[46] His services were soon sought for throughout all
Hellas; for although he imitated Simonides in writing for hire, yet his
muse was unquestionably a nobler one, and his _Epinikia_ bear an air of
heartiness which seems to be unfeigned. His songs were bolder and truer,
and not altogether composed of flattery, and he seems to have been an
eye-witness of many of the triumphs which he describes.
He also was engaged as poet to Hiero, of Syracuse, Alexander, (son of
Amyntas of Macedonia,) Theron of Agrigentum, Arcesilaus, King of Cyrene,
and for several free states; with the two former he was an especial
favorite, and yet his position never seemed that of a parasite, or a
courtier, for he told them the truth bluntly when occasion demanded. His
life was chiefly spent in the courts of his various royal friends. He
once resided at the court of Hiero, at Syracuse, for the space of four
years.
He died at the advanced age of eighty years.
The names of Simonides and Pindar may be considered as the greatest in
this branch of Greek music and poetry; and although the subjects were of
local interest only, yet Pindar has invested them with such beautiful
imagery that he has shown us (to alter the phrase of an ancient,) that
it is better to be a great man in a small art, than a small man in a
great one.
CHAPTER VII.
GREEK THEATRE AND CHORUS.
Among the many institutions which contributed to that polished
civilization which was the glory of ancient Greece, none were higher in
aspirations, or more prolific in results, than the Tragedies and
Comedies which were at certain intervals presented in the Theatre at
Athens. The Athenians were by this agency, brought to a cultivated
discrimination in music and poetry, and as we shall see later, the
choruses being chosen from the body of the people, and demanding an
amount of musical ability in the members, caused the study of music to
become almost a necessity to all.[47]
In its early days the Drama, (if it be worthy of the name,) must have
been a mere masquerading on any raised platform. It had its origin in
the festivities of Dionysius (Bacchus), for at the earliest Dionysian
festivals, the populace smeared their faces in wine lees, and thus
disguised, sang choruses in honor of this god of mirth.
In later times, linen masks were substituted, but only in the days of
Thespis, did the art assume some regular shape.
Comedy may be said to have arisen about 562 B. C., when Susarion and
Dolon travelled around, caricaturing the vices and follies of their
time, from a rude scaffold.
The first Tragedy was acted in Athens, by Thespis, from a wagon, in the
year 535 B. C. In the same year Thespis received a goat as reward for
playing “Alcestis” at Athens. Goats were frequently given as rewards for
this kind of composition, and the word Tragedy is derived by some, from
the words Tragos, a goat, Odé, a song, literally a “goat-song.”
The earliest attempt at dramatic action, with a plot, or incident to
give it connection, was the representation of the gift of the grape to
mankind, by Dionysius; this required three _dramatis personae_,
therefore Thespis changed his linen mask three times.
Solon was not well pleased with the new art; striking his stick upon the
ground he said: “If this sort of thing were allowed and praised, it
would soon be found in the market-place;” and to Thespis who was singing
a recitation in the character which he was acting, he said: “Are you not
ashamed to lie so?”
Solon had probably forgotten that when he aroused the Athenians to the
reconquest of Salamis, he had assumed the character of a herald from the
island. Solon had predicted right however, the drama became the most
cherished institution of Greece; even in its earliest stages, the state
fostered it, and it always attracted the peons for it was both a
religious, and popular enjoyment.
The sons of Pisistratus did much in these days to encourage and
stimulate it. They arranged contests, rewards, etc., with profusion.
The tragedies of Thespis which he both wrote and acted himself, had but
one performer, who, rapidly changing his mask, assumed various different
characters in the play. The monotony was soon felt, and in order that
dialogues might be used, a chorus was introduced, and then much of the
action consisted of duets between the solitary performer, or
_protagonist_, and the chorus.
Phrynicus, a few years later, allowed this single actor to take both
male and female characters; but the first thorough representation of
tragedy, with its properties carefully attended to, is due to the great
tragic poet Æschylus, who instructed the actor and the chorus carefully,
and gave attention to thoroughness in its every department so far as
then known.
The platform and auditorium were still uncouth wooden structures, until
a poetical contest took place between Phrynicus and others, when the
benches were so crowded that the whole structure gave way and many were
injured; after this the theatres were built of stone.
The performances were still regarded as belonging to religious rites;
the seats were at first built in a semi-circle around the altar of
Dionysius, and the theatre never became, as with us, an every-day
matter, but was only used at certain Dionysian festivals, which occurred
about three times each year. Æschylus aimed very much at the terrible in
his tragedies, and the poets of this era never sought to “hold the
mirror up to nature,” but rather to represent something awe-inspiring
and supernatural; therefore the actors had to prepare themselves in many
peculiar ways for the stage.
The characters of tragedy were represented as much larger than human
beings; to effect this the tragedian wore a kind of stilt-shoes with
very high heels, called _cothurne_, padded out his body in proportion to
his height, lengthened his arms by adding an artificial hand, and wore a
mask of large size, over his face. The stage upon which he appeared, was
also elevated above that on which the chorus stood, and the latter not
being artificially enlarged, must have appeared as pigmies, beside these
gigantic heroes.
The voice was pitched in a style corresponding to the magnitude of the
body; it has been suggested[48] that the large tragic mask may have
concealed some contrivance for strengthening the voice; however this may
be, it is certain that the voice of the tragedian needed to be metallic,
solemn and majestic, and that this, though partly a natural gift, had to
be strengthened by long and severe practice, and a vast amount of
physical strength was also required to move about naturally when so
extremely bundled up.
Lucian in his “_De saltatione_,” ridicules the tragic actor’s equipment.
He says: “What a ridiculous thing it is, to see a fellow stalking around
upon a pair of high heeled boots, with a terrible mask on, and a wide
gaping mouth, as if he intended to swallow the audience,[49] not to
mention the unseemly thickness of breast and body, all of which is done
to hide the disproportion between his extravagant height, and his meagre
body. Bawling aloud, and writhing his body in a thousand odd gestures;”
and then he alludes to the better singing and acting of previous time,
“but all sense of fitness is lost,” he concludes, “when Hercules enters
singing a mournful ditty, without either lion’s skin or club.”
With regard to the immovable mask, Ottfried Müller supposes that the
picture is overdrawn, for facial expression had far less to do with the
action of the drama of that day than we imagine; the character had not
so many changing emotions to depict, as in modern plays; he says[50] “we
can imagine an Orestes, or a Medea, with a set countenance, but never a
Hamlet or Tasso.”
We must also remember that the vast extent of the Athenian Theatre, made
it next to impossible to distinguish much play of feature, and that the
same masks were not worn throughout the play, but changed at any great
change of emotion. Oedipus in the tragedy by Sophocles, after
misfortunes came upon him, wore a different mask from the one worn in
his days of prosperity.
The first plays represented were relative to the history of the gods,
and demi-gods, but Phrynicus made a bold innovation by representing
contemporaneous events upon the stage. He once ventured to represent the
conquest of Miletus, from the Athenians; the effect, according to
Herodotus, was startling, the whole audience burst into tears, and the
Athenian government forbade any further plays on that subject,
prohibited the piece from ever being represented again, and fined the
poet heavily.
The contests between rival writers, by simultaneous production of their
pieces was a fruitful source of jealousy. Æchylus upon being vanquished
in one of these by Sophocles, took his defeat so much to heart, that he
left Athens for some years, and took up his residence in Sicily.
In the plays of Thespis and Phrynicus, one actor only was employed;
Æchylus enriched his works by adding a second performer, called the
_Deuteragonist_. Sophocles went beyond by adding the third, or
_Tritagonist_, and desired even more, for in his Oedipus in Colonus, he
found that four players were a necessity, and wrote the tragedy for that
number, but dared not publicly make the innovation, and therefore this
great work remained unperformed until after his death.
The above mentioned three performers, had their distinct lines of duty,
as we to-day have upon the stage, actors for each kind of character, but
the distinction was carried to great height on the ancient stage, for
the first actor always came on the stage from the right entrance, the
second from the left, and the third from the centre.
The stage of the Athenian theatre was very wide but not deep, and the
scenery was very simple; sometimes the house of the chief character was
represented, sometimes the tent of a hero, but oftenest the entrance of
a palace, before which the entire action of some dramas could take
place. They were always exterior views, and no scenes of the interior
parts of a dwelling were ever used. The whole active life of the Greek
was passed in the open air, so that it seemed more natural to him to
represent his characters as living similarly. The female characters were
often personated by boys.
There were many expedients to make the following of the action of the
play easier to the spectators, in such a vast space; programmes they had
not, opera glasses did not exist, so certain formulae took the place of
both; when standing on the stage of the Athenian theatre, and facing the
audience, the harbor and city of Athens were on the left hand, and
Attica on the right; a person entering from the right hand, was
therefore presumed to be a stranger who had come over land; and from the
left as coming from the city.
The stage also possessed some mechanical effects, such as chariots
descending from the skies, birds or even immense beetles soaring aloft
carrying persons with them, forms arising from the deep, thunder,
lightning, etc. The chorus was an immense help to the audience in
following the events of the piece, and we must now describe this
characteristic part of Greek tragedy.
The dramatic chorus probably appeared first as Satyrs, the natural
attendants of the jolly god Dionysius, in the plays of Thespis, and were
then numerous and ill disciplined.
Æchylus lessened the part of the chorus in his tragedies, and they no
longer sang an unceasing duet with the Protagonist, for the addition of
a second actor, made dialogues possible without their assistance.
The number of _Choryeutes_ (chorus players) in Æchylus’s tragedies was
twelve; Sophocles, and Euripides had usually fifteen.
In the tragedy of the “Eumenides” there was a special chorus of fifty
members; these were apparelled as the hideous furies of that name, all
in black, with angry countenances, snakes twining in their hair, and
blood dripping from their eyes; and suddenly these frightful apparitions
appeared on the stage: the effect was terrible, women shrieked, and fell
in convulsions, and several children died of fright. This event proves
that the stage effects were rather realistic in those days.
The chorus was felt as an inconvenience by Euripides, who yet could not
break the shackles of custom sufficiently to do away with it.
The arrangement of the chorus was changed when it was transplanted from
lyric to dramatic use. The dithyrambic chorus stood around an altar
singing hymns, and was wholly occupied with its music: the dramatic
chorus stood in the shape of a square, the director taking good care to
place the best dressed and handsomest choryeutes in front.
The songs were accompanied with well regulated movements, usually of a
stately and dignified character, such as befitted the characters which
they were representing, the parts which they performed usually being
those of Matrons or Patriarchs, who were best suited to give counsel,
comfort, or admonition to the acting characters of the drama.
The formation of choruses, was a matter of legislation. The archon of
the city, gave the task of forming the choruses, to some of the wealthy
citizens, who had the title of _Choregus_. This person was not the
chorus leader, but the founder of it. He had authority from the archon
to receive and select able singers; when he had the organization formed,
he engaged a _choryphaeus_ or director, to instruct the members in
singing and dancing; he engaged flute-players[51] to accompany them, and
paid a regular salary to them all, that of the flute-players being
higher than that of the singers. He had to board and lodge them; to
supply them with good beverages during rehearsals; to see that they
received nutritious food, and such as was good for their voices; to
supply them with masks, and costumes for their parts, and other duties
all tending to the well being of the chorus. The choregus received no
pay for this, but if in a dramatic contest his chorus was adjudged to be
the best, he received a wreath as a reward.
Expensive as this honor was, yet it was sought after by all the richer
class of Athens, as it was an ostentatious manner of showing their
munificence, for the tragic choruses vied with each other in the
splendor of their attire, their costumes being superb mantles of gold,
and purple. So costly was it that the saying became a well known jest,
that the way to ruin a man, was to get him appointed choregus.
The costume of the actors was also rich, without much reference to the
part they were playing. Hercules came on the stage in purple and gold
instead of with a lion’s skin.
The poet who had just completed a tragedy, and succeeded in obtaining a
hearing for it, applied to the Archon for a chorus; that functionary, if
he had confidence in the applicant, would assign him one of the choruses
which had already been formed and on receiving the permission from the
_choregus_, the composer would set to work, drilling them in their
various songs, attitudes, and movements. The director did not use a
stick for this purpose, as in modern days, but beat the time with a
heavy pair of iron shoes which he put on for the purpose.[52] The chorus
of comedy was a less expensive and smaller affair. The music which it
sang was also less difficult and grand.
The comedy chorus consisted of twenty-four members, who came on the
stage in detachments of six each.
The comedy costumes of both actors and chorus were something like what
we are accustomed to see in farce or pantomime; there was something
comical and exaggerated about them, which occasioned mirth of itself.
The masks were decidedly comic, and usually caricatured the countenance
of some public person well known to the audience. The comedy, especially
in the older days that of Aristophanes sought to teach the people by
holding up to ridicule, all such persons or measures as seemed to the
poet worthy of censure; therefore it dealt almost exclusively with the
events of the day, and such characters as Alcibiades, Socrates, Cleon,
etc., are constantly appearing, and in the most mirth-provoking manner.
It is a matter of regret, however, that Aristophanes wielded so much
influence, for he brought it to bear against Socrates, whom he was
narrow-minded enough to take as the representative of Sophistry, and
raised a popular feeling against him by his comedy of “The Clouds,” in
which he attributed the most interested motives to that grand
philosopher.
It is unfortunate for Cleon that the caricature of Aristophanes was
accepted as a portrait, and he has come down to us only as the noisy
impudent demagogue, as portrayed in “The Knights;” yet Cleon must have
been a rough and sturdy leader of the populace, to have attained so much
power.[53]
Aristophanes was aristocratic in his tendencies, and could not forgive
the tanner, for having risen from his humble sphere.
It required much courage however to attack the leader of the democracy,
with such boldness. Even the mask makers refused to make the comic mask
of Cleon; and when the mask was obtained no actor dared to play the
character, so that Aristophanes was obliged to act it himself. Cleon
embroiled Aristophanes in three lawsuits in consequence of his audacity.
The choruses of these comedies had sometimes to assume very odd parts,
as in the two comedies of the “Birds,” and the “Wasps,” where they
represented those creatures. The masks were made to correspond to the
character assumed, and in “The Wasps” each man had a short spear or
sting, which they sometimes thrust out, or drew in, and the whole chorus
would sometimes move about quickly with a buzzing noise. The wasps were
a satire upon the swarm of Athenian magistrates.[54]
One is forcibly reminded in these plays of the recent inventions of the
French _Opera Bouffe_.
In the later comedies, private intrigues began to form the plot, and
there was no great difference between these and the plays of modern
times.
CHAPTER VII.
THE DANCES OF ANCIENT GREECE.
The dances of Greece were of considerable variety, and seem to have been
both refined and coarse in their character. The earliest were probable
merely military manœuvres, which were performed to songs, or to
accompaniment of flute or kithara: or festival dances at the
Bacchanalian or Dionysian revels. The chief dances may be classed as the
Pyrrhic, the Cordax, and the Emmeleia.
The chorus itself, in very early times, was, in some parts of Greece
only used to heighten the effect of a solo song, by its pantomimic
dancing.
In Crete, youths and maidens joined hands and danced in a circle; in the
centre of such a circle sat the musician, who sang to the accompaniment
of a kithara, while the chorus expressed by their actions, _not by
singing_, the various emotions which he chanted.
The Pyrrhic, or war dance, was the pride of all Greece, and all young
men studied it.
In Sparta there was a law that all parents should send their sons, above
the age of five years, to the public place, to have them instructed in
the armed dance; on these occasions they were led by the teachers who
made them sing hymns, etc., as they danced. The Pyrrhic was in fact, a
mock battle, in four parts, representing the pursuit, overtaking,
combat, and capture of the enemy, and was used as drill, to make young
men proficient in the use of their weapons; it was accompanied by flute,
which instrument was the one which the Greeks thought aroused the
energies most.
The origin of the Pyrrhic is given as follows,—When Zeus, (Jupiter) was
born, his father Kronos, (Saturn) knowing that he should be dethroned by
him sought his life; he was hidden by the Corybantes, who on Kronos’
coming near, fearing that the child would be discovered by its crying,
began to dance about, and clashed their swords and shields, thus
drowning its voice and saving its life.
Dancing was equal, and often combined, with singing, and was held in the
highest estimation by the upper classes, and even the philosophers of
ancient Greece; though of course only in its higher branches, the lower
being usually abandoned to paid performers, as we to-day draw a wide
distinction between a fashionable ball-room dance, and a ballet, though
both are called dancing.
Skill in dancing, was a most envied accomplishment, for it meant both
grace, and the talent of expressing all emotions without words.
Lucian[55] says the real art of the dance is to express an action, and
gives a long list of mythological and historical deeds which were suited
to representation. “The dancer” he says “must understand history,
mythology, rhetoric,” etc.
One person performed the whole dance, no matter how many characters were
included in the action, and therefore he had to change his dress
sometimes with much rapidity. The Proteus of the fables, is imagined to
have been only a dancer skilled in sudden changes.
The philosophers not only praised, but practised the art. Plato led a
chorus of dancing boys; and considered those to be rough, uncouth churls
who disliked so pleasant a gift of the gods.[56]
Alcibiades danced in public, arrayed in great splendor. Sophocles was a
celebrated dancer, and leader of dancing; while yet a boy, after the
Greek victory at Salamis, he is said to have danced (according to some,
naked) before the trophies.
Socrates often entertained his guests with dancing, and studied it
himself at an advanced age.[57]
Exact information respecting the dance is lacking, some commentators
deeming it to have been very like our modern ballet, others maintaining
that there was a vast difference; Czerwinski and Wieland hold the former
opinion, and to all appearance justly. Some erudite writers have
endeavored to give the most circumstantial accounts of the ancient
manner of dancing.
Meibomius, one of the earliest writers on this subject, endeavored to
dance an ancient Greek dance to an ancient Greek tune, before the court
of Sweden, and Scaliger in the sixteenth century danced the Pyrrhic
dance fully armed, before the Emperor Maximilian;[58] both assumed far
too much knowledge in the matter.
There were undoubtedly numerous dancing schools, and possibly also some
set figures prescribed in certain dances, but these figures had no names
attached to them, and cannot be determined with certainty. The time was
marked as in chorus, by a leader, tapping on the floor with heavy iron
shoes. There are indications that a dance similar to the Virginia reel,
and other contra dances were known to them; also a dance which resembled
the game of “follow-my-leader,” where all imitated the postures and
gestures of a leader.
Many variations were allowed; Cleisthenes having promised the hand of
his daughter to the most successful dancer among her lovers,
Hippoclides, of Athens, tried an innovation on the usual style; having
danced the Emmeleia, or tragic dance successfully, he ordered the
attendants to bring him a table, upon which he sprang, and standing on
his head gesticulated with _his legs_. Cleisthenes indignant at this new
departure, exclaimed “Oh son of Tisander you have undanced your
marriage;” Cleisthenes caring more for his skill than for his marriage,
replied “that is perfectly immaterial to me.”
The Emmeleia, was the stately dance belonging to tragedy, and was the
one most practised by the poets of that time, as they were often obliged
to teach it to the chorus, thus adding the business of dancing master,
to their already numerous duties.
The Sicinis was a dance of demi-gods, and was suited to the immense
figure of the heroes of tragedy, already described. There was also a
dance representing Theseus wandering about in the labyrinth, the figures
of which must have been very twisted and irregular.
There was a species of dancing at banquets and revels, by paid female
performers, at which the shape and form of the dancer were as lavishly
displayed as in the modern ballet.[59]
The Cordax, or comic dance was throughout vulgar and unseemly, and no
Athenian could dance it unmasked, without bringing down upon himself the
reproach of the greatest impudence and immodesty. It was so outrageous
that the comic poets often tried to do without it. Aristophanes, in “The
Clouds” prides himself that he does not use it in that comedy. The
_cordax_ was a dance wherein the utmost vulgarity was not only allowed
but _demanded_.[60]
Lucian in his treatise “_de Saltatione_” intimates the existence of
various other dances which in his day had fallen into desuetude, as the
dance of the _Cranes_; also the Phrygian dance, which was only to be
danced when the performers were drunk, and jumped about, with uncouth
irregular leaps to the music of the flute.
Lucian also gives a specimen of the raillery of the people, when the
dancer was not suited to the part; when a small person undertook to act
Hector, they would call out, “we want Hector, not Astyanax.” To a fat
dancer, on making a leap they called “be careful, you’ll break the
stage;” and to a lean, sickly looking dancer they cried “go home, and
nurse yourself, never mind dancing.” Such little remarks are not
unsuited to the _gamins_ of the New York or London theatres.
We have dwelt rather long upon Greek Music, Theatre Chorus, and Dancing,
but the subject has more than usual interest, as in the Greek art, of
all descriptions, we find the seeds from whence has sprung our own.