_The fifteen Keys._
Mesê.
[Music: Hyper-lydian.]
[Music: Hyper-aeolian.]
[Music: Hyper-phrygian.]
[Music: Hyper-ionian.]
[Music: Mixo-lydian.]
[Music: Lydian.]
[Music: Aeolian.]
[Music: Phrygian.]
[Music: Ionian.] Mesê.
[Music: Dorian.]
[Music: Hypo-lydian.]
[Music: Hypo-aeolian.]
[Music: Hypo-phrygian.]
[Music: Hypo-ionian.]
[Music: Hypo-dorian.]
The moveable notes ([Greek: phthongoi kinoumenoi]) are distinguished
by being printed as crotchets.
The two highest of these keys--the Hyper-lydian and the
Hyper-aeolian--appear to have been added in the time of the Empire.
The remaining thirteen are attributed to Aristoxenus in the
pseudo-Euclidean _Introductio_ (p. 19, l. 30), and by Aristides
Quintilianus (p. 22, l. 30): but there is no mention of them in the
extant _Harmonics_. It may be gathered, however, from the criticism
of Heraclides Ponticus (see the passage discussed on pp. 9-12) that
the list of keys was being considerably enlarged in his time, and
Aristoxenus, though not named, is doubtless aimed at there. Music of
the 'Orestes' of Euripides (ll. 338-344).
[Symbols: II P C. P? 40 n] [Greek: katoloPHYROMAIZMATEROS haima sas]
[Symbols: Z (?)..1' "Z E E (?)] [Greek: ho s' anab AKCHEUEIZOMEGAS
olbos ou]
[Symbols:-ii P C. I' Z] [Greek: monimoSEMBROTOISZANA de laiphos]
[Symbols: C P-A C p-i?. c,] [Greek: hôs tiSAKATOUTHOASTINAxas dai-]
[Symbols:] [Greek: môn KATEKLYSEN deinôn]
[Symbols: Z re. z?] [Greek: ponôN[Symbols:???]ÔÔSPONT ou]
[Symbols: I C: C: Pvl(?) 40(?)] [Greek: olethrIoiSIN en kymasin]
[Music: Restoration proposed by Dr. Crusius.
[Greek: kat-o-lo-phu-ro-mai ma-te-ros ai-ma sas
o s ana-bak-cheu-ei. o me-gas ol-bos ou
mon-i-mos en Bro-tois a-na de lai-phos hôs
tis a-ka-tou tho-as ti-na-xas dai-môn
kat-ek-ly-sen dei-nôn po-nôn hôs pon-tou
lab-rois o-leth-ri-oi-sin en ky-ma-sin]
]
The metre is dochmiac, each dochmius consisting of an iambus followed
by a cretic, [Symbols: u--u-]. The points which seem to mark the
ictus, or rhythmical accent, are found on the first syllable of each
of these two feet. If we assume that the first syllable of the iambus
has the chief accent, the dochmius will be correctly expressed as a
musical bar of the form--
[Music]
If the first syllable of the cretic is accented, the dochmius is
divided between two bars, and becomes--
[Music]
The accompaniment or [Greek: krousis], consisting of notes interposed
between the phrases of the melody, is found by Dr. Wessely and Dr.
Crusius in the following characters:
1. The character [Symbols:] appears at the end of every dochmius
shown by the papyrus. After the first, third and fifth it is written
in the same line with the text. After the seventh it is written above
that line, between two vocal notes. Dr. Crusius takes it to be the
instrumental [Symbols: Z], explaining the difference of shape as due
to the necessity or convenience of distinguishing it from the vocal
[Symbols: Z]. If that were so the form [Symbols: 1.] would surely
have been permanent, and would have been given in the schemes of
Alypius and Aristides Quintilianus. I venture to suggest that it is a
mark intended to show the end of the dochmius or bar.
2. The group [Symbols: 21 D] occurs twice, before and after the words
[Greek: deinôn ponôn]. There is a difficulty about the sign [Symbols:
2], which Dr. Crusius takes to be a _Vortragszeichen_. The other two
characters may be instrumental notes.
The double [Greek: ô] of [Greek: hôs] (written [Greek: ÔÔS]) is
interesting because it shows that when more than one note went with a
syllable, the vowel or diphthong was repeated. This agrees with the
well-known [Greek: hei-ei-ei-ei-ei-eilissete] of Aristophanes (_Ran._
1314), and is amply confirmed by the newly discovered hymn to Apollo
(p. 134). _Musical part of the Seikelos inscription._
[Symbols: C Z Z KIZ I] [Greek: OSONZÊSPHAINOU]
[Symbols: K I Z IK O] [Greek: MÊDENOLÔSSY]
[Symbols: E., C O i; C K Z] [Greek: LYPOUPOSOLI]
[Symbols: I IC I K C OZ] [Greek: GONESTITOZÊN]
[Symbols: C K O i [.Z]] [Greek: TOTELOSOCHRO]
[Symbols: K C [=C] C [.=X]] [Greek: NOSAPAITEI]
The inscription of which these lines form part was discovered by Mr.
W. M. Ramsay, and was first published by him in the _Bulletin de
correspondance hellénique_ for 1883, p. 277. It professes to be the
work of a certain [Greek: Seikelos]. The discovery that the smaller
letters between the lines are musical notes was made by Dr. Wessely.
The Seikelos inscription, as Dr. O. Crusius has shown (_Philologus_
for 1893, LII. p. 161), is especially valuable for the light which it
throws upon ancient rhythm. The quantity of the syllables and the
place of the _ictus_ is marked in every case, and we are able
therefore to divide the melody into bars, which may be represented as
follows:
[Symbols: V?--I v %.)..s 10-I? L, I/4 i v^%., L)? % i:\--%. i v1/4d]
[Greek: hoson | zês phai-| nou; mêden | holôs sy ly-| pou; pros
oli-|]
[Symbols: " \s 10 V1/4.0,? V? V V Lo V V V L.? I/4.?] [Greek: gon
esti to | zên; to telos | ho chronos apai-| tei.] _The hymns recently
discovered at Delphi._
Since these sheets were in type the materials for the study of
ancient Greek music have received a notable accession. The French
archaeologists who are now excavating on the site of Delphi have
found several important fragments of lyrical poetry, some of them
with the music noted over the words, as in the examples already
known. The two largest of these fragments have been shown to belong
to a single inscription, containing a hymn to Apollo, which dates in
all probability from the early part of the third century B.C. Of the
other fragments the most considerable is plausibly referred to the
first century B.C. These inscriptions have been published in the
_Bulletin de correspondance hellénique_ (viii-xii. pp. 569-610), with
two valuable commentaries by M. Henri Weil and M. Théodore Reinach.
The former scholar deals with the text, the latter chiefly with the
music.
The music of the hymn to Apollo is written in the vocal notation. The
metre is the cretic or paeonic ([Symbols:]), and the key, as M.
Reinach has shown, is the Phrygian--the scale of C minor, with the
conjunct tetrachord _c--d[Symbol: flat]--d--f_.
In the following transcription I have followed M. Reinach except in a
few minor points. When two notes are sung to the same syllable the
vowel or diphthong is repeated, as in the fragment of the Orestes (p.
132): but I have thought it best to adhere to the modern method.
[Music: A [Symbols: o r 4] [Greek: [Ton kithari]sei kly-ton pai-da
me-ga-lou [Dios a-]]
[Symbols: oruh.u4r] [Greek: eidete pa]r' a-kro-ni-phê ton-de pa-gon,
am[broth' hos]]]
[Music: [Symbols: #1? ZS A rty r M Y M] [Greek: pa-si thna-tois
pro-phai-neis [logia, tr]i-po-da man-]
[Symbols: 1M I O r O 4ruh.0] [Greek: tei-on hôs hei[les, echthros hon
e-phr]ou-rei dra-kôn;]
[Symbols: 4:I U!or 4 u] [Greek: ho-te te[oisi belesin e-tr]ê-sas
ai-o-lon he-lik-tan[]
[Symbols: I omio r 4] [Greek:] sy-rig-math' hi-eis a-thô-pe[ut' eba;]
[Symbols: U ior.t. U]
[Greek: nyn] de Ga-la-tan a-rês..n epe-ras' a-sep-t[os
[Symbols:] [Greek: sal-li-ô](?) [Greek: gen-nan..n thalos phi-lon]
[Symbols:] [Greek: da-moi-o lo....rôn e-phor..]
[Symbols:] [Greek: te-on k.. e-nai k..]]
(about 12 bars wanting.)] [Music: B [Symbols: I M G M Th I M] [Greek:
Helik]ôna ba-thy-den-dron hai la[chete Dios eri]bro-mou]
[Symbols: I M U M Th Th I M I] [Greek: thy-ga-tres eu-ô-le[noi]
mo-le[te] syn-o-mai-mon hi-na]
[Symbols: M U M U M W Th G W] [Greek: Phoi-bon ô-dai-si mel-psê-te
chry-se-o-ko-man;]
[Symbols: Th Ô Ps Ô Th Ô Th I M Th] [Greek: hos a-na di-ko-ry-ni-a
Par-nas-si-dos tas-de pet-]
[Symbols: I M U M U M I Th I Th G Ô Ps G] [Greek:-ras he-dra-na
[me]ta kly-tais Del-phi-sin Kas-ta-li-dos]
[Symbols: Ô Ps Ô Th G L M] [Greek: eu-u-drou na-mat' e-pi-ni-se-tai,
Del-phon a-na]
[Symbols: G M I Th I M Ph G] [Greek: [pr]ô-na man-tei-on e-phe-pôn
pa-gon. [ithi] klyta]] [Music: [Symbols:] [Greek: me-ga-lo-po-lis
Ath-this, eu-chai-si phe-ro-ploi-o nai-]
[Symbols:] [Greek:-ou-sa Tri-tô-ni-dos da[ped]on a-thrauston, ha-gi-]
[Symbols:] [Greek:-ois de bô-moi-sin Ha-phais-tos ai-thei ne-ôn]
[Symbols:] [Greek: mê-ra tau-rôn; ho-mou de nin A-raps at-mos es Y-
[Symbols:] [Greek:-lym-pon a-na-kid-na-tai; li-gy de lô-tos bre-môn]
[Symbols:] [Greek: ai-o-lois [me]le-sin ô-dan kre-kei; chry-sea d']
[Symbols:] [Greek: ha-dy-throu[s ki]-tha-ris hym-noi-sin
a-na-mel-pe-tai;]
[Symbols:] [Greek: ho de [the]-ô-rôn pro-pas es-mos Ath-thi-da
lach[ôn]]] The notes employed in this piece of music cover about an
octave and a half, viz. from Parypatê Hypatôn to the Chromatic
Lichanos Hyperbolaiôn. In two of the tetrachords, viz. Synemmenôn and
Hyperbolaiôn, the intervals employed are Chromatic (or possibly
Enharmonic): in the tetrachord Diezeugmenôn they are Diatonic, while
in the tetrachord Mesôn the Lichanos, which would distinguish the
genus, is wanting. On the other hand there are two notes which do not
belong to the Phrygian key as hitherto known, viz. [Symbol: O], a
semitone below Mesê, and [Symbol: B], a semitone below Nêtê
Diezeugmenôn. If we assume that we have before us Chromatic of the
standard kind ([Greek: chrôma toniaion]), the complete scale is--
[Music: [Symbols:]]
If the intervals are Enharmonic, or Chromatic of a different variety,
the moveable notes (in this case [Symbols: A K] and [Symbols: 4 3E])
will be somewhat flatter.
M. Reinach is particularly happy in tracing the successive changes of
genus and key in the course of the poem. The opening passage, as he
shows, is Diatonic. With the mention of the Gaulish invasion ([Greek:
Galatan arês]) we come upon the group [Symbols: U 4] (_g--a[Symbol:
b]--a_) of the Chromatic tetrachord Hyperbolaiôn. At the beginning of
the second fragment the intervals are again Diatonic, up to the point
where the poet turns to address the Attic procession ([Greek: ithi,
klyta megalopolis Aththis, k.t.l.]). From this point the melody lies
chiefly in the Chromatic tetrachord Synemmenôn [Symbols: M AK r]
(_c--d[Symbol: o]--d--f_)--a modulation into the key of the
sub-dominant as well as a change of genus. At the end of the fragment
the poet returns to the Diatonic and the original key. With regard to
the _mode_--the question which mainly concerns us at present--M.
Reinach's exposition is clear and convincing. He appeals to three
criteria,--(1) the impression which the music makes on a modern ear;
(2) the endings of the several phrases and divisions; and (3) the
note which recurs most frequently. All these criteria point to a
Minor mode. The general impression made by the Diatonic parts of the
melody is that of the key of _C_ minor: the rhythmical periods end on
one or other of the notes _c-e[Symbol: flat]-g_, which form the chord
of that key: and the note _c_ distinctly predominates. This
conclusion, it need hardly be said, is in entire agreement with the
main thesis of the preceding pages.
The symbols [Symbol: O] and [Symbol: B], which do not belong to the
Phrygian scale, are explained by M. Reinach in a way that is in a
high degree plausible and suggestive. In other keys, he observes, the
symbol [Symbol: O] stands for the note _b_ (natural). Thus it holds
the place of 'leading-note' (_note sensible_) to the keynote, _c_. It
has hitherto been supposed that the standard scale of Greek music,
the octave _a-a_, differed from the modern Minor in the want of a
leading note. Here, however, we find evidence that such a note was
known in practice, if not as a matter of theory, to Greek musicians.
If this is so, it strongly confirms the view that _c_ was in fact the
key-note of the Phrygian scale. The symbol [Symbol: B], which occurs
only once, answers to our _g_[Symbol: flat], and may be similarly
explained as a leading note to _g_, the dominant of the key. We
infer, with M. Reinach, that the scale employed in the hymn is not
only like, but identical with, the scale of our Minor.
The fragment marked C by M. Weil resembles the hymn to Apollo in
subject, and also in metre, but cannot belong to the same work. The
melody is written in the Lydian key, with the notation which we have
hitherto known as the instrumental, but which is now shown to have
been used, occasionally at least, for vocal music. The fragment is as
follows:[Music: [Symbols]
[Greek: t' e-pi tê-les-ko-pon tan[de] di-ko-ry-phon klei-tyn hym[in]
Pi-erides ai ni-pho-bo-lous mel-pe-te de Py-thi-on Phoi-bon on
e-tik-te L[a-tô]]
M. Reinach connects this fragment with a shorter one, also in the
Lydian key, but not in paeonic metre, viz.--
[Music: [Symbols]
[Greek:.. thon es-che ma ... thê-ra kat-ek-ta.... syrigm' a-per..]]
M. Reinach thinks that the mode may be the so-called Hypo-lydian (the
octave _f - f_). The materials are surely too scanty for any
conclusion as to this.
The fragment D, the only remaining piece which M. Reinach has found
it worth while to transcribe, is also written in the instrumental
notation of the Lydian key. The metre is the glyconic. The fragment
is as follows:--
[Music: [Symbols]
[Greek: ton man-to-sy[na klyton] ô-leth' hy-gra ch ... despoti
Krê-siôn.. ai nae-tas Delphôn]] [Music: [Symbols]
[Greek: ...in ap-tais-tous Bak-chou [thiasous] ...te prospolois]]
[Symbols] [Greek: tan te do[u]ri[klytôn ar-chan au-xet' a-gê-ra-tô
thal ...]]
This piece also is referred by M. Reinach to the Hypo-lydian mode. It
may surely be objected that of three places in which we may fairly
suppose that we have the end of a metrical division, viz. those which
end with the words [Greek: Delphôn, prospolois] and [Greek: agêratô],
two present us with cadences on the Mesê (_d_), and one on the Hypatê
(_a_). This seems to point strongly to the Minor Mode.
On the whole it would seem that the only _mode_ (in the modern sense
of the word) of which the new discoveries tell us anything is a mode
practically identical with the modern Minor. I venture to think this
a confirmation, as signal as it was unexpected, of the main
contention of this treatise.
It does not seem to have been observed by M. Weil or M. Reinach that
in all these pieces of music there is the same remarkable
correspondence between the melody and the accentuation that has been
pointed out in the case of the Seikelos inscription (pp. 90, 91). It
cannot indeed be said that every acute accent coincides with a rise
of pitch: but the note of an accented syllable is almost always
followed by a note of lower pitch. Exceptions are, [Greek: aiolon,
hina] (which may have practically lost its accent, cp. the Modern
Greek [Greek: na]), and [Greek: molete] (if rightly restored). The
fall of pitch in the two notes of a circumflexed syllable is
exemplified in [Greek: manteion, heilen, Galatan, Phoibon, ôdaisi,
klytais, bômoisin, homou]: the opposite case occurs only once, in
[Greek: thnatois]. The observation holds not only of the chief hymn,
but of all the fragments.
INDEX OF PASSAGES DISCUSSED OR REFERRED TO.
AUTHOR PAGE
_Anonymi Scriptio de Musica_, § 28 (the modes employed on different
instruments), 27
§§ 63-64 ([Greek: topoi tês phônês]), 64
Aristides Quintilianus (ed. Meib.):
p. 10 (Lichanos), 31
p. 13 (ethos of music), 63, 66
p. 15 ([Greek: kata dieseis harmonia]), 53, 98
p. 21 (Modes in Plato's _Republic_), 94-100
p. 28 ([Greek: topoi tês phônês]), 63
Aristophanes, _Eq._ 985-996 (Dorian Mode), 7, 42
Aristotle:
_Metaphysics_, iv. 11, p. 1018 _b_ 26 ([Greek: archê]), 46
Politics, iv. 3, p. 1290 a 20 (Dorian and Phrygian), 105
viii. 5-7, pp. 1340-1342 (ethos of music), 9, 12, 13, 107
viii. 7, p. 1342 _a_ 32 (Phrygian Mode), 12, 13, 107
Problems, xix. 20, p. 919 a 13 (Mesê), 43, 82, 102, 107
26, p. 919 _b_ 21 ([Greek: harmonia]=System), 55
33, p. 920 _a_ 19 (Hypatê), 44
36, p. 920 _b_ 7 (Mesê), 44
47, p. 922 _b_ 3 (heptachord scales), 33
48, p. 922 _b_ 10 (modes used by chorus), 14
49, p. 922 _b_ 31 (high and low pitch), 15
_Rhetoric_, iii. 1, p. 1403 b 27 ([Greek: tonos] and
[Greek: harmonia]), 15
Aristoxenus (ed. Meib.):
_Harm._ p. 2, l. 15 (diagrams of [Greek: harmoniai]), 49
p. 3 (melody of speech), 115
p. 6 (nomenclature by [Greek: thesis] or position), 81
p. 6, l. 20 (species of the Octave), 50
p. 8 (speaking and singing), 115
p. 8, l. 12 (perfect System), 36
p. 18 (melody of speech), 90, 115
p. 23 (Chromatic and Enharmonic), 110
p. 26, l. 14 (Lichanos indefinite), 110
p. 27, l. 34 (diagrams), 52
p. 36, l. 29 (seven [Greek: harmoniai]), 51, 54
p. 37 ([Greek: tonoi] or keys), 17-19
p. 48, l. 13 (Lichanos indefinite), 110
p. 69, l. 6 (nomenclature by position), 81
_ibid._ (indefinite element in music), 111
Bacchius (ed. Meib.), p. 11 (topoi tês phônês), 65
p. 19 (theseis tetrachordôn), 82
Dionysius Hal.:
c. 11, p. 58 Reisk. (accent and melody), 90, 115
c. 11, p. 64 Reisk. (rhythm and quantity), 115
Euclid (ed. Meib.):
_Introductio_, p. 19 (ten-stringed lyre), 38
p. 20 (modulation), 104
_Sectio Canonis_, Prop. xvii, xviii, 123
Euripides, _Orest._ 338-343 (musical setting), 92, 130
Heraclides Ponticus ap. Athen. xiv. pp. 624-626 (modes), 9-11, 76
Lasus ap. Athen. xiv. p. 624 _e_ ([Greek: Aiolis harmonia]), 6
Nicomachus (ed. Meib), p. 4 (speaking and singing), 115
p. 7 (heptachord scales), 34
Pausanias, iv. 27, 4 (Sacadas and Pronomus), 75
Pherecrates ap. Plut. _de Mus._ c. 30, 38
Pindar, _Nem._ iv. 45 (Lydian), 7
Plato:
_Phileb._ p. 17 ([Greek: harmonia] = System), 55
_Laches_, p. 188 (Dorian, Ionian, Phrygian, Lydian), 8
_Repub._ p. 398 (use of modes in education), 7, 8
p. 399 ([Greek: aulos--poluchordia])., 39, 41
p. 531 A (study of music), 53, 123
_Laws_, p. 669 (instrumental music), 120
p. 812 D (harmony), 122
Plutarch:
_De Musica_, c. 6 ([Greek: harmoniai]), 25
cc. 15-17 (Platonic modes), 21-25, 103
c. 19 ([Greek: tonos, harmonia]), 26
_De gener. Mundi_, p. 1029 _c_ (Proslambanomenos), 39
Pollux, _Onom._ iv. 78 ([Greek: harmoniai aulêtikai]), 22, 28
Pratinas ap. Athen. xiv. p. 624 _f_ ([Greek: mête syntonon k.t.l.]), 5
Ptolemy:
Harm. i. 13 (musical ratios of Archytas), 123
i. 16 ([Greek: hêgemôn]=highest note), 45
_ibid._ (scales of the cithara), 84-86, 102, 123
_ibid._ (Pythagorean division), 87
ii. 6 (modulation), 67
ii. 7 (pitch of scales), 80
ii. 16 (scales of the cithara), 84-86, 102
Seikelos inscription, 89, 132
Telestes ap. Athen. xiv. p. 625 _f_ (Phrygian and Lydian), 6
Theon Smyrnaeus, c. 8 (enlargement of scale), 37
THE END
_Note on the Seikilos Inscription_ (pp. 89-91, 133).
Since the publication of this work, the Seikilos inscription has been
examined afresh by Mr. J. A. R. Munro (of Lincoln College, Oxford).
The result of his examination is to show that the last note of the
melody has been misread. From a squeeze which he has kindly placed at
my disposal it appears that the word [Greek: apaitei] is written--
[Symbols: c x] [Greek: APAITEI]
The line drawn under the three notes [Symbols: C X I] has caused the
last to be read as [Symbol: 3], which has no meaning here. In fact it
is a reversed Gamma ([Greek: g apestrammenon]), and answers to our
_e_ natural.
Hence the last line of the transcription on pp. 89-90 should be as
follows:
[Music: [Greek: to te-los ho chro-nos a-pai--tei]]
The importance of this correction is obvious. The scale employed is
now seen to be the octave--
_e f# g a b c# d e_
If, as I ventured to suggest on p. 90, the mode is the Hypo-phrygian
(the scale of our Major mode, but with a flat Seventh), the key-note
will be _a_. The close on the Dominant _e_ will then have to be noted
as a fact supporting the belief that in Greek music the close on the
Dominant or Hypatê was the usual one (see p. 45).
The line drawn under the three symbols [Symbols: C N1] is found in
several other cases where the melody gives more than one note for a
syllable. So [Symbols: 1K] (l. 2), and [Symbols: 04)] (l. 3),
[Symbols: K1] and [Symbols: 04)] (l. 4). It does not appear however
under [Symbols: K I Z] (l. 1).
D. B. M.