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    The Ancient and Medieval Worlds

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    lalthakima
    The document discusses music in ancient Greece and its origins, characteristics, and role in society. It traces many fundamental elements of music back thousands of years to ancient Greek ideals of beauty and art. Some key points made are that music in ancient Greece had a divine origin associated with gods and mythology, was inseparable from religious ceremonies and astronomy, and was believed to have the ability to influence ethics and character. It also discusses the oral tradition of music and its connections to poetry, rhetoric, and education in ancient Greek culture.

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    The Ancient and Medieval Worlds

    Uploaded by

    lalthakima
    19 views25 pages
    The document discusses music in ancient Greece and its origins, characteristics, and role in society. It traces many fundamental elements of music back thousands of years to ancient Greek ideals of beauty and art. Some key points made are that music in ancient Greece had a divine origin associated with gods and mythology, was inseparable from religious ceremonies and astronomy, and was believed to have the ability to influence ethics and character. It also discusses the oral tradition of music and its connections to poetry, rhetoric, and education in ancient Greek culture.

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    The document discusses music in ancient Greece and its origins, characteristics, and role in society. It traces many fundamental elements of music back thousands of years to ancient Greek ideals of beauty and art. Some key points made are that music in ancient Greece had a divine origin associated with gods and mythology, was inseparable from religious ceremonies and astronomy, and was believed to have the ability to influence ethics and character. It also discusses the oral tradition of music and its connections to poetry, rhetoric, and education in ancient Greek culture.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    19 views25 pages

    The Ancient and Medieval Worlds

    Uploaded by

    lalthakima
    The document discusses music in ancient Greece and its origins, characteristics, and role in society. It traces many fundamental elements of music back thousands of years to ancient Greek ideals of beauty and art. Some key points made are that music in ancient Greece had a divine origin associated with gods and mythology, was inseparable from religious ceremonies and astronomy, and was believed to have the ability to influence ethics and character. It also discusses the oral tradition of music and its connections to poetry, rhetoric, and education in ancient Greek culture.

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    The Ancient and

    Medieval Worlds
    Dr. Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng
    Every aspect of today’s music has a
    history, and many fundamental
    elements can be traced back to
    thousands of years.
    Ideals of beauty and art were
    rooted in Ancient Greece and
    Rome.

    VISUAL ARTS
    LITERATURE
    HISTORY
    GOVERNMENT
    PHILOSOPHY
    GUESS WHO!
    We are what we repeatedly
    do. Excellence, therefore, is
    not an act but a habit.

    The aim of art is to represent


    not the outward appearance of
    things, but their inward
    significance.
    Wise men speak because they
    have something to say; Fools
    because they have to say
    something.
    We are twice armed if we
    fight with faith.
    Music is a moral law. It gives
    soul to the universe, wings to
    the mind, flight to the
    imagination, and charm and
    gaiety to life and to
    everything.
    Greek Mythology
    The body of myths and teachings that belong to the
    ancient Greeks, concerning their gods, the nature of
    the world, and the origins and significance of their
    own cult and ritual practices.
    Music in Greek Mythology
    Music had a DIVINE
    _______ origin.
    The earliest practitioners were gods and demi-gods.
    (Apollo, Orpheus)
    Orpheus with his lute made trees And the mountain tops that
    freeze Bow themselves while he did sing. To his music plants and
    flowers ever sprung As sun and flowers there had made a lasting
    spring. Everything that heard him play Even the billows of the
    sea, Hung their heads and then lay by. In sweet music is such
    art Killing care and grief of heart. Fall asleep or hearing, die.
    Music was inseparable from
    RELIGIOUS ceremonies.
    ___________

    Sacrifice of an animal while two young boys play the aulos and the lyre, c. 540 BC
    National Archaeological Museum
    Music was primarily
    MONOPHONIC
    _______________.
    Melody without harmony or counterpoint

    But, instruments often embellished the melody while a


    soloist or ensemble sang it, thus creating
    HETEROPHONY.

    Listening Example: Epitaph of Seikilos


    Music was inseparable from
    NUMBERS
    __________.

    The system of musical sounds and rhythm, being


    ordered by numbers, exemplified the harmony of
    the cosmos and corresponded to it.
    Music had a close connection
    ASTRONOMY
    with _____________.

    Modes and intervals corresponded with planets and their distances from each other
    Music of the Spheres

    Unheard music
    produced by
    the revolutions
    of the planets

    Shakespeare
    and Milton
    wrote about it.
    There was a union of
    POETRY
    MUSIC and ________.
    Music and poetry were synonyms.
    Song (melos), according to Plato, is a blend of speech,
    rhythm, and harmony.

    “Lyric” Poetry – poetry sung to the lyre


    Music was believed to be able
    to affect ETHOS –
    one’s ethical character or way
    of being or behaving.
    Music was important in
    education. Plato and Aristotle
    argued that education should
    stress gymnastics (disciplining
    the body) and music
    (disciplining the mind).
    What is Rhetoric?
    Characteristics of Music in
    Ancient Greece
    Gave importance to RHETORIC - Melody was
    intimately linked with the rhythm and meter of
    words.
    Characteristics of Music in
    Ancient Greece
    Gave importance to RHETORIC - Melody was
    intimately linked with the rhythm and meter of
    words.
    Was an ORAL TRADITION – Musicians relied
    on their memories and knowledge of conventions
    and formulas rather than on notation.
    Had a WELL-DEVELOPED MUSIC THEORY
    Scales / Modes

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