Prologue- Antiquity

Question 0

Define antiphonal

Answer 0

a type of performance featuring repeated alternation between two voices or groups

Question 1

When is the Antiquity era?

Answer 1

before 500 C.E.

Question 2

Define responsoral

Answer 2

a type of performance featuring repeated alternation between a solo voice and a group

Question 3

Who is Miriam and how does she relate to music?

Answer 3

a priestess from the Old Testament

Question 4

Who is David and how does he relate to music?

Answer 4

David played the lyre for King Saul to help him feel better- the first record of music therapy. He also wrote many of the Psalms and established music as a part of worship in the Christian church.

Question 5

Define monophony

Answer 5

musical texture of a single voice or line, without accompaniment of any kind

Question 6

Define polyphony

Answer 6

musical texture of two or more voices essentially equal in importance

Question 7

Define tetrachord

Answer 7

any grouping of four pitches, in particular, the interlocking descending successions of note in the Ancient Greek musical system

Question 8

Who is Apollo?

Answer 8

a Greek god associated to music

Question 9

Who are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and how do they relate to music?

Answer 9

They were Greek philosophers who discussed the importance of music in their society and how it should be treated

Question 10

How did music play a role in Ancient Greek society?

Answer 10

Choruses sung in Greek plays, supplementing what took place on the stage with commentary.

There were several genres specific to the occasion such as music for work, banquets, funerals, and weddings, and they believed these genres shouldn’t be mixed.

Singing was a competitive event in the Pythian Games.

Often music was used as a form of worship to their gods including Apollo as described in Homer’s Illiad.

Question 11

What is the Greek word for song?

Answer 11

melos

Question 12

What does “tonos” refer to?

Answer 12

Tonoi are the divisions of Ancient Greek melodies; each tonos has unique characteristics that mostly likely came from certain regions’ or groups of people’s style of music. They include Dorian, Ionion, Phrygian, Lydian, Aeolian, and others. These are not related to the medieval modes of the same names.

Question 13

What does the Greek word “mese” mean?

Answer 13

It is the middle note within the range of notes that comprise a melody. It is the focal point of the melody or the “return-to” note in Ancient Greek music.

Question 14

Describe the Greater Perfect System

Answer 14

Within Ancient Greek music theory, it is a span of two octaves that encompasses the notes used in actual music. This span of two octaves is determined by the combination of four interlocking tetrachords plus one note.

Question 15

Describe the three tetrachords that make up the Greater Perfect System.

Answer 15

The diatonic tetrachord consists of 2 whole-steps and a half-step.

The chromatic tetrachord consists of a minor third and 2 half-steps.

The enharmonic tetrachord consists of a major third and two quarter-steps, incorporating microtones.

Question 16

Describe the Epitaph of Seikilos.

Answer 16

It is a rare example of recorded Ancient Greek music carved on a tombstone. It dates back to 100 C.E. It is in Ionian tonos with a range of an E octave using C# and F# and A as its mese.

Question 17

What is Problems (Problemata)?

Answer 17

It is a writing possibly written by Aristotle. It comments on the importance of mese and how it should be treated. That is, it should occur frequently and be the returning point when deviated from.

Question 18

How does Plato describe song?

Answer 18

Plato believed there were three essential parts to song- word, rhythm, and melody.

Question 19

List and describe 6 Greek instruments.

Answer 19

Lyre: string, harp-like, most prominent in the culture
Aulos: wind, two pipes played with a reed
Syrinx: wind, panpipes
Horns: wind, made from animal horns or metal
Krotala: percussion, hollow blocks of wood played like castanets
Kumbala: finger symbols

Question 20

What is the “harmony of the spheres”?

Answer 20

the belief that heavenly bodies (starts, planets, etc) create a sound, a sort of music inaudible to humans, based on the mathematical ratios of movement and distance. This belief was brought about by Pythagoras and his discovery of musical ratios.

Question 21

What is the doctrine of ethos?

Answer 21

Originating from the Antiquity Era, it is the belief that music is capable of arousing listeners to certain kinds of emotions and behaviors, elevating or debasing the soul, and enlightening or degrading the mind. It is a belief that still holds strong in present day societies.

Question 22

List instruments used by the Romans.

Answer 22

brass tubas and cornu (horns) with detachable mouthpieces, the hydraulic organ, various flutes and pipes including the aulos and piccolo, various percussion such as drums, cymbals, and tambourines

Question 23

How was music from the Roman Empire’s time preserved?

Answer 23

Only through theoretical writings from those like Ptolemy, Aristides Quintilianus, Alypius, Pythagoras, and Aristoxenus, and through other writings such as poetry and drama.

Question 24

Discuss Pythagoras in relation to music.

Answer 24

Pythagoras is credited to discovering the numerical relationships between pitches. The three he named as perfect are the octave (2:1), perfect fifth (3:2), and perfect fourth (4:3). Pythagoras and his followers believed in the harmony of the spheres, that is the inaudible vibrations made by planets, stars, and other masses in space. He taught music as a science rather than an art.

Question 25

What are some examples of music in the myths and legends from the Antiquity Era?

Answer 25

There’s the story of Orpheus who used music to influence the gods Charon and Pluto in order rescue his wife Euridice from Hades. Another example is from the Odyssey where Odysseus is warned of the sirens’ singing which would surely lure him to his death. His crew plugged their ears with wax, and Odysseus, wishing to hear them sing, was tied to the mast. Then there’s the story of Saul who played his lyre so beautifully, he was the only one who could sooth King David’s troubled mind. Lastly, it is said that Timotheus performed a series of moving songs at the banquet celebrating Alexander the Great’s defeat of the Persians. These songs caused Alexander to experience an array of emotions.

Question 26

What is the Ancient Greek’s view of vocal music versus that of instrumental music? Why is this?

Answer 26

The Ancient Greeks believed vocal music was superior to instrumental music because vocal music contained lyrics which was a crucial part of music according to the Ancient Greeks. Instrumental music lacked this element, and for that reason it was regarded as lesser. Considering how abstract it is, they probably had a harder time putting its true value into words and so labeled it as less perfect.