Bibliography Selection for Ancient Greek Music 1

Bibliography Selection for Ancient Greek Music

Albrecht, Michael von et Werner Schubert, edd., Musik in Antike und Neuzeit (Bern: Lang, 1987)We owe the initiative for the publication of this collection of essays to the Heidelberg Seminar onClassic Literature; the work represents the seminar’s contribution to the 600th anniversary of theHeidelberg University. The texts document the pursuits of the ‘Music Score Archives on the influenceof Antiquity in modern times music’ (Notenarchiv zum Fortwirken der Antike in der Musik derNeuzeit), founded by Joachim Draheim. The essays discuss issues on music archaeology (E. Eibner,“Music life during the Hallstatt period: considerations about music based on representations”); onancient music theories (F. Zaminer: “On the meaning of ‘pitch’ from Antiquity to modern times”); onorganology (E. Poehlmann, “The two Elgin lyres at the British Museum”); and even the assimilationof the impact of Ancient Greek Music in modern times (M. von Albrecht, “Music and Rhetoric inGoethe and Quintilianus”).

Anderson, Warren D., Ethos and Education in Greek Music: The Evidence of Poetry and Philosophy(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, c1966) Anderson’s classic monograph examines the educational, ethical and philosophical dimension inmusic for the Greeks from Pindar, Plato and Aristotle to the Papyrus Hibeh 13 and Philodemus.Anderson was the first to question the excessive importance attributed to Damon in the history ofthe ethos theory (e.g. in Abert and Lasserre, see title no. 34).

__________, Music and Musicians in Ancient Greece (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994)Anderson’s more recent book completes the first one and studies the surviving evidence on thepractice of music. The central part of the book refers essentially to the 5th century BC with variousreferences however to earlier and later periods. The subject is developed chronologically from theStone Age and the so-called Dark Ages (from 1100 to 900 BC) to the times of Plato and Aristotle.

Arrighetti, Graziano, Gigante, Marcello και Kleve, Knut, edd., Cronache Ercolanesi no. 19 (Napoli:Gaetano Macchiaroli, 1989)The 1989 yearbook of the Herculaneum Papyri International Research Centre includes DanielDelattre’s text “Philodemus’ On Music: 4th book, columns 40 to 109” and James Porter’s “Contentand form in Philodemus” which studies the very interesting theory on aesthetics and poetry asexposed by Philodemus and his opponents (known as ‘critics’).

Barbera, André, The Euclidian Division of the Canon: Greek and Latin Sources (Lincoln: Universityof Nebraska Press, 1991)The new analytical texts in this edition study sources that were unknown at the time of the Mengepublication in 1916, and proceed to the most reliable reconstitution of the three main versions of thetext: the main version in Greek with the written ascription to Euclides or Cleoneides, the shorterversion in Greek which is included in the comments of Porphyry in Ptolemy’s Harmonics and the Latinversion of Boethius included in his Institutio Musica.

________ , ed., Music Theory and its Sources: Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Notre DameConferences in Medieval Studies I(Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1990)This volume includes highly important articles by André Barbera, Thomas Mathiesen and JonSolomon on the duties and conjectures of modern reviewers of ancient Greek texts on music andmusic theory. The reconstruction of an ideal prototype is a chimera, Barbera sums up: the ‘texts’ are‘organic’ compositions, ‘experience stories’ in successive layers, an important factor that should bepointed out in modern editions.

Barker, Andrew, Greek Musical Writings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)A selection with translation and comments on the sources of Ancient Greek Music. Barker aspires torender all the sources on Ancient Greek Music accessible to readers with no knowledge of AncientGreek.

Bélis, Annie, Aristoxene de Tarante et Aristote: Le Traité d’harmonique, Études et commentaires100 (Paris: Klincksieck, 1986)

Music Library of Greece - LILIAN VOUDOURI http://www.mmb.org.gr/page/default.asp?id=2...

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This is a recent study on Aristoxenus of Tarentum and his Armonika (Elements of harmony), after theprevious one by Laloy on the same subject (Paris 1904). Bélis extensively analyzes the contents ofAristoxenus’ treatise, ascertains the line of thought rather than the fragmentary character of thesurviving document, points out the Aristotelian elements and highlights Aristoxenus’ founder’s role intreating the study of harmonics as a separate science.

___________, Les Hymnes á Apollon, École Francaise d’Athènes. Corpus des inscriptions deDelphes III (Paris: Diffusion de Boccard, 1992)About twenty years after the publication of the work Denkmaeler der altgriechischen Musik (1970),which is the first work where the Delphic Hymns are presented ‘as they really were and not as onewould wish they were’ (p. 24), Bélis publishes her own study using means and methods that wereunknown to Poehlmann, and presents us with a reviewed and improved version of the two hymns,equipped with an extensive commentary on the text, the music and the music notation. Bélisidentified the composer of the first hymn (article 19 in the Poehlmann edition) as Athinaios Athinaiouand dated both hymns to 128 BC.

Boldrini, Sandro, Prosodie und Metrik der Roemer, Teubner-Studienbuecher (Stuttgart:Teubner,1999)An excellent manual on metrics in classic Latin poetry with a concise reference to music.

Brancacci, Aldo et al., Aristoxenica, Menandrea Fragmenta, Philosophica, Studi e testi per il Corpusdei Papiri Filosofici Greci e Latini XCI (Firenze: Olschki,1988)Luigi Enrico Rossi’s view on two papyrus fragments by Aristoxenus, one of them on harmonics andthe other on metrics and rhythm. The author deems it possible that these two fragments are thework of a later writer, possibly of the Hellenistic period. The same volume includes the first-ratestudy of the Hibeh 13 Papyrus by Aldo Brancacci, in which the author questions the acceptedchronology of the work and the authorship which is attributed to Ippias the Sophist; he convincinglymaintains that the author of these fragments was the rhetorician Alkidamas, pupil of Gorgias and acontemporary of Antisthenes and Isocrates, who was an active figure in Athens from 390 to 365 BC.

Ceccarelli, Paola, La Pirrica nell'Antichita greco-romana: studi sulla danza armata, Filologia ecritica. Collana diretta da Bruno Gentili (Pisa: IEPI, 1998)Focusing on pyrrhic dance the author studies a number of sources from the entire Greek world ofthat period, including representations, texts and inscriptions. She devotes a special chapter to music(“on P. Vidal-Naquet’s insistence”, p. 7) in which she studies the information found in sources thatdeal with the distinction between pyrrhic metres and feet, instruments and the corresponding ethos.

Comotti, Giovanni, Music in Greek and Roman Culture,μτφ. R. Munson (Baltimore: Johns HopkinsUniversity Press, 1989) [τίτλος πρωτοτύπου: La musica nella cultura greca e romana (Torino: EDT,1979)]Comotti’s introduction to Ancient Greek Music is the first volume of a series of publications dedicatedto the European History of Music as seen by the Italian Society of Musicology and aiming at thecreation of manuals for the curriculum in musicology in Italian universities. Following the leadingspirit of the series –described by Alberto Bosso in the prologue, but unfortunately not included in theEnglish translation- Comotti’s objective is to present a panoramic view of the Greek and Romanworlds highlighting the role of music in society; in a dialectic and questioning -rather than aphoristic-manner, he deals with specific subjects (instruments and music theory). In conclusion, he gives adetailed analysis of the surviving fragments and submits a selection of translated documents andsources.

Dale, A.M., The Lyric Metres of Greek Drama (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1948)A classical and analytical review of the use of lyric metres in drama in Attica and decisive chapterson the formation of strophes, as well as information on performance.

D'Alfonso, Francesca, Stesicoro e la performance: studio sulle modalita esecutive dei carmistesicorei, Filologia e critica 74 (Roma: Gruppo Editoriale Internazionale, 1994)Yet another interesting research, in the sphere of influence generated by the famous modern Italianphilologist Bruno Gentili, on the question of performance in Ancient Greek poetry. D’Alfonso refers to


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the modern controversial issue regarding the limits that should be applied in the traditionalseparation of Ancient Greek poetry between ‘chorus’ and ‘lyric’ poetry, and concludes corroboratingthe ancient evidence relative to the choral character in Stesichorus’ poetry.

Degering, Hermann, Die Orgel: Ihre Erfindung und ihre Geschichte bis zur Karolingerzeit(Muenster: Coppenrathsche Buchhandlung, 1905 / ανατ. της έκδ. Buren: Frits Knuf;1989)A German translation of Greek and Latin texts and a detailed presentation of illustration sources forthe hydraulic instrument of Antiquity.

Delavaud-Roux, Marie-Helene, Les Danses Pacifiques en Grece Antique (Aix-en-Provence:Publications de l'Universitι de Provence,1994)A detailed study on the illustration sources of the various types of ancient Greek dances included inwhat Plato called ‘peaceful dances’, i.e. mainly women dances, not war dances or Dionysiac dances,such as the ‘kalasthikos’ and ‘geranos’ (or crane) dances, dances of married and unmarried women,wedding dances, funerary and drama dances, and so on. The volume includes a highly usefulglossary on choreography (‘lexique chorégraphique’) and an equally useful index (‘répertoire’) oftechnical terms and dance names.

Drachmann, A.G., Ktesibios, Philon, and Heron: A Study in Ancient Pneumatics, Acta historicascientiarum naturalium et medicinalium IV (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1948)A classic and one of the most important publications on Ancient technology in general, and onpneumatics and their application more specifically (e.g. hydraulis). The author focuses on Heron’sPneumatics, which he believes to be a technician’s notebook, rather than a full treatise.

Drieberg, Friedrich von, Die griechische Musik auf ihre Gesetze zurueckgefuehrt (Berlin:Trautwein,1841)Drieberg (1780 – 1856) was a composer and a much published amateur researcher in Ancient GreekMusic. His contemporaries (Chladni, Marx, and others) found his theories were the fruit of a vividimagination. In the present work Dreiberg presents his answers to the unedited excerpts of hiscritics.

Duering, Ingemar, ed., Die Harmonielehre des Klaudios Ptolemaios, Elanders GoeteborgsHoegskolas Arsskrift XXXVI (Goeteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag, 1930)New critical text on Ptolemy’s work.

__________________, ed., Porphyrios-Kommentar zur Harmonielehre des Ptolemaios,Goeteborgs Hoegskolas Arsskrift XXXVIII (Goeteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag, 1932)New critical text on Porphyrius’ work.

____________________ , Ptolemaios und Porphyrios ueber die Musik, Goeteborgs HoegskolasArsskrift XL (Goeteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag, 1934)Translation of Ptolemy’s Harmonics and extensive commentary of Ptolemy’s and Porphyrius’ texts.

Gentili, Bruno et Perusino, Franca, edd., Mousike: Metrica, ritmica e musica greca in memoria diGiovanni Comotti, Studi di metrica classica 11 (Pisa: IEPI, 1995)A collection of essays dedicated to the memory of the great researcher of Ancient Greek Music,Giovanni Comotti (1931 – 1990), edited by Bruno Gentili, possibly today’s leading Italian philologistand previous collaborator of Comotti. The volume includes essays by E. Poehlmann, A. Barker, B.Gentili, D. Restani, R. Pretagostini and others. The collection is noted for its ‘holistic’ approach to theancient Greek term ‘mousikê’.

Georgiades, Thrasybulos, Musik und Rhythmus bei den Griechen: Zum Ursprung derabendlaendischen Musik, Rowohlts deutsche Enzyklopaedie (Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1958) and

____________________, Greek music, verse and dance [αγγλ. μτφ. του Der griechischeRhythmus] (New York: Merlin Press, c1955)Despite their somewhat old-fashioned character, Georgiades’ theories remain interesting from ascholarly point of view and stand out for their strong argumentation. Both books share the same


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basis: the 1947 Habilitationsschrift on ‘Greek rhythm’, the origin of the modern distinction betweenmusic, prose and poetry deriving from the general single ancient Greek term ‘music’; the survivingof ancient prosody in modern Greek dance and the relation of the ‘kalamatianó’ dance with thedactylic hexameter, and so on.

Glau, Katherina, Rezitation griechischer Chorlyrik: die Parodoi aus Aischylos' Agamemnon undEuripides' Bakchen als Tonbeispiel auf CD mit Text- und Begleitheft (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1998)Recording of two choruses from Ancient Greek drama, with comments and an accompanying text inthe original version and in a German translation. The students in the Classic Seminar in Heidelbergchoose specific parts (Parodoi) from the choruses in Euripides’ Bacchae and Aeschylus’ Agamemnonas being respectively characteristic of the more ancient and the more modern aspects in rhythm;they proceeded to stage both versions in an effort to physically grasp the difficulties of performancein chorus poetry. As Glau points out, the rendition was based on the ‘acknowledged but in partout-dated’ (p. 30) theories of Westphal.

Greaves, Denise Davidson, ed., Sextus Empiricus: ΠΡΟΣ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΟΥΣ. Α new critical text andtranslation on facing pages, with an introduction, annotations, and indices verborum and nominumet rerum, Greek and Latin Music Theory (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986)This is a new critical edition based on the comparison of 25 manuscripts – instead of 8 as was thecase in former editionsof the work on music by the 2nd century AD Sceptic philosopher, SextusEmpiricus.

Grenfell, Bernard et Hunt, Arthur, edd., The Hibeh Papyri Part I (London: Egypt ExplorationSociety, 1906)This is the first description, publication and translation (into English) of the famous Hibeh Papyri 13with treatise excerpts on Harmonics and the ethical influence in music. The reviewers suggest Ippiasas the possible author, but are challenged in this by Croenert who favours the young Isocrates anddates the work to around about 390. More recently, the authorship has been bestowed on Alkidamas(see title no. 11)

Heinrichs, Albert, "Warum soll ich denn tanzen?": Dionysisches im Chor der griechischenTragoedie, Lectio Teubneriana IV (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1996)This is the text of a conference organized by the well-known Teubner publishers on 24.3.1995. Theauthor studies the chorus in ancient tragedy in the light of group chorus as the central diachronicphenomenon in Greek life.

Jan, Carl von, ed., Musici scriptores graeci (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1995, ανατ. ά έκδ.1895)Jan’s work consists of the first modern philological version of the ancient Greek texts by musictheorists which replaced the Meibom edition of 1652. It includes: Aristotelian excerpts on music, thepseudo-Aristotelian Problems relative to music, excerpts from Euclid’s Division of the canon,Cleonides’ Introduction to harmonics, the Manual on Harmonics of Nicomachus of Gerasa, theIntroduction to the Art of Music by Bacchius the senior, Gaudentius’ Introduction to Harmonics,Alypius’ Introduction to Music and the ‘excerpta Neapolitana’. The volume, in a modern transcription,presents all the music fragments that were known in Jan’s time.

Jonker, G.H., ed. & transl., The Harmonics of Manuel Bryennius (Groningen:Wolters - Noordhoff,1970)This is a modern version of Manuel Bryennius’ Harmonics (after a first edition by John Wallis in1699). In his ‘Introduction’ Jonker presents the life, work and influence of Bryennius, studies thevarious modern opinions on the relation between The Harmonics and Pachimeres’ chapter on music,and determines Bryennius’ role in the Ancient Greek music theory tradition on the one hand, and onthe other hand, his role as witness of his time (cf. in particular Bryennius’ comparison between theancient Greek ‘tropoi’ and the Byzantine modes or ‘ichoi’).

Koller, Ernst, Musse und musische Paideia: άber die Musikaporetik in der aristotelischen Politik(Basel: Schwabe, 1956)A study on music as presented in Aristotle’s Politics and the role it is ascribed in the ideal democraticstate (προς παιδείαν, παιδίαν, διαγωγήν)


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Landels, John, Music in Ancient Greece and Rome (London: Routledge, 1999)Landels is known for his interest in ancient technology. He gives a general outline of ancient Greekand Roman music with emphasis on the technical means and the properties of the musicinstruments.

Lasserre, Francois, Plutarque: De la musique. Texte, traduction, commentaire précédés d’uneétude sur L' éducation musicale dans la Grece antique, (Olten: Urs Graf,1954)Laserre’s work takes into account Ziegler’s book which was published just one year earlier (Teubner,1953). Its main value lies more in the study of musical education and the education of ethos,focusing on Damon, than in the critical version and translation of the text. Laserre’s view inattributing an influence in this work to Dionysus of Halicarnassus and thereby dating it to a laterperiod -between 170 and 300 AD- has not been generally accepted.

Lawler, Lilian B., The Dance in Ancient Greece (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1964)Lawler’s classic study is a diachronic survey of the Greek world, since pre-historic Crete to the laterRoman times; her work also includes modern studies on the various roles of dance in orgy, dramaand professional acting.

Levin, Flora R., The Manual of Harmonics of Nicomachus the Pythagorean. Translation andCommentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1994)This is an English translation of Nicomachus of Gerasa’s work, with an introduction and an extensivecommentary.

Lippman, Edward A., Musical Thought in Ancient Greece (New York: Columbia UniversityPress,1964)Lippman’s general interest in the aesthetics of music leads him to study the beginnings of theaesthetical, ethical and philosophical outlook in Greek music. The main part of this work deals withthe Pythagoreans, Plato, Aristotle and the Peripatetic School (Aristoxenus, Theophrastus), but leavesout later developments (Philodemus, Sextus, pseudo-Plutarch).

Lohmann, Johannes, Mousike und Logos: Aufsaetze zur griechischen Philosophie und Musiktheorie(Stuttgart: Musikwissenschaftliche Verlags-Gesellschaft, 1970) This volume –edited by Anastasios Giannaras- presents Lohmann’s studies on Ancient Greek Music.The writer, famous for his publications in the field of Linguistics and Language Philosophy, sheds newlight on the subject of Greek attitude to music through an etymological approach, which is also ahistory of ideas that leads to the analysis of archaic beginnings in Greek thought. Lohmann focuseshis research in the history of terms, a pivotal historiographic central theme that emerged in thespiritual environment of Freiburg-im-Breisgau (Gurlitt, Eggebrecht) which was to result later in theHandwoerterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie (Freiburg, 1972 - )

Mathiesen, Thomas, Ancient Greek Music Theory: A Catalogue Raisonee of Manuscripts, RepertoireInternational des Sources Musicales [RISM] B11 (Muenchen: Henle, 1988)This is one of the most valuable references in the study of Ancient Greek Music. In it Mathiesendraws up a complete–as far as possible - catalogue of the manuscripts on the theory of AncientGreek Music, with commentaries and chronologies, and with references to the incipit and explicit oftheir contents.

____________, Greek Views On Music (New York: Norton, 1998) από το: ed. Leo Treitler, SourceReadings In Music History (1st vol.)In this new version of the classic anthology by Oliver Strunk (Norton, 1950), the first volume onAncient Greek Music is edited by Mathiesen who explains in his Introduction why the view (singular)in the old version has been replaced by views (in the plural) in the new version.

Meibom, M., ed., Antiquae Musicae Auctores Septem (Amsterdam: Elzevir, 1652)Meibom’s edition was until about 1900 the only standard version of the theory of music as stated inancient Greek documents.


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Monro, D. B., The Modes of Ancient Greek Music (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1894)An important study on the tonal system in Ancient Greek Music, in which modern tools from the fieldof philology are first introduced. Monro, and Gombosi after him, maintained that the 5th and 6thcenturies BC harmonies (or modes) had nothing to do with Aristoxenus’ modes (είδη δια πασών), andrejected the common view that the latter were but a codification of the former. Nowadays, the studyof the relation between these two different modes underlines the earlier pioneering stage of theharmonies (see booktitle Winnington-Ingram, R. P., Mode in Ancient Greek Music).

Morelli, J., ed., Aristidis oratio adversus Leptinem. Libanii declamatio pro Socrate. Aristoxenirhythmicorum elementorum fragmenta (Venezia: C. Palesio, 1785)The first modern, and for a long time unique, version of Aristoxenus’ Rythmicon.

Murr, Christoph G, von, Philodem/ von der Musik./ Ein Auszug aus dessen viertem Buche./EinAuszug aus dessen viertem Buche/Aus dem Griechischen einer HerkulanischenPapyrusrolle/uebersetzt/von/Christoph Gottlieb von Murr./Nebst einer Probe des Hymnenstilsaltgriechischer Musik./Mit zwo Kupfertafeln/Berlin 1806./Bei Heinrich Froehlich.Still under the impact of the sensational discovery of the Herculaneum Papyrii (1752-54), thehistorian, jurist and art critic C. G. von Murr (1733 – 1811) publishes, translates and commentsexcerpts from Philodemus’ On Music, Book IV. An analysis on the “style of the hymns” in AncientGreek Music is included in this same volume, where the author based on music style criteria and withmuch insight questions –for the first time ever- the authenticity of the music for Pindar’s first PythianOde as noted in Athanasius Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis (Rome, 1650).

Neubecker, Annemarie Jeanette, Die Bewertung der Musik bei Stoikern und Epikureern: EineAnalyse von Philodemus Schrift de Musica Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin,Veroeffentlichung Nr. 5 (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1956) and

________________________, ed., Philodemus: ueber die Musik IV. Buch (Napoli:Bibliopolis,1986)Thirty years later, Neubecker reviews her analysis on Peri Mousikis (On Music), Book IV by theEpicurean philosopher Philodemus (ca. 110 – 40 BC), which was the basis of her 1956 thesis on theethic value of music in the works of Stoic and Epicurean philosophy.

_________________________, Altgriechische Musik: Eine Einfuehrung (Darmstadt: WBG, 1977)]A first-rate introduction to Ancient Greek Music in the same spirit as the WBG (WissenschaftlicheBuchgesellschaft) series Introductions on various modern fields of research: a detailed reference tothe literature works and to the then up-dated (1977) bibliography with indications in the chapters onthe role of music in everyday life, music theory and practice, and the ethical evaluation of music.

Neumaier, Wilfried, Antike Rythmustheorien: Historische Form und aktuelle Substanz(Amsterdam: Gruener, 1989)This is a comprehensive survey of the various systematization methods on metres and rhythms inancient music theory, from Plato to Augustine. The study is concerned by a clearly systematic needto discover a common denominator to all the theories on rhythm (see title of last chapter: ‘Thehyper-historical essence in ancient rhythm’)

Paquette, Daniel, L'instrument de musique dans la ceramique de la Grece antique, Université deLyon II - Publications de la Bibliothéque Salomon Reinach IV (Paris: Diffusion de Boccard, 1984)An exhaustive illustrated documentation on Ancient Greek Music instruments.

Paratore, Ettore, Musica e poesia nell'antica Roma (Cremona: Fondazione Claudio Monteverdi,1981)This work is an attempt to re-establish elements in Roman music tracing them back to musicfeatures in the metrics of theatre (Plautus, Seneca) and lyric (Catullus, Statius) writers.

Parker, LP.E., The Songs of Aristophanes (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997)Using as starting point the recognition of Classic Athens as ‘song culture’ and in an effort to fill in thegap in our understanding of Ancient comedy due to our ignorance of the music that went with it,


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Parker applies himself to the study of the metres used by Aristophanes, which, as he points out, is“what comes closest to a music score” (page 5).

Paul, Oscar, Boethius und die griechische Harmonik: Des Anicius Manlius Severinus Boetius FuenfBuecher ueber die Musik aus der lateinischen in die deutsche Sprache uebertragen und mitbesonderer Beruecksichtigung der griechischen Harmonik sachlich erklaert (Leipzig: Leuckart,1872;repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1985)Paul’s classic German translation and study of Boethius’ Institutio musica.

Pearson, Lionel, ed., Elementa rhythmica: the fragment of book II and the additional evidence forAristoxenean rhythmic theory (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1990)Pearson’s edition supersedes that of Pighi (Bologna, 1959) which is a simple copy of Westphal’sproblematic edition (see title no. 70). However, the use of Aristoxenean theory in choruses of theclassic period (Euripides, Sofocles, Pindar) does not find many supporters (see Poehlmann, under“Griechenland”, in the recent MMG [Stuttgart and so on, 1995]).

Perrot, Jean, The Organ from its Invention in the Hellenistic Period to the End of the ThirteenthCentury (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1971)Perrot’s study remains the most complete and updated monograph on the hydraulis, from itsinvention in Hellenistic times to its use in the Middle-Ages (East and West). An extremely usefulhandbook in which the author presents us with all the sources, documents and illustrations on thissubject.

Poehlmann, Egert, Denkmaeler altgriechischer Musik: Sammlung, Uebertragung und Erlaeuterungaller Fragmente und Faelschungen (Erlangen: Hans Carl,1970)This is a critical edition of all the fragments and false inscriptions of Ancient Greek Music known atthe time of publication. It was superseded later by the Poehlmann and West Oxford University Pressversion with all the more recent additional data (see corresponding entry).

Reinach, Theodore, La musique grecque (Paris: Payot, 1926)A classic introduction to Ancient Greek Music with all the data known at the time of publication.

Restani, Donatella, ed., Musica e mito nella Grecia antica, Polifonie: Musica e spettacolo nellastoria (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995)A selection of old and new articles in an Italian translation. The editor explains in her ‘Introduction’that the choice and structure of the volume does not follow a traditional order in the history of musicbut is based on an anthropological approach to Ancient Greek Music. Her work includes articles by H.Abert, H. Kolller, G. Dumezil, J.-P. Vernant, A. Belis, M. Detienne and others.

Rios, Rosetta da. ed., Aristoxeni Elementa Harmonica (Roma: POP,1954)This is the critical edition of Aristoxenus’ Armonika (Harmonics) which replaced Meibom’s classic. Asecond volume includes an Italian translation with comments with tables and music examples.

Sachs, Carl, Rise of Music in the Ancient World: East and West, New York: Norton, 1943)In this classic manual Sachs compiles the work of about forty years research and publication ofarticles in various fields. Sachs characteristically approaches the study of Ancient Greek Music withinthe context of all great civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean, and with a specific angle on its riseand development through the study of various phenomena.

Schlesinger, Kathleen, The Greek Aulos: A Study of its Mechanism and of its Relation to the ModalSystem of Ancient Greek Music (London: Methuen, 1939)A milestone in the study of the Greek aulos which however is superseded today by the results ofmore recent research both on the theory of Ancient Greek Music and on the actual reconstruction ofthe flutes (in particular the distance between the holes on the instrument). The evidence included inthis study from popular music in other cultures is of special historical interest.

Schueller, Herbert M., The Idea of Music: An Introduction to Musical Aesthetics In Antiquity andthe Middle Ages, Early Drama, Art, and Music Monograph Series 9 (Kalamazoo, MI: MedievalInstitute Publications,1988)Schueller’s study is a very useful handbook for those studying medieval music and are interested inthe sources of medieval music aesthetics, as well as for students of Ancient Greek Music (in


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particular the first half of the book that comes under the title: “The Idea of Music in AncientEurope”). More specifically, the author undertakes to describe in a chronological order the‘adventures’ of ‘the idea of music’. The subchapter ‘Hebraism and Hellenism’ is particularlyinteresting for the role it attributes to the influence of Philon of Alexandria on the ‘Pateriki’appreciation of music.

Scott, William C., Musical Design in Aeschylian Theater, (Hanover: University Press of NewEngland,1984) and

_______________, Musical Design in Sophoclean Theater,> (Hanover: University Press of NewEngland,1996)The author begins by stating his practical interest in modern staging of Greek tragedies based on thekey role of the chorus, a basic aspect of the drama, and its impact on the successful development ofthe play. The author studies, in Aeschylus and Sophocles, the use the chorus makes of metricalmusic techniques (repetitions, metric variations), and assesses their influence on shaping andsupporting the meaning of the poetic text.

Sicking, C.M.J., Griechische Verslehre, Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft II/4 (Muenchen:Beck,1993)The title, ‘Greek verse teachings’– and not metrical- is significant: Sicking undertakes to make acritical summary of all the relevant theories from Westphal to our days and suggests a rethinking ofthe κατά μέτρον and κώλα view which, as the author convincingly demonstrates, leads tomisconceptions regarding the ‘rhythmic profile’ of verses; he makes valuable comments on the effectof melody and the changes it causes in this field. We quote from the Epilogue: “It has beenascertained that the rhythmic profile of verse is not defined by the metrical –in the modern sense ofthe word- arrangement of the verse elements or their fusion through metric (or κώλα) recurrence,but is mainly defined by their linear sequence.” Sicking’s work, part of the historical Handbuch derAltertumswissenschaft, is the most updated study on this subject.

Torr, Cecil, On the Intepretation of Greek Music (London: Frowde, 1896· ανατ. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI)This brief review on Ancient Greek Music notation makes a specific reference to the evaluation ofintervals and the notation of values. The author makes a belligerent remark against those whointerpret and evaluate Ancient Greek Music without taking pains to acquire sufficient knowledge ofthe original.

Wallace, Robert W. et Bonnie MacLachlan, edd., Harmonia Mundi: Musica e filosofia nell’ antichitα,Biblioteca di Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica (Roma: Edizioni dell’ Ateneo, 1991)The essays in this volume were first read at the symposium on Ancient Greek Music and Philosophywhich took place on May 25th 1989 at the American Academy in Rome. These essays included thefollowing: “Music and philosophy in Antiquity” and “Damon and his followers: an analysis of thesources” by R. W. Wallace; “The harmony of the spheres: dulcis sonus”, by B. McLachlan;“Pythagoras, Ippasos, Lasos and the experimental method”, by Giovanni Comotti; “Aristoxenus andthe Ethnoethical Modes”, by John Thorp; “Epicurean elements in nature and ethics in Philodemus ofGadara’s music theory”, by Gioia M. Rispoli; “Logos and feeling in Ptolemy’s Harmonics”, by AndrewBarker; “Pindar and the Sphinx: Celtic Polyphony and Greek Music”, by Frederick Ahl.

Wegner, Max, Musik und Tanz, Archaeologia homerica - Band III, Kapitel U(Goettingen:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,1968)A chapter on music in the context of a general study in Wegner’s Archaeologia homerica whichcomprises other chapters on Athletics, Writing, Worship, and so on, with as a central piece thematerial culture in Homeric times. Wegner sums up the results of his research by affirming theunequivocal functional character of music (Gebrauchmusik) and dance during the Geometric period(ca 900 to 700 BC). Wegner’s work is the most significant study to date on music in Homeric times.

Wellesz, Egon, ed., Ancient and Oriental Music, New Oxford History of Music, τ. 1 (Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, c1957)In this first volume of the Oxford New History of Music Greek-Roman music is studied alongside withOriental cultures. The article on Ancient Greek Music, by Isobel Henderson, is still of greatsignificance in the synoptic and precise survey it makes of the various complicated aspects involved


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in the study of Ancient Greek Music. The merit of the article is particular obvious on subjects such asthe notation of music, one of the best introduction in this field.

West, Martin L., Ancient Greek Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1992)This publication is the latest inclusive presentation of Ancient Greek Music and confirms the definiteturn towards music sources –as opposed to the former attitude which concentrated mainly ondocuments- that general research on the subject has taken in the last twenty years or so. This ispartly due to the emphasis in the publication of more recently discovered music fragments (about 80fragments edited by West and Poehlmann are now in print at the Oxford University Press) and partlydue to alternative approaches in the study of Ancient Greek Music, such as Ethnomusicology to namebut one.

Westphal, Rudolf, Aristoxenos von Tarent: Melik und Rhythmik des classischen Hellenentums(Leipzig: Teubner,1883· ανατ. Hildesheim: Olms,1965))Westphal dedicated many years of his life to the study of Aristoxenus of Tarent (“For over thirtyyears, there was hardly a week when I didn’t study Aristoxenus”, page V). The author backs up mostof his studies of Ancient Greek Music and his results thereof on the bulk of the Elements of Rhythmand elements of Harmony. The two volumes of this work include translations and analytical editionsof Aristoxenus’ writings, as well as Westphal’s own theories.

______________, Die Fragmente und die Lehrsaetze der griechischen Rhythmiker (Leipzig:Teubner, 1861)Analytical version in a Latin translation and extensive commentaries on Aristoxenus’ Rhythmika(Elements of Rhythm), and fragments on rhythm by Dionysius, Bacchius, Aristides Quintillianus, M.Capella, M. Psellos and the “Parisian Fragments”.

Westphal, Rudolf και Hugo Gleditsch, Allgemeine Theorie der griechischen Metrik, Theorie dermusischen Kuenste der Hellenen (Leipzig: Teubner, 1887)A monumental and to date still accurate work on the value of metrics in Antiquity, despite Westphalattempts to centre all metric phenomena on one single principle, that of ‘Gleichtaktigkeit’; this viewwas to be abandoned on the basis of Wilamowitz’s critical work. A more ‘descriptive’ theory is nowpreferred to Westphal’s systematic one.

Wille, Guenther, Musica Romana: Die Bedeutung der Musik im Leben der Roemer (Amsterdam:Schippers, 1967)Wille’s unique and monumental work (800 pages) was and continues to be a landmark. His workpresents the richest concentration of elements –in theory as well as in practice- in all the fields ofAncient Roman Music, the influence of Greece, the link between music and literature, and referencesto the relevant sources from the first Latin inscriptions to Isidore of Sevilla’s Etymologiae (ca 560 to636 AD).

Winnington-Ingram, R. P., Mode in Ancient Greek Music (Amsterdam: Hakkert,1968· ανατ. τηςέκδ. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1936)A highly significant contribution to the understanding of the complex questions on the theory ofAncient Greek Music: the differences between τόνος (tone), τρόπος (mode) and είδη δια πασών, thelink between tones in Aristoxenus and classic harmonies, and so on. Winnington-Ingram offers ascholarly study of both the documents and the surviving fragments. His investigation (to find reliablemusic proof for the 6th and 5th centuries harmonies, considered as forerunners of the είδη διαπασών) has lost none of its acumen (cf. West, 1992).

Michaelides, Solon, The Music of Ancient Greece: An Encyclopaedia (London: Faber, 1978)This is an essential tool in the study of Ancient Greek Music (Greek edition: Athens, 1989). It ispresented in the form of a dictionary with extensive and detailed entries.

(translated by Maria Teresa Hildebrand)

URL: http://www.mmb.org.gr/page/default.asp?id=1684&la=2#


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Bibliography Selection for Ancient Greek Music 1

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