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music of ancient Greece. In the present work the attempt has been made to focus on the music first, mentioning ancient theory only insofar as it was part of the evidence. But the time has come to attend to the theory. It will not be possible in the space of a chapter to give an exhaustive account. The aim will be to trace the main outlines of development, and to understand the ancient theorists' objectives and methods. |
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The seven strings of the early Classical lyre had names which became transferred to degrees of the scale. In descending order of pitch: |
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The scale in question might cover an octave, or only a seventh (see p. 176). In either case the notes from Hypate to Mese formed a tetra-chord. There is reason to think that Mese commonly served as a tonal centre. It seems generally to enjoy this status in the pre-Hellenistic and Hellenistic fragments. A Peripatetic writer remarks that all good melodies and melodists constantly return to Mese as they do to no other note; and that it is the one note which, if put out of tune, will throw the whole melody out of joint.6 |
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When the scale covered a seventh, Nete was a fourth above Mese. When it covered an octave, Trite was a tone above Mese, and Nete a fourth above Trite. This at any rate is the arrangement in our oldest source, Philolaus (second half of the fifth century).7 But in all later |
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5 The reason why the highest note is called 'bottom' and the lowest 'topmost' has been explained on p. 64. |
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6 Ps.-Arist. Pr. 19. 20. Cf. 19. 36: all other notes are ordered in relation to Mese. Similarly Dio Chrys. Or. 51. 7 (ii. 174. 3 Arnim). Callicratidas (Thesleff, Pythagorean Texts, p. 106. 21) says that the singer, knowing the range of his voice, tries to pitch his Mese accordingly, so that he can manage both the high and the low notes well. Varro fr. 282 p. 302. 32 Funaioli describes Mese as the beginning of the song. See further Winnington-Ingram, Mode, 4-9. |
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7 Philolaus fr. 6; above. p. 176. The fragment preserves the terms syllaba 'span' for the lower section of the octave, Hypate to Mese, and di' oxeian 'across the high strings' for the fifth from Mese to Nete. They evidently belong to the language of |
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(Footnote continued on next page) |
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