lament from an older tragedy was made for a woman concert singer. (A female chorus is harder to imagine.) It must have been more extensive than the few lines copied in the papyrus, covering at least a strophe and antistrophe.
The compass is no more than a fifth. The scale is unusual: a' b' c''e", with the fourth degree raised by a quarter-tone or so above the diatonic standard (cf. p. 197). The tonal focus is the central note, c". The two notes below it are used more than the two above.
The key is Hyperaeolian (cf. the note on 4). For the exharmonic a first sharp symbol (65 E') is exceptionally used.
43 Same papyrus, 20-2: second instrumental piece
(original a semitone lower)
This piece is pitched a little higher than 41. It seems to be based on the major triad c' e' g'. It is notable for its rhythmic variety; it is not, like 41, the instrumental realization of a verse rhythm, but something conceived specifically for the instrument. The distinction made between short note + leimma and long note ( and ) may suggest the aulos rather than the lyre. The placing of arsis-points over the notes indicates that the tempo was slow enough for two down-beats per bar, i.e. 5/4 rather than 5/8; and it implies a variable beat that sometimes divides the bar into 2 + 3, sometimes into 3 + 2 (cf. p. 156). I have indicated this in the transcription by accent marks. In the fifth bar a colon after the first note seems most likely to be a mark of phrasing.
e", with the fourth degree raised by a quarter-tone or so above the diatonic standard (cf. p. 197). The tonal focus is the central note, c". The two notes below it are used more than the two above.
a first sharp symbol (65 E') is exceptionally used.
and 
) may suggest the aulos rather than the lyre. The placing of arsis-points over the notes indicates that the tempo was slow enough for two down-beats per bar, i.e. 5/4 rather than 5/8; and it implies a variable beat that sometimes divides the bar into 2 + 3, sometimes into 3 + 2 (cf. p. 156). I have indicated this in the transcription by accent marks. In the fifth bar a colon after the first note seems most likely to be a mark of phrasing.