The world's oldest complete piece of surviving music is the 3,400-year-old Hurrian cult hymn. The hymn was found inscribed on clay tablets excavated from the ancient city of Ugarit, in modern-day Syria. Sometime after the hymn was composed, the idea of using notation to record music was lost. Writing two millennia later, in the seventh century CE, the polymath Isidore of Seville stated that “unless [musical] sounds are held by the memory of man, they perish, because they cannot be written down.”
Italy’s Oldest Instrument Hints at Sounds of Prehistoric Rome (Published 2018)
The music of the ancient world is largely lost, but recent findings and recreations of antique instruments can give a taste.
「史上最悪の宿舎」と報道、北朝鮮の国歌を流し…ドタバタ愛知・名古屋アジア大会の先に「また五輪招致」の“懲りなさ” | 文春オンライン
今回はとっておきの野次馬案件である。現在、愛知・名古屋アジア大会がおこなわれている。ところが、競技以外のニュースがずいぶん目立つのだ。ざっと並べてみる。・国歌を間違える 男子ホッケーの韓国―バングラ…
スタッフ様の全面協力により披露宴でねむ、あとべ、りさ、えい、みりんの5人時代メンバーでくちづけキボンヌを歌うことができました。うれしい、皆さん本当にありがとうございます。
スタッフ様の全面協力により披露宴でねむ、あとべ、りさ、えい、みりんの5人時代メンバーでくちづけキボンヌを歌うことができました。うれしい、皆さん本当にありがとうございます。 pic.twitter.com/DqHGj75dLC— 古川未鈴 (@FurukawaMirin) December 10, 2019
Pappus of Alexandria Book 7 of the Collection
The seventh book of Pappus's Collection, his commentary on the Domain (or Treasury) of Analysis, figures prominently in the history of both ancient and modern mathematics: as our chief source of information concerning several lost works of the Greek geometers Euclid and Apollonius, and as a book that inspired later mathematicians, among them Viete, Newton, and Chasles, to original discoveries in their pursuit of the lost science of antiquity. This presentation of it is concerned solely with recovering what can be learned from Pappus about Greek mathematics. The main part of it comprises a new edition of Book 7; a literal translation; and a commentary on textual, historical, and mathematical aspects of the book. It proved to be convenient to divide the commentary into two parts, the notes to the text and translation, and essays about the lost works that Pappus discusses. The first function of an edition of this kind is, not to expose new discoveries, but to present a reliable text and organize the accumulated knowledge about it for the reader's convenience. Nevertheless there are novelties here. The text is based on a fresh transcription of Vat. gr. 218, the archetype of all extant manuscripts, and in it I have adopted numerous readings, on manuscript authority or by emendation, that differ from those of the old edition of Hultsch. Moreover, many difficult parts of the work have received little or no commentary hitherto.
The Foundation for the Future of Classical Music
The Foundation for the Future of Classical Music is focused on orchestrating a cultural renaissance for classical music. Through its activities, the Foundation advances public discussion on the importance of classical music, diagnoses the problems facing that sphere today, and seeks solutions that will bring about a cultural renaissance in music.
The Age of Early Divinity
If you're the sort of person who reads this blog, you're probably the sort of person who wastes time wondering what we should name the age we are living in,…
Miserere (Allegri)
Miserere is a setting of Psalm 51 by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri. It was composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for the exclusive use of the Sistine Chapel during the Tenebrae services of Holy Week, and its mystique was increased by unwritten performance traditions and ornamentation. It is written for three choirs, two of five and four voices respectively, with a third choir singing plainsong responses, each singing alternately and joining to sing the ending in one of the most recognised and enduring examples of polyphony, in this case in a 9-part rendition.
Things Hidden Since the Foundations of the World by René Girard | Notes & Summary
“I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:35)
Byzantine city with 200 written records uncovered in Egypt's Dakhla Oasis | Archaeology News Online Magazine
Archaeologists uncovered a Byzantine city in Egypt's Dakhla Oasis with a basilica, 200 written records, coins, and well-planned streets.
“If you want to pray to Mercury, wear the garments of a scribe:” <i>kuttāb</i> , <i>udabāʾ,</i> and readers of the <i>Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm</i> in the court of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III
This work addresses the question of the intended audience of the Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, the famous Andalusi treatise on magic, better known by its Latin moniker, Picatrix. I propose that a substantial po...
Tom Stevenson · Beyond Mesopotamia: Linear Elamite Deciphered
Three things are necessary to decipher ancient writing. You need lots of examples of the script. You need a good...
First recording of computer-generated music – created by Alan Turing – restored
Researchers restore 1951 recording generated on machine built by computer scientist famous for breaking Enigma code
Music and the Decline of Civilization
Both Greek and Chinese traditions see the abandonment of musical laws as calamitous for the common good.
