Ancient Roman music
Encyclopedia
Less is known about Ancient Roman music
than is known about the music of ancient Greece
. There is a number of at least partially extant sources on the music of the Greeks. For example, much is known about the theories of Pythagoras
and Aristoxenus
(some of it from Greek sources and some through the writings of later Roman authors), and there exist about 40 deciphered examples of Greek musical notation. Very little survives about the music of the Romans, however. There are various reasons for this, one of which is that early fathers of the Christian church were aghast at the music of theatre, festivals, and pagan religion and suppressed it once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire.
The Romans are not said to have been particularly creative or original when it came to music. They did not attach any spiritual ethos to music, as did the Greeks. Yet, if the Romans admired Greek music as much as they admired everything else about Greek culture, it is safe to say that Roman music was mostly monophonic (that is, single melodies with no harmony) and that the melodies were based on an elaborate system of scales (called 'modes'). The rhythm of vocal music may have followed the natural metre of the lyrics.
There were also other, non-Greek, influences on Roman culture – from the Etruscans, for example, and, with imperial expansion, from the Middle Eastern and African sections of the empire. Thus there were, no doubt, elements of Roman music that were native Latin as well as non-European; the exact nature of these elements is unclear. An attempt to recreate Roman music reconstructing the instruments has been done recently in Italy by Walter Maioli and his group Synaulia
.
In the art of the period (e.g., the mosaics of Pompeii
), none of the musicians is shown reading music, and no written examples of Roman music have yet been discovered.
Even the well-known writings of the late Roman philosopher, Boethius
, are more of a treatise on the music of the ancient Greeks rather than a description of contemporary music. The Romans might have tuned their instruments to Greek modes. Familiar, perhaps, to the modern ear would be the military calls on the trumpet-like tuba, since all instruments of that nature only have access to the same series of overtones bound by the laws of physics.
It was considered that the gods of music, the Muses and Apollo, gave cithara players their gift to mesmerise listeners.
himself, who performed widely as an amateur and once traveled to Greece
to compete.
There are also numerous references (cited in Scott) to the pervasive presence of music in ancient Rome, music even on a very large scale — hundreds of trumpeters and pipers playing together at massive games and festivals — and even of normally hand-held citharas built as large as carriages.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
than is known about the music of ancient Greece
Music of Ancient Greece
The music of ancient Greece was almost universally present in society, from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies, theatre, folk music and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks...
. There is a number of at least partially extant sources on the music of the Greeks. For example, much is known about the theories of Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
and Aristoxenus
Aristoxenus
Aristoxenus of Tarentum was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been lost, but one musical treatise, Elements of Harmony, survives incomplete, as well as some fragments concerning rhythm and...
(some of it from Greek sources and some through the writings of later Roman authors), and there exist about 40 deciphered examples of Greek musical notation. Very little survives about the music of the Romans, however. There are various reasons for this, one of which is that early fathers of the Christian church were aghast at the music of theatre, festivals, and pagan religion and suppressed it once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire.
The Romans are not said to have been particularly creative or original when it came to music. They did not attach any spiritual ethos to music, as did the Greeks. Yet, if the Romans admired Greek music as much as they admired everything else about Greek culture, it is safe to say that Roman music was mostly monophonic (that is, single melodies with no harmony) and that the melodies were based on an elaborate system of scales (called 'modes'). The rhythm of vocal music may have followed the natural metre of the lyrics.
There were also other, non-Greek, influences on Roman culture – from the Etruscans, for example, and, with imperial expansion, from the Middle Eastern and African sections of the empire. Thus there were, no doubt, elements of Roman music that were native Latin as well as non-European; the exact nature of these elements is unclear. An attempt to recreate Roman music reconstructing the instruments has been done recently in Italy by Walter Maioli and his group Synaulia
Synaulia
Synaulia is a team of musicians, archeologists, paleorganologists and choreographers dedicated to the application of their historical research toancient music and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and Roman periods.- History :...
.
Musical notation
The Romans may have borrowed the Greek method of 'enchiriadic notation' to record their music, if they used any notation at all. Four letters (in English notation 'A', 'G', 'F' and 'C') indicated a series of four succeeding tones. Rhythm signs, written above the letters, indicated the duration of each note.In the art of the period (e.g., the mosaics of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
), none of the musicians is shown reading music, and no written examples of Roman music have yet been discovered.
Even the well-known writings of the late Roman philosopher, Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after...
, are more of a treatise on the music of the ancient Greeks rather than a description of contemporary music. The Romans might have tuned their instruments to Greek modes. Familiar, perhaps, to the modern ear would be the military calls on the trumpet-like tuba, since all instruments of that nature only have access to the same series of overtones bound by the laws of physics.
Musical instruments
A wide variety of instruments are known to have been played by the Romans, including instruments from within all the common regions of a modern orchestra.Blown instruments
- The tubaRoman tubaThe tuba of ancient Rome is a military signal trumpet, quite different from the modern tuba. The tuba was produced around 500 BC. Its shape was straight, in contrast to the military buccina or cornu, which was more like the modern tuba in curving around the body. Its origin is thought to be...
— not the modern tuba, but a long and straight bronze trumpet with a detachable, conical mouthpiece like that of the modern French horn. Those found are about 1.3 metres long; they had a cylindrical bore from the mouthpiece to the point where the bell flares abruptly, in a fashion similar to that of the modern straight trumpet often seen in presentations of 'period music', but there were no valves — one instrument was capable only of a single overtone series. It was essential to the military, providing 'bugle callBugle callA bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used for clear communication in the noise and confusion of a...
s' and was apparently borrowed from the Etruscans. - The cornuCornu (horn)A cornu or cornum was a type of brass instrument similar to the buccina used by the Roman army of antiquity mainly for communicating orders to troops in battle. It is a Latin word literally meaning horn. The instrument was about long and took the form of a letter 'G'...
— a bronze instrument shaped in an arc covering somewhat more than half a circle (shaped like an upper-case letter 'G') with or without a cross-bar/handle across the diameter. It had a conical bore (like a modern French horn) and a conical mouthpiece. Also used in the military and also borrowed from the Etruscans. - The aulosAulosAn aulos or tibia was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.An aulete was the musician who performed on an aulos...
(the Greek word, Latinised, was tibiae) — usually double, consisting of two double-reed (as in a modern oboe) pipes, not joined but generally played with a mouth-band to hold both pipes steadily between the player's lips. Modern changes indicate that they produced a low, clarinet-like sound. There is some confusion about the exact nature of the instrument; alternate descriptions indicate each pipe having a single reed (like a modern clarinet) instead of a double reed. - The askaulesAskaulesAskaules , probably the Greek word for bag-piper, although there is no documentary authority for its use.-History:...
— a bagpipe. - Versions of the modern fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and panpipes
Plucked string instruments
- The lyreLyreThe lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
, borrowed from the Greeks, was essentially an early harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, with a frame of wood or tortoise shell and various numbers of strings stretched from a cross bar to the sounding body. The lyre was held or cradled in one arm and hand and plucked with the other hand. The Romans gradually abandoned this instrument in favour of the more sophisticated cithara, a larger instrument with a box-type frame with strings stretched from the cross-bar at the top to the sounding box at the bottom; it was held upright and played with a plectrum. The strings were tunable by adjusting wooden wedges along the cross-bar. - The luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, the true forerunner of the guitar (cithara), is considered a medieval instrument but was played by the ancient Romans. The Roman lute had three strings and was not as popular as the lyre or the cithara, but was easier to play. - The cithara was the premier musical instrument of ancient Rome and was played both in popular music and in serious forms of music. Larger and heavier than a lyre, the cithara was a loud, sweet and piercing instrument with precision tuning ability. It was said some players could make it cry. From cithara comes our word guitar and though the guitar more directly evolved from the lute, the same mystique surrounds the guitar idols of today as it did for the virtuoso cithara players, the citharista, and popular singers of ancient Rome. Like other instruments, it came originally from Greece and Greek images portray the most elaborately constructed citharas.
It was considered that the gods of music, the Muses and Apollo, gave cithara players their gift to mesmerise listeners.
Organs
- The organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
. There are some mosaic images of organs and fragmentary remains in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. The pipes were sized so as to produce many of the modes (scales) taken over from the Greeks. From the fragments, the instruments seem to be a cross between the bagpipe and the organ. It has not been established if they were blown by the lungs or by some mechanical bellows. Of greater interest is the hydraulis, an organ that worked by water pressure. The instrument goes back to the ancient Greeks and a well-preserved model in pottery was found at Carthage in 1885. Essentially, the air to the pipes that produce the sound comes from a mechanism of a wind-chest connected by a pipe to a dome; air is pumped in to compress water, and the water rises in the dome, compressing the air and causing a steady supply to reach the pipes (also see Pipe organ#History).
Percussion
- Variations of a hinged wooden or metal device (called a scabellum) — a 'clapper' — used to beat time. Also, there were various rattles, bells and tambourines.
- DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
and percussion instruments like tympani and castanets, the Egyptian sistrum, and brazen pans, served various musical and other purposes in ancient Rome, including backgrounds for rhythmic dance, celebratory rites like those of the Bacchantes, military uses, hunting (to drive out prey) and even for the control of bees in apiaries. Some Roman music was distinguished for its having a steady beat, no doubt through the use of drums and the percussive effects of clapping and stamping. Egyptian musicians often kept time by snapping the fingers. - The sistrumSistrumA sistrum is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient Iraq and Egypt. It consists of a handle and a U-shaped metal frame, made of brass or bronze and between 76 and 30 cm in width...
was a rattle consisting of rings strung across the cross-bars of a metal frame, which was often used for ritual purposes.
Music in society
In spite of the purported lack of musical originality on the part of the Romans, they did enjoy music greatly and used it for many activities. Scott recounts the obvious military uses of the tuba for signaling, as well as music for funerals, private gatherings, public performances on the stage and large gladiatorial spectacles. Music was also used in religious ceremonies. The Romans cultivated music as a sign of education. Music contests were quite common and attracted a wide range of competition, including NeroNero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
himself, who performed widely as an amateur and once traveled to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to compete.
There are also numerous references (cited in Scott) to the pervasive presence of music in ancient Rome, music even on a very large scale — hundreds of trumpeters and pipers playing together at massive games and festivals — and even of normally hand-held citharas built as large as carriages.
Discography
- SynauliaSynauliaSynaulia is a team of musicians, archeologists, paleorganologists and choreographers dedicated to the application of their historical research toancient music and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and Roman periods.- History :...
, Music of Ancient Rome, Vol. I – Wind Instruments - Amiata RecordsAmiata RecordsAmiata Records is an independent cross-cultural record label founded in 1992 by Matteo Silva and Marc Eagleton withheadquarters in the historic center of Florence and offices in London, Lugano and Rome. Amiata derives its name from the mountain in southern Tuscany, one of the most un-spoilt areas...
ARNR 1396, Florence, 1996. - SynauliaSynauliaSynaulia is a team of musicians, archeologists, paleorganologists and choreographers dedicated to the application of their historical research toancient music and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and Roman periods.- History :...
, Music of Ancient Rome, Vol. II – String Instruments - Amiata RecordsAmiata RecordsAmiata Records is an independent cross-cultural record label founded in 1992 by Matteo Silva and Marc Eagleton withheadquarters in the historic center of Florence and offices in London, Lugano and Rome. Amiata derives its name from the mountain in southern Tuscany, one of the most un-spoilt areas...
, ARNR 0302, Rome, 2002.
Further reading
- Benzing, G.M. (2009). «Se vuoi far soldi, studia la cetra»: musica e luxus nell’antica Roma, in AA.VV., Luxus. Il piacere della vita nella Roma imperiale, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma, 2009.
- Comotti, G. (1989). Music in Greek and Roman Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1989.
- Hagel, Stefan, and Christine Harrauer (eds.) (2005). Ancient Greek Music in Performance: Symposion Wien 29. Sept.–1. Okt. 2003. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3700134754
- Landels, J. G. (1999). Music in Ancient Greece & Rome. London and New York: Routledge.
- West, M. L. (1992). Ancient Greek Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0198148976 (cloth) ISBN 0198149751 (pbk)
- Wille, Günther (1967). Musica Romana: Die Bedeutung der Musik im Leben der Römer. Amsterdam: P. Schippers.
External links
- Musica Romana, musicarchaeology, scientific review of ancient Roman music as well as performances, bibliography and descriptions for instruments and notations online (English and German).
- The Thesaurus Musicarum Latinarum (TML), an evolving database of the entire corpus of Latin music theory written during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
- Synaulia, dedicated to the reconstruction of historical musical instruments, sound theatre, dance on the basis of ethnology.
- Greek origins of Roman music
- http://thelatinlibrary.com/juvenal/11.shtml Juvenal