The area of the Eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Mesopotamia is the cradle from which today’s Western civilization originated. Various ethnic groups have mixed in this area for centuries, civilizations have risen and fallen, and as a result, different ethnic and cultural influences have merged.
Centuries of interaction and cultural closeness among these peoples have also had an impact on lively musical exchange. The Egyptians borrowed from Mesopotamia and Syria, the Hebrews from the Phoenicians, the Greeks from the Cretans, Asia Minor, and the Phoenicians. The harp, the lyre, the double reed instrument, and the hand drum were played in Egypt, Palestine, Phoenicia, Syria, Babylon, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. The Egyptians referred to lyres and drums by their Semitic names, while they used an expression similar to the Sumerian word for bow to denote the harp. The Greeks used the same Sumerian noun to refer to the long-necked lute, and they adapted a Phoenician word for the harp; they did not have a Greek term for musical instruments and attributed them either to Crete or Asia.
Undeniable The influence and value of the musical heritage of these regions on today’s culture and civilization, specifically on the overall musical heritage of the West, are immense. In this context, the Greeks hold a special place as they have made the greatest contribution to musical culture and the development of Western music. They were the ones who established the first scientific and philosophical approach to music in history and built a comprehensive system of music theory, on which the modern music theory and the sonic ideal of Western music are based.
Therefore, Greek music has been referenced and interpreted for centuries, starting from ancient times, and it has been transmitted to the Middle Ages through Rome and Islamic culture, where it has assimilated and preserved until today.
Greek music was largely of Asian origin, as emphasized by the Greeks themselves, as it developed based on elements borrowed from other areas such as Egypt, Assyria, Asia Minor, and Phoenicia. They credited these regions with the invention of the instruments they played, and their music had two distinct voices. They named the different tonalities after Asian countries, such as Phrygia and Lydia (Phrygian and Lydian scales); they borrowed their musical and pedagogical ideas from the Egyptians, while linking the creation of Greek music to Olympus, the student of the Phrygian Marsyas. However, they further developed and perfected the borrowed elements and created their own original artistic language.
Among the arts, music had a particularly prominent position and role in Greece and was considered the noblest of all the arts. It should be noted that the Greek word “musike” referred to the art of music, as well as all kinds of arts and sciences under the protection of the Muses. When someone was called “mousikos,” it didn’t just mean that they understood the language of music, but also that they were talented or educated.
The Greeks contributed to the field of music theory with their discoveries about the nature and effect of sound (acoustics), the relationships between tones (intervals), systems of scales built from tetrachords, tonal species, and the theory of instrument tuning. Therefore, their contribution to music theory was significant and influential. A part of Western music terminology and philosophical-ethical interpretations of the influence of music on humans originated from the ancient Greeks.
One of the first things we encounter when studying music today are the concepts of musical intervals and scales. However, it is not widely known that these concepts were introduced into music theory by Pythagoras. He discovered that musical intervals represent simple mathematical ratios that are achieved through the vibration of strings whose lengths are in specific mathematical proportions.
Greek theory of melody is based on the tetrachord, a series of four tones, in which the first and last are in a fourth interval. The tetrachord is the primary element, the basic building block from which all scales are created through the combination of two related tetrachords.
The Greeks distinguished seven scales, whose uniqueness is determined by the relationship between the constituent parts of the tetrachord, namely the position of semitones within the tetrachord. The main scales were the Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian scales, while the other scales were derived from these. injeničke (hiperdorske), vjetrovske (hipodorske), jonske (hipofrigijske) i podvodne.
One and the same scale could change its appearance, depending on the appearance of the tetrachord it was composed of. In the tetrachord, the first and last tones were firmly fixed and always remained unmoved, while the two inner tones could change their pitch. This phenomenon enabled the emergence of tonal modes in melodic shaping: diatonic mode (the tetrachord had the original shape known from the scale), chromatic mode (the pitch of the second tone was lowered by half a tone), and enharmonic mode (the pitch of both the second and third tones in the tetrachord changed). The diatonic (or Pythagorean) scale is the basis for all later “Western” scales, including modern major, minor, and tempered chromatic scales. The major and minor scales of today developed based on the Dorian and Aeolian scales.
Melodies built on different scales had a special expressiveness that marked them as unique. The text speaks about the relationship between tones in a particular scale and the positive or negative attitude towards melodies based on that expressiveness. The concept of ethos, which was encountered in ancient Greece, is said to be the foundation of this attitude in music. The term ethos was already used in Homer’s time and had the meaning of “custom”. With Heraklit and later with Heziod, it gained an additional sense – “moral character”. It was believed that music had a psychological and ethical impact on a person and could influence their character and behavior. Music has a dual power to calm or excite a person’s soul, to produce good and evil, order and anarchy, peace and unrest.
The ethical role of music is based on the assumption that there is a connection between the movement of musical elements and the movement of a person’s soul. Ethos was associated with melodies and scales on which they were built, with rhythm, tempo, instruments, and even with cosmic laws. The Greeks analyzed and attributed certain ethical significance to these musical elements. Character – positive or negative. They believed that music and its “positive” elements can influence the creation of spiritual and physical harmony in a person.
Under ethos, emotional power of a melody was understood, which depends on the scale on which the melody is based. Thus, the Dorian scale was considered masculine and warrior-like, the hypodorian scale elevated and firm, the mixolydian scale pathetic and mournful, the phrygian scale exciting, the hypophrygian scale active, and the hypolydian scale extravagant and lustful.
Strong and martial music composed in the Dorian scale was associated with Apollo and instruments such as the guitar and lyre. It became the epitome of seriousness, heroism, and strong character. Melodies composed in the Phrygian scale, accompanied by the aulos instrument, were considered exciting and ecstatic, and were integral to the worship of the god Dionysus. Therefore, this scale was often seen as unsuitable for musical and moral education as it “softened” character.
Similarly was valued The same goes for musical modes. The diatonic mode was considered masculine and strong, while the chromatic mode was often associated with lamentation and feminine softness, as well as cowardice. The enharmonic mode was attributed to Olympus and had strong sacred associations, and it was also believed to have the ability to make people brave.
The foundations of the science of ethos were laid by the Pythagoreans, who specifically studied the influence of music on humans. They believed that the essence of music could only be reached spiritually, that it formed a connection between the material and spiritual worlds, and that it had the ability to affect the human soul. They believed that more than any other art form, music could not only enrich but also refine, purify, and cultivate our spirit in the most direct way.
They used this purifying element of music in their daily rhythm. When going to sleep, they would rid themselves of the day’s haste and purify their minds with hymns and songs that brought peaceful sleep and pleasant and prophetic dreams. In the morning, they would energize themselves with uplifting melodies, preparing for the challenges of the day ahead. They awakened from drowsiness with the fragrance of melodies and freed themselves from dizziness and lethargy.
Influenced by Pythagorean teachings, Plato believed that the guardians of an ideal state should establish the state based on music: “… the state should be created on musical foundations; the better the music, the better the state relying on its principles.”
Since they believed that music in a person can awaken both good and bad inclinations and qualities, the Greeks built a system of moral validity or harm of individual tunes, or scales on which they are built, which Aristotle speaks of in Politics: “The scales differ significantly from each other, and each has a different effect on those who listen to them. Some of them make people sad and depressed, like the so-called Mixolydian, some weaken their will, like the softer ones, others provoke a moderate and determined mood, which seems to be the particular effect of the Dorian mode, while the Phrygian mode carries one to enthusiasm (…) It seems that the soul has some similarities with harmonies and” with various desires, anger) can be transformed into its opposite. Each state (such as sadness, anger, greed, sorrow, jealousy, fear, various desires, anger) can be transformed into its opposite. According to the Pythagoreans, proper use of music can improve health and establish harmony within a person, as health is the expression of perfect harmony of elements within a person, while illness is a disturbance of harmony. Music therapy represented the use of certain melodies by the Pythagoreans, through which difficult psychological states were transformed into their opposite. Music has restrained, calmed, and harmonized appropriate emotions (such as fear, pride, collapse, or spasms) with its corresponding melody.
Music and education
Music was connected to philosophy, and together with physical exercise, it was part of the general education system in which it played a prominent role. Plato simply referred to engagement with music as paideia – education. He attributed educational, pedagogical, and moral value to music. According to him, music should not serve mere entertainment – its goal is the harmonious refinement of spiritual life, the calming and soothing of passions and evil impulses, and the awakening and stimulation of virtue. The state should take care of music, and the youth should be nourished only with good music.
“The study of music is a more important instrument than any other because rhythm and harmony find their way into the innermost part of the soul, to which they strongly bind themselves. (…) Music develops a love for beauty and provides intellectual and moral discipline important for achieving philosophical knowledge.”
Plato draws inspiration from Egyptian models. Herodotus reports that Egyptians consider The youth of ancient Greece were not allowed to learn music randomly. Only good music was permitted, and it was the priests who decided what kind of music was good. In accordance with this, Greek boys began their music education with the oldest hymns and only at the end of their schooling did they reach contemporary music. Melodies with harmful tones were avoided, while preference was given to those that were particularly suitable for character formation.
The Greeks organized these ideas into an educational system. Every citizen was required to learn music from a young age until the age of thirty, and in Spartan schools, it took precedence over grammar.
The legacy of Greek musical theory was enormous, and the areas conquered by Alexander the Great were proud of their Greek tradition, while the Persians, Arabs, and Turks supported their own musical systems through a combination of Greek scales and tonal modes.
Rome
Roman music cannot be separated from Greek music. In fact, Sicily and southern Italy, almost up to Rome itself, were part of Magna Graecia. Greek style and theories, instruments, and musicians enjoyed great prestige in the field of artistic music, and the attitude towards the role of music was also based on Greek models. However, the musical ethos did not take root among the Romans; for them, music primarily served as entertainment and as an accompaniment to various festivities. Roman philosophers, especially Cicero, criticized the music of their time as decadent, condemning its sensuality and softness, as well as its lack of dignity.
A Roman theorist, Boethius (c. 480 – 524), played a particularly significant role in preserving and transmitting Greek musical theory. His work, De institutione musica, was considered the musical Bible of the Western Christian Middle Ages and was quoted as such for a thousand years.
Rome’s main contribution was the dissemination of Greek music throughout the known world and serving as a catalyst for the blending of Hebrew-Christian and Hellenistic traditions of musical expression, which, preserved for centuries, resurfaced again in the Renaissance in the first place. Upon awakening of newer musical practices in the West.
Pythagoras believed that music harmonizes the rhythms of the soul and body, as well as the rhythms of the micro and macrocosm. He distinguished three types of music; according to Latin terminology, these are: musica mundana, musica humana, and musica instrumentalis. Musica mundana (or musica coelestis) represents the harmony of the macrocosm, which is manifested in the movement of spheres, the regularity of the changing seasons, and the order of the elements. Musica humana is the harmony within the microcosm, within a person; it is the constant, although inaudible, music of every individual, the music that guides a person and is felt within oneself. It presupposes the harmony of the soul and body, and is visible in the temperament of each individual. Musica instrumentalis represents the music produced by musical instruments, and is manifested in the sound they produce. Musica instrumentalis and musica humana are only different forms of the same truth. The sounds of a musical instrument also evoke the same vibrations in “human instruments”, as order, resonance, and harmony are established. between two instruments.