Michael Levy: Sample Tracks...
"An Ancient Lyre" ("An Ancient Lyre" - Clip of Track 1)
A clip of track 1, from my "An Ancient Lyre". This meditative prelude to the album, is a spontaneous improvisation on the lyre, based upon an ancient Indian scale.This track from can be downloaded from iTunes:
"Jerusalem of Gold" - Clip of Track 4, "King David's Harp"
"Jerusalem of Gold" - a clip for track 4 from my album, "King David's Harp". This track is available to download from iTunes:
"The Tablets of Moses" - (Clip of Track 5, "King David's Harp")
A clip of "The Tablets of Moses" - track 5 from my album, "King David's Harp". This track can be downloaded from iTunes:
"Holy of Holies" - "King David's Harp" (Clip of Track 7)
This is a clip of track 7 from my album, "King David's Harp" - the track can be downloaded from iTunes:
"Tabernacle of the Ark" - (Clip of Track 9, "King David's Harp")
This is a clip of track 9 from my album, "King David's Harp" - the track can be downloaded from iTunes:
"Eternal Peace" - "King David's Harp" (Clip of Track 10)
This is a clip of track 10 from my album, "King David's Harp" - the track can be downloaded from iTunes:
"The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo (c.138BCE)" - ("The Ancient Greek Lyre" - Clip of Track 5)
This is my arrangement for solo lyre, of the famous "First Delphic Hymn to Apollo" - a precious surviving fragment of music, which is an amazing legacy from the mostly lost musical culture of ancient Greece! This is featured on my album, "The Ancient Greek Lyre". This track can be downloaded from iTunes:
There are two Delphic Hymns that have been discovered, and they were dedicated to the god Apollo. Unlike the famous "Song of Seikilos" (the first COMPLETE piece of music that has been so far found to have survived from antiquity), the two Delphic Hymns have sadly not survived in their complete form. However, they do survive in substantial fragments...giving just a tantilizing taste of the glory of the tragically lost, magnificant musical culture of ancient Greece!
The two Delphic Hymns are dated c.138 BC and 128 BC. My rendition here, is of the earlier of them; the First Delphic Hymn. Although it has unfortunately not survived in its complete form, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo is THE earliest unambiguous surviving fragment of notated music from ANYWHERE in the Western World! It is written in the unambiguous alphabetical musical notation system used in ancient Greece, whereby alphabetical notation describing the pitch of the melody, is written above the text of the song, as can be clearly seen in this image of the actual Delphic Hymn, as it was found, inscribed in marble:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Delphic_Hymns
The rhythm can easily be inferred from the syllables of the text.
The First Delphic Hymn to Apollo was discovered in 1893 by a French archaeologist. It was inscribed in marble, carved on an outside wall of the Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi.
All that is known about its composer is that it was written by an Athenian, around 138 BC, since the part of the inscription giving the name of the composer is too difficult to read. The Second Delphic Hymn is slightly more recent, and has been dated to precisely 128 BC; evidently it was first performed in the same year. The name of the composer of the Second Delphic Hymn has also survived, in a separate inscription: he is called "Limenius". The occasion of the later hymn was the Pythian Festival, and this one, the earlier hymn, was probably written for the boys choir at the Pythian Games in 138 BC.
The translation of the fragment of text which has survived of the this, the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo, is as follows:
"Hear me, you who posses deep-wooded Helicon,
fair-armed daughters of Zeus the magnificent!
Fly to beguile with your accents your brother,
golden-tressed Phoebus who, on the twin peak of this rock of Parnassus,
escorted by illustrius maidens of Delphi,
sets out for the limpid strams of Castalia, traversing,
on the Delphic promontory, the prophetic pinnacle.
Behold glorious Attica, nation of the great city which,
thanks to the prayers of the Tritonid warrior,
occupies a hillside sheltered from all harm.
On the holy alters Hephaestos cosumes the thighs of young bullocks,
mingled with the flames, the Arabian vapor rises towards Olympos.
The shrill rustling lotus murmurs its swelling song, and the golden kithara,
the sweet-sounding kithara, answers the voice of men.
And all the host of poets, dwellers in Attica, sing your glory, God,
famed for playing the kithara, son of great Zeus,
beside this snow-crowned peak, oh you who reveal to all mortals
the eternal and infallible oracles.
They sing how you conquered the prophetic tripod
guarded by a fierce dragon when, with your darts
you pierced the gaudy, tortuously coiling monster,
so that, uttering many fearful hisses, the beast expired.
They sing too, . . . ."
"Lament of Simonides" ("The Ancient Greek Lyre" - Clip of Track 1)
Clip of track 1, "Lament of Simonides", from my album, "The Ancient Greek Lyre" - this track is available to download from iTunes:
This lovely melody, written in the ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode, can possibly be attributed to the ancient Greek poet & musician, Simonedes of Ceo .Simonides of Ceos (ca. 556 BC-469 BC) was a Greek lyric poet. He was born at Loulis on Kea. During his youth he taught poetry and music, and composed paeans for the festivals of Apollo. He was included, along with Sappho and Pindar, in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Further details can be found at:
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/SimonidesOfCeos.html
Although initially the piece sounds as if it is in the Ancient Greek Mixolydian Mode (the equivalent B-B on the white notes of the piano - not to be confused with the Medieval "Mixolydian" Mode, which is G-G!), the tonality of the melody actually implies the Ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode (G-G). Maybe it is this ambiguity of tonality which creates the haunting, mystical feel of this beautiful ancient melody?
"Ancient Greek Music Fragment" ("The Ancient Greek Lyre" - Clip of Track 3)
Ancient Greek Musical Fragment (POEM, MOR 1, 11f MIGNE 37, 523 - Arranged For Replica Kithara) - a clip of track 3, from my album, "The Ancient Greek Lyre" - This track is available from iTunes:
This brief fragment of ancient Greek melody, written in the ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode, was preserved in several Byzantine manuscripts - Athanasius Kircher (+1680), Musurgia Universalis 1650. Schema Musicae Antiquae. "Bibl. S. Salvatore, Messina, Silicia", "Bibliothecam Graecis Manuscriptus", 17th century.
"Glory Of The Parthenon" - Composition For Lyre In The Ancient Greek Phrygian Mode (Clip of Track 7, "The Ancient Greek Modes")
A clip of "Glory of the Parthenon" - track 7 of my new album, "The Ancient Greek Modes". This track is available to download from iTunes:
"Ancient Harps of Kemet" ("The Ancient Egyptian Harp" - Clip of Track 1)
A clip of track 1 "Ancient Harps of Kemet", from my EP album, "The Ancient Egyptian Harp" - this track is available to download from iTunes:
This album features original composition in ancient musical modes, an improvisation on an ancient Egyptian scale & Egyptian folk music arranged for archaic skin-membrane arched harp - an instrument almost identical to the ornate arched harps played during the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, some 3500 years ago...
"The Music of Moses" - Improvisation on an Ancient Egyptian Scale ("King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" - Clip of Track 1)
"The Music of Moses" can be heard on track 1 of my album, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". This track is available to download from iTunes:
This improvisation on a genuine, 3500 year old ancient Egyptian scale, was my attempt to convey the mystical, ancient connection between the ancient Hebrews and the ancient Egyptians. This minor pentatonic scale was deciphered by the late Professor Hans Hickmann of the Museum in Cairo...
"Echoes of Ancient Ur" - ("Ancient Visions - New Compositions For An Ancient Lyre" - Clip of Track 3)
"Echoes of Ancient Ur" - clip of track 3, "Ancient Visions - New Compositions For An Ancient Lyre".
This track can be downloaded from iTunes:
"Echoes of Ancient Rome" - (Clip of track 1, "Echoes of Ancient Rome")
A clip of the first track, "Echoes of Ancient Rome", from my new album, released on 01/01/11 - "Echoes of Ancient Rome". This original composition for replica lyre in the mournful, ancient Phrygian Mode, is in the style of a requiem...for the tragically lost music of ancient Rome.
This track is available to download from iTunes:
"The Temple of Mars" (Clip of Track 2, "Echoes of Ancient Rome")
A clip of "The Temple of Mars", from my album "Echoes of Ancient Rome".
This track is available to download from iTunes:
"Spirit Of The Kithara" - Composition For Lyre In The Ancient Greek Dorian Mode (Clip of Track 1, "The Ancient Greek Modes")
A clip of "Spirit of the Kithara", from my album"The Ancient Greek Modes" - this track is available to download from iTunes:
"Odessa Bulgar" ("King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" - Clip of Track 10)
A clip of track 10, the traditional Klezmer melody, "Odessa Bulgar", from my album, King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". This track is available to download from iTunes:
"Avinu Malcheinu" ("King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" - Clip of Tack 3)
A clip from track 3, the traditional sacred Jewish melody, "Avinu Malcheinu" (Out Father, Our King) from my album, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". This track is available to download from iTunes:
"Hymn To Zeus" ("Apollo's Lyre" - Clip of Track 3)
A clip of track 3, "Hymn To Zeus", from my album, "Apollo's Lyre" - This track is available from iTunes:
This piece is an original composition in the ancient Greek Dorian Mode...
The names of musical modes in use today, (e.g. Dorian, Mixolydian etc) although having the same names as the original Greek musical modes, were actually misnamed during the Middle Ages! Apparently, the Greeks counted intervals from top to bottom. When medieval ecclesiastical scholars tried to interpret the ancient texts, they counted from bottom to top, jumbling the information. The misnamed medieval modes are only distinguished by the ancient Greek modes of the same name, by being labelled “Church Modes”. It was due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, that medieval modes were given the wrong Greek names!
According to an article on Greece in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, the original ancient Greek names for species of the octave included the following (on white keys):
B-B: Mixolydian
E-E: Dorian
A-A: Hypodorian
D-D: Phrygian
G-G: Hypophrygian
C-C: Lydian
F-F: Hypolydian
For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:
http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm
"Apollo's Lyre" ("Apollo's Lyre" - Clip of Track 1)
A clip of track 1, "Apollo's Lyre" - from my album “Apollo’s Lyre". This track is available to download from iTunes:
Track 1 is an original composition for replica Kithara-style lyre, in the Ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode...
The names of musical modes in use today, (e.g. Dorian, Mixolydian etc) although having the same names as the original Greek musical modes, were actually misnamed during the Middle Ages! Apparently, the Greeks counted intervals from top to bottom. When medieval ecclesiastical scholars tried to interpret the ancient texts, they counted from bottom to top, jumbling the information. The misnamed medieval modes are only distinguished by the ancient Greek modes of the same name, by being labelled “Church Modes”. It was due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, that medieval modes were given the wrong Greek names!
According to an article on Greece in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, the original ancient Greek names for species of the octave included the following (on white keys):
B-B: Mixolydian
E-E: Dorian
A-A: Hypodorian
D-D: Phrygian
G-G: Hypophrygian
C-C: Lydian
F-F: Hypolydian
For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:
http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm
"Hymn To The Muse" (2nd Century CE) - ("An Ancient Lyre" - Clip of Track 10)
A clip of "Hymn To The Muse", from my "An Ancient Lyre". This track can be downloaded from iTunes:
This piece was written almost 2000 years ago, by Mesomedes of Crete. Mesomedes of Crete was a Greek lyric poet and composer of the early 2nd century AD. More information can be found at:
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Mesomedes.html
It is written in the ancient Greek "Dorian" mode; E-E on the white note of the piano - not to be confused with the MEDIEVAL "Dorian" mode, which was D-D!
Due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, mediaeval modes were given the wrong Greek names! For the CORRECT names of the ORIGINAL ancient Greek modes, see:
http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/corrections.html
For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:
http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm
The translation of this ancient, 2000 or more year old song (which mercifully, I am NOT going to attempt to sing!), are as follows:
'Sing for me, dear Muse, begin my tuneful strain; a breeze blow from your groves to stir my listless brain...Skillful Calliope, leader of the delightful Muses, and you, skillful priest of our rites, son of Leto, Paean of Delos, be at my side'. (translation by J. G. Landels).
The most challenging aspect of playing this piece, is attempting to play the many accidententals required by the melody - on a DIATONICALLY tuned lyre...WITHOUT the aid of any fancy sharpening pedals, which are to be found on almost all modern harps!
The ancient Greeks managed to get around this by a technique I have been working on, called "finger-stopping" - an accidental can be played, by increasing the pitch of a lyre string by a semitone; this is achieved by pressing the string (about a centimeter in from the tuning peg), with a finger of the left hand which shortens its vibrating length, and therefore increases the pitch of the note the string produces.
Regarding the accidentals used in this piece, another fascinating similarity between ancient Greek music & ancient Jewish music can directly be heard - when the 3rd of the ancient Greek Dorian mode (E-E)is SHARPENED, this creates a scale which is IDENTICAL to the Jewish "Ahava Raba" mode (which still can be heard in 90% of Jewish Klezmer music today...including the most famous of all Jewish songs; "Hava Nagila"!):
E,F,G#,A,B,C,D,E
To hear this wonderful fragment of ancient Greek music sang and played on authentic replica ancient Greek instruments, please see the amazing upload on Youtube by Michael Atherton & Melismos:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=piYpvpBgwRs
"Song of Seikilos" (c.200BCE - 100CE) - ("An Ancient Lyre" - Clip of Track 12)
A clip of the ancient Greek melody, "Song of Seikilos" - track 12 of my album, "An Ancient Lyre". This track can be dowloaded from iTunes:
"The Song of Seikilos" is unique in musical history, as it is the only piece of music from antiquity in the entire Western world, that has so far been found, which has survived in its complete form, and unlike much earlier surviving fragments of melodies that have been found, this song is written in a totally unambiguous alphabetical musical notation, which can be played, note for note, as it was written...2000 years ago:
http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/SongOfSeikilos.htm
This melody is an amazing musical legacy from ancient Greece; a precious remnant of a long-forgotten musical culture now forever lost in the mists of time...
It is written in the ancient Greek "Hypophrygian" mode; the equivelant intervals as heard in a scale of G-G played on the white notes of the piano. (This mode confusingly has exactly the same intervals as heard in the Medieval "Mixolydian" mode -the original ancient Greek "Mixolydian" mode, was, in fact, B-B!).
Due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, mediaeval modes were given the wrong Greek names! For the correct names of the orginal ancient Greek modes, see:
http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/corrections.html
For more fascinating details of what the great ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle had to say about the musical modes, please see this fascinating link:
http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm
In my arranement for solo lyre, I have tried to utilize every conceivable lyre-playing technique I could think of, which may have also been used in Antiquity! This includes experimenting with "string-blocking" at the beginning (blocking certain notes to form chords with the left hand to enable rhythm to be strummed on the lyre; just as on a guitar!), alternating between finger-plucked and plectrum plucked tones, the use of basic harmony below the melodic line, a touch of improvisation between phrases and plenty of tremolos & glissando's...in order to inject some NEW life into this beautiful ancient melody...
This is a more lively rendition than some of the "dire dirge-like" renditions of the song I have heard on some older recordings of it - I have recently learnt that "The Song of Sekilos" is, in fact a drinking song (what a great idea of the ancient Greeks to put a drinking song on a tombstone - I want one to be on mine!!). The ancient Greek term for a drinking song like this was called a "Skolion".
Although much older music has been found, all that remains are either just pitiful fragments of the melodies, or the way the melodies have been notated in ancient times have so many modern interpretations that the actual melody is still mostly academic guess work.
About 2000 years after it was written, this melody was rediscovered in 1883, in its complete & original form. It was found inscribed in marble on an ancient Greek burial stele, bearing the following epitaph: "I am a portrait in stone. I was put here by Seikilos, where I remain forever, the symbol of timeless remembrance".
The timeless words of the song are:
"Hoson zes, phainou
Meden holos su lupou;
Pros oligon esti to zen
To telos ho chronos apaitei"
Translation - "While you live, shine
Don't suffer anything at all;
Life exists only a short while
And time demands its toll"
"Ancient Visions" - (Clip of Track 1, "Ancient Visions - New Compositions for An Ancient Lyre")
A clip of track 1 from my new album, "Ancient Visions - New Compositions for An Ancient Lyre" - this track is available to download from iTunes:
"Awe of the Aten" ("The Ancient Egyptian Harp" - Clip of Track 5)
Clip of Track 5 "Awe of the Aten", from my album, "The Ancient Egyptian Harp". This track is available to download from iTunes:
My new EP album "The Ancient Egyptian Harp" features original composition in ancient musical modes, an improvisation on an ancient Egyptian scale & Egyptian folk music, arranged for archaic skin-membrane arched harp, complete wth natural fibre strings - almost identical to the ornate arched haprs played some 3500 years ago in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt...
"Hymn To Osiris" ("The Ancient Egyptian Harp" - Clip of Track 3)
Track 3 "Hymn To Osiris", from my EP album, "The Ancient Egyptian Harp" - this track can be downloaded from iTunes:
My new EP album "The Ancient Egyptian Harp" features original composition in ancient musical modes, an improvisation on an ancient Egyptian scale & Egyptian folk music, arranged for archaic skin-membrane arched harp, complete wth natural fibre strings - almost identical to the ornate arched haprs played some 3500 years ago in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt...