Michael Levy: Sample Tracks...

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A clip of my arrangement of "Song of Seikilos" - track 12 of my new MP3 album, "An Ancient Lyre". This individual track of the album can be downloaded from Apple iTunes & the CD of the album is available from the following link to my cdbaby webpage:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy4

"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"

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A clip of track 1, "Apollo's Lyre" - from my new album “Apollo’s Lyre" - available now, from cdbaby:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy

(Available from Apple iTunes in May 2010!).

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

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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?

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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 CD ALBUM, "An Ancient Lyre"... the individual track can be downloaded from Apple iTunes and the CD is available from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy4

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, . . . ."

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Ancient Greek Musical Fragment (POEM, MOR 1, 11f MIGNE 37, 523 - Arranged For Replica Kithara)

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.

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This track can be heard on my CD ALBUM, "An Ancient Lyre". The CD is avialble from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy4

Either this track, or the whole album is also available to download from Apple iTunes...

This haunting, almost dream-like fragment of melody was preverved in ancient Byzantine manuscripts(Conspectus codicum:
V. Venetus Marcianus appl. cl. VI, saec. XIII-XIV
N. Neapolitanus graecus III. C4, saec. XV
F. Florentius Ricc. 41, saec. XVI), in the unambiguous alphabetical musical notation used in ancient Greece, & the melodic fragment is catalogued as "Anonymous, Bellermann 97".

I heard this lovely melody for the first time, on the CD "Musique de la Grece Antique"(track 13).

It is in the ancient Greek "Hypolydian" mode; the equivalent intervals as heard on the scale from F-F on the white notes of the piano. The augmented 4th in this mode to me, creates the dreamy quality of the sound of this piece.

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

What a terrible tragedy, that of all the amazing cultures of ancient civilizations, so few fragments of their original melodies and music from antiquity have been preserved...

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This is the first of the 6 of my original composition for replica ancient Greek Kithara-style lyre, which feature on this album. "Hymn To Hermes" is composed in the ancient Greek Lydian Mode - the same intervals as our regular major pentatonic scale (C- C on the white notes of the piano). This is not to be confused with the Medieval "Lydian" Mode (the equivalent intervals as F- F on the white notes of the piano)...

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

In this piece, I demonstrate almost every lyre-playing technique possible on the ancient Greek Kithara-style lyre - these include alternating between finger-plucked and plectrum-plucked tones, strumming rhythm by the ancient technique of "finger-blocking" the strings to form basic chords (blocking with the left hand, notes not required to be strummed, and leaving open those required to be strummed by the plectrum in the right hand), tremolos etc.

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"The Ancient Greek Modes" - available now, from cdbaby.com: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy1

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A clip of "Hymn To The Muse", from my CD ALBUM, "An Ancient Lyre". The CD of the album is available from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy4

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

 

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A clip of "Glory of the Parthenon" - track 7 of my new album, "The Ancient Greek Modes" - available now, from:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy1

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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...

"The Music of Moses" can be heard on track 1 of my album, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". This CD can be downloaded from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy

It is also available from Apple iTunes...

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My arrangement of the 3400 year old "Hurrian Hymn no.6", from ancient Mesopotamia - track 6 from my CD ALBUM, "An Ancient Lyre"...available NOW, from cdbaby.com:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy4

This amazing Hymn, the oldest written music in History, was discovered in Ugarit in Syria in the early 1950s, and was preserved for 3400 years on a clay tablet, written in the Cuniform text of the ancient Hurrian language - it is THE oldest written song yet known! Respect, to the amazing ancient culture of Syria...

It is played here, on a replica of the ancient Kinnor Lyre from neighbouring Israel; an instrument almost tonally identical to the wooden asymmetric-shaped lyres played throughout the Middle East at this amazingly distant time...when the Pharaoh's still ruled ancient Egypt.

A photograph of the actual clay tablet on which the Hurrian Hymn was inscribed, can be seen here:

http://phoenicia.org/music.html

The melody is one of several academic interpretations, from the ambiguous Cuneiform text of the Hurrian language in which it was written. Although many of the meanings of the Hurrian language are now lost in the mists of time, it can be established that the fragmentary Hurrian Hymn which has been found on these precious clay tablets are dedicated to Nikkal; the wife of the moon goddess.

There are several such interpretations of this melody, but to me, the fabulous interpretation just somehow sounds the most "authentic". Below is a link to the sheet music, as interpreted by Clint Goss:

http://www.flutekey.com/pdf/HurrianTabLtd.pdf

In my arrangement of the Hurrian Hymn, I have attempted to illustrate an interesting diversity of ancient lyre playing techniques, ranging from the use of "block and strum" improvisation at the end, glissando's, trills & tremolos, and alternating between harp-like tones in the left hand produced by finger-plucked strings, and guitar-like tones in the right hand, produced by use of the plectrum.

I have arranged the melody in the style of a "Theme and Variations" -  I first quote the unadorned melody in the first section, followed by the different lyre techniques described above in the repeat, & also featuring improvisatory passages at the end of the performance.

My arrangement of the melody is much slower than the actual academic interpretation - I wanted the improvisations in the variations on the theme to stand out, and to better illustrate the use of lyre techniques by a more rubato approach to the melody.

Travel back in time with me now, to the very Dawn of Civilization...ENJOY!

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"Hymn To Horus" - a clip of track 8 from my album, "Apollo's Lyre." This melody is based on a traditional Egyptian folk song & is arranged here, for a replica lyre, very similar to the lyres played in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, over 3500 years ago...

Apollo's Lyre can be downloaded from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy

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This is a clip of track 3 of new MP3 album, "An Ancient Lyre" - an improvisation on a 3500 year old ancient Egyptian minor pentatonic scale, as deciphered by the late Prof. Hans Hickmann of the Museum in Cairo...this individual track can be downloaded from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy4

It is also available from Apple iTunes...

 

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"Hymn to Thoth" - a clip of track 8 from my newly released album produced by Dominik Johnson, "Ancient Times - Music of the Ancient World". The album is available NOW, from Apple iTunes & cdbaby.com:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy7

This piece is my arrangement for solo lyre, of the tradtional Egyptian folk song, "I Saw The Moon" - Thoth was the ancient Egyptian god of the moon...

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A clip of track 3, "Hymn To Zeus", from my new album, "Apollo's Lyre" - available now, from cdbaby.com:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy

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

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A clip from track 3 of my debut CD album, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel". CDs of this album are available from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy

The album is also available for download from iTunes. 

This is my arranagement for solo Levitical Lyre of "Our Father, Our King" - the mystical, timeless ancient Jewish melody traditionally sang at Yom Kippur...

 

 

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 "Ose Shalom" (The One Who Brings Peace) - the beautiful ancient Shabbat Hymn, arranged for replica 3000 year old Biblical Lyre! This is a clip from track 20 of my debut CD album, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel" - available from cdbaby.com: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy

This totally unique, enchanting, meditative and spiritually and uplifting album, consists of an amazing selection of ancient traditional Jewish songs, mystical Shabbat melodies and exhilarating Jewish Klezmer music, all arranged and performed on my replica of the Lyre of the Ancient Hebrews...

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"The Ancient Biblical Lyre" is available from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy9

This is a clip of track 1 - the ancient melody traditionally sang to the "Kol Nidre" prayer at Yom Yippur...played on a replica of one of the ancient  Lyres of the Levites; the Biblical "Nevel" - once played in the Temple of Jerusalem, to accompany the singing of the Levitical Choir...

For full details on this most elusive of the Biblical Lyres, please see all my detailed research in the "Historical Details" section of this website dedicated to the Nevel.

"The Ancient Biblical Lyre" is available form iTunes & cdbaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy9  

 

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"The Ancient Biblical Lyre" is available from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy9

This is a clip of track 11, "King David Danced"...a spontaneous improvisation in the ancient Jewish "Ahava Raba" mode, performed on replica 3000 year old Biblical "Nevel" Lyre - a clip of track 1 from my new album, "The Ancient Biblical Lyre" (now available from Apple iTunes).

In this improvisation, I wanted to evoke the famous Biblical narrative of how King David danced with rapture, during the Transport of the Ark of the Covenant...

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A preview of another track from my newly released album, "Ancient Times - Music of the Ancient World"...available NOW, from Apple iTunes & cdbaby.com:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy7

 

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Any track from "Apollo's Lyre" is available for download from iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store & CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy

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“Dancers Of Dionysus” (Composition For Lyre In The Ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode) - clip of track 2 from my new album, "The Ancient Greek Modes" - available from cdbaby.com: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelLevy1

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A clip of track 7 from my new album, "Apollo's Lyre". This original composition is called “The Wisdom of Solomon” – an improvisation on the Ancient Hebrew “Misheberakh” scale:

EF#GAA#BC#DE

This same scale can be heard in an example of ancient Greek music, called “Tecmessa’s Lament” – coincidence, or yet more possible evidence of an ancient cross-cultural exchange of musical ideas? A fascinting possibility!

Below is a modern orchestral arrangement of this unique ancient Greek melody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rw0D-cCXYY

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"The Ancient Biblical Lyre" is available from:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mlevy9

This is a clip of track 2: "Psalm 114 (Ancient Traditional Melody, c. 2nd century CE)" - this traditional melody sang to Psalm 114, "When Israel Went Forth From Egypt" is of great antiquity., and was preserved by both Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages, as a Sephardic cantillation (B'tseth Isra'el) & in the Roman Catholic tradition, as a Latin plainchant (In Exitu Israel).

The two chants are indentical, both musically and texturally - which could even suggest that there was an ancient common origin, before the Jewsh and Christian faiths split into separate entities..maybe even an aural memory of the orginal melody once sang by the L evitical Choir in the Temple of Jerusalem? A fascinating possibility...