Music History (Part 3): Greek Musical Instruments
The main Greek settlements were the Greek peninsula and Aegean Islands, the west coast of Asia Minor (Turkey), and southern Italy & Sicily. The Romans called this Magna Graecia (Greater Greece).
The information we have on the instruments of Ancient Greece, and how to play them, comes from archaeological remains, writings about music, and hundreds of clay pots. Their main instruments were the αὐλός (aulos) [plural αὐλοί (auloi)], the λύρα (lyra), and κιθάρα (kithara). They also had harps, an early type of organ, panpipes, horns, and percussion instruments (including drums, cymbals & clappers).
The αὐλός was a double reed-pipe, sort of like a double oboe. Each pipe had its own tone holes, and a mouthpiece with a reed. Unfortunately no reeds have survived, but contemporary descriptions suggest that they were long tubes with a beating tongue.
Images on pots show the musicians playing the αὐλός with the same fingering for each hand. So most scholars believe that the two pipes were played in unison, one slightly out of tune with the other to create a plangent sound. However, reconstructions (based on surviving αὐλοί) can also be played in parallel octaves, fifths or fourths; also with one pipe playing a drone, or a separate line altogether. So it is possible that the artists just simplified how the αὐλός was played, much as modern-day artists draw incorrect renderings of flutists.
Dionysus (later Bacchus to the Romans) was the god of fertility and wine. The αὐλός was involved in worshipping Dionysus. The image below is of a Greek red-figure drinking cup, showing a symposium (drinking party) scene. A woman plays the αὐλός, and a drinking cup is depicted on the right. Her αὐλός bag is on the left, with a smaller bag for holding the reeds attached to it. The instrument's links to fertility & wine may explain why it is shown in the drinking scene. The woman playing it is probably a prostitute.
Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles wrote tragedies for the Dionysus festivals held in Athens, and they have choruses & other musical sections, either alternating with the αὐλός or being accompanied by it.
The λύρα usually had seven strings, and was strummed with a plectrum. It had several forms, but the most common had a tortoiseshell soundbox with oxhide stretched over it. The musician rested the instrument on his hip, holding it in front, and supporting it by a strap around the left wrist. The fingers of the left hand touched the strings (maybe to create harmonics, or to dampen certain strings to stop them from sounding), and the right hand strummed with the plectrum. The red-figure drinking cup below shows a lyre lesson, with the teacher on the left.
The λύρα was associated with Apollo, the god of light, prophecy, learning, and the arts (especially music & poetry). Lyre-playing was a very important part of Athenian education, and both men & women learned to play it. The λύρα accompanied dancing, singing, and reciting epic poetry (such as the Iliad and Odyssey); it also played music for weddings and recreation.
The κιθάρα was a large lyre. It was used especially for processions, sacred ceremonies, and in the theatre; and the musician usually played standing up. A κιθάρα-player was called a κιθαρῳδός (kitharodos, often romanized as citharede).
The red-figure amphora below is from the 300's BC, and attributed to the Berlin Painter. It shows a κιθαρῳδός accompanying his singing on the κιθάρα. His head is tilted back; his left-hand fingers touch some of the strings (apparently in order to damp them), and he holds the plectrum in his right hand, having just strummed across the strings.
Greek images of musicians seldom show musicians reading music while playing (whether from a scroll or tablet). From this, and from contemporary writings, we know that they usually learned music by ear. They played & sang from memory, or improvised using conventions and formulae. However, they did have a well-developed notation system by the 300's BC.
The αὐλός and κιθάρα were played as solo instruments from at least the 500's BC. At the 586, 582 and 578 Pythian Games, Sakadas of Argos won the prize for αὐλός-playing. He performed the Pythic Nomos, a virtuosic composition that portrayed Apollo's victory over the serpent Python. One writer says that the piece was written by Sakadas himself, so he is the earliest-known composer of instrumental music.
Competitions of αὐλός and κιθάρα players were increasingly popular after the 400's BC, and so were festivals of instrumental & vocal music. The amphora above, showing the κιθαρῳδός, was given as a prize to the winner of one such competition. Instrumental music became more independent of singing, and thus the number of virtuosic players grew, and the music became increasingly show-offy.
Audiences of thousands would gather to hear famous musicians performing. Some of these performers became very rich from their concert tours, or fees from rich patrons – especially after winning competitions and becoming famous from that. Outside the competitions, however, most professional performers were low-status (often slaves). Women weren't allowed to enter the competitions, but there were a number of women on the professional circuit.
