The Reception of Ancient Music Theory in Byzantine and Western Traditions

Online Conference – Levi Study Group Psaltike
Levi Foundation YouTube channel

'Music', 'mūsīqā', 'music', 'Musik'. The ancient Greek word 'mousikē' was borrowed into the Latin lexicon and became a key term in many other languages ​​around the world. However, this legacy extends far beyond the single use of the term. Music theory, the written exposition, that is, of matters relating to sound, acoustics and music, was part of ancient Greek science from its earliest stages, as is evident from the 'philosophy of music' of the Pythagoreans from at least 500 BC. Greek texts on music theory were further enriched in the Classical period and multiplied beyond measure with new compendia, commentaries and diagrams in Late Antiquity.
It is well known that Renaissance scholars were eager to draw on this tradition, but ancient music theory in many other contexts, more or less ancient, was regarded as a useful 'toolbox' and as such contributed to the development of new writings on music. The theory underlying Greek ecclesiastical chant has an intricate relationship with the tradition of ancient Hellenic music, which continued to be cultivated in higher education in Byzantium. In the Latin world, Boethius's translations have often been regarded as the true starting point for the development of a theory of music.
In this round table, promoted by the study group 'Psaltike' under the auspices of the Ugo and Olga Levi Foundation, we will investigate some new aspects relating to when, how and why the rich corpus of ancient Greek musical theory was used in various subsequent contexts, in the East and in the West.
Christian Troelsgård, scientific coordinator

 

2:30 pm
Welcome
(Christian Troelsgård, chairman of the study group and Roberto Calabretto)

2:35 pm
Max Raffa (University of Salento)
The Byzantine reception of the Harmonica of Ptolemy and of the Commentary of Porphyry: tradition, ecdotics, epitomization
/ The Byzantine Reception of Ptolemy's Harmonics and Porphyry's Commentary: Textual Tradition, Ecdotics, Epitomization.

3:00 pm
Gerda Wolfram (University of Vienna)
Byzantine Music and Ancient Musical Writings.

3:25 pm
Christian Troelsgard (University of Copenhagen)
Between Practice and Theory. Formal Patterns from Ancient Greek Technical Literature Reflected in Byzantine Music Treatises. 

3:50 pm
Sandra Martani (University of Pavia, Conservatory of Mantua)
The Echoi in Poetry. The 'Modal' Epigrams in the Heirmologia

4:15 pm
Silvia Tessari (University of Padua)
Decapentasyllabic Poetry by Germanos II in the Eight Modes and its Connection with Ancient Greek and Byzantine Modal Terminology

4:40 pm
Giuseppe Sanfratello (University of Catania)
Ancient Greek Music Theory in the Interpretation of the Chromatic Genus in the New Method.

5:05 pm
Charles Atkinson (The Ohio State University / Universität Würzburg)
Boethius, Ptolemy, the Τόνοι and the Modes

5: 30 pm
Paola Dessi (University of Padua)
Boethian Musical Tradition in Eugenius Vulgarius' Poem 37

5:55 pm
Michael Eberle (MA) (Ludwig Maximilians-Universität München)
Just an echo from the past? Michael Psellos' treatment of his ancient sources

6:20 pm
Discussion and concluding remarks