The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world[citation needed]. The epitaph has been variously dated, but seems to be either from the 1st or the 2nd century CE. The song, the melody of which is recorded, alongside its lyrics, in the ancient Greek musical notation, was found in 1883 engraved on a pillar (a stele) from the Hellenistic town of Tralles near present-day Aydın, Turkey, not far from Ephesus. It is a Hellenistic Ionic song in either the Phrygian octave species or Iastian tonos. While older music with notation exists (for example the Hurrian songs), all of it is in fragments; the Seikilos epitaph is unique in that it is a complete, though short, composition.[1]
Although usually referred to as an epitaph, it is possible (according to a suggestion put forward by Armand D'Angour) that it does not mark a tomb, but was merely a monument erected by Seikilos himself to commemorate his skill.[2]
^Winnington-Ingram 1929, p. 343.
^Armand D'Angour, "The Song of Seikilos". Antigone (2021).
The Seikilosepitaph is the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world[citation needed]. The...
related to Epitaphs. While you live, shine have no grief at all life exists only for a short while and Time demands his due. — Seikilosepitaph (oldest surviving...
pre-dates several other surviving early works of music (e.g., the Seikilosepitaph and the Delphic Hymns) by a millennium, its transcription remains controversial...
in the Phrygian and Hyperphrygian tonoi, with much variation. The Seikilosepitaph (1st century AD) is in the Phrygian species (diatonic genus), in the...
Greek music, especially the two Delphic hymns (2nd century BC), the Seikilosepitaph (1st century AD), and the hymns of Mesomedes (2nd century AD). An example...
until approximately the 4th century CE; only one complete composition (Seikilosepitaph) and a number of fragments using this notation survive. The notation...
holding oils or liquids often used in connection with death rites Seikilosepitaph Sit tibi terra levis Peter Toohey, "Death and Burial in the Ancient...
However, the Seikilosepitaph is the earliest entirely complete noted musical composition. Dated to the 2nd Century CE or later, it is an epitaph, perhaps...
Eastern Europe, and the Byzantine Empire changed Greek music. The Seikilosepitaph is the oldest surviving example of a complete musical composition,...
Euripides (Orestes) and Sophocles (Ajax) are known from papyri. The Seikilosepitaph (2c BC) is a complete song (although possibly for solo voice). One...
trained in modern 12 tone ET. Alypius of Alexandria Delphic Hymns Seikilosepitaph Mesomedes Oxyrhynchus hymn Chalmers 1993, ch. 6, p. 99. Crocker 1963...
entirety is from the first century AD: a piece from Greece called the Seikilosepitaph. A cappella music was originally used in religious music, especially...
Games. Musical system of ancient Greece Hurrian songs Oxyrhynchus hymn Seikilosepitaph Arda Mandikian recorded these fragments at Delphi in 1950 Bélis, A...
early 2nd century AD in Roman Greece. Prior to the discovery of the Seikilosepitaph in the late 19th century, the hymns of Mesomedes were the only surviving...
above text syllables. An example of a complete composition is the Seikilosepitaph, which has been variously dated between the 2nd century BC to the 1st...
Berlin 6870 Epidaurus, SEG 30. 390 (Hymn to Asclepius) Delphic Hymns Seikilosepitaph Hymns of Mesomedes Nomos (music) Oxyrhynchus hymn Ancient Roman music...
arsis of the foot. Examples of such stigmai are also found in the Seikilosepitaph and elsewhere. The six different musical examples are of different...
reconstructed the surviving fragments of Greek music, such as the Seikilosepitaph, that a short syllable was sung to a short note, while the long syllables...
Hymn (Pöhlmann and West 2001, 71). between 200 BC and 100 AD – the Seikilosepitaph, "Hoson zēs, phainou", inscribed on a stone funerary monument 408 BC...
coffin Kingittorsuaq Runestone Snoldelev Stone Trundholm Sun Chariot Seikilosepitaph Holmegaard bow Tjele helmet fragment Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (1825–1865)...
1883, he discovered the world's oldest complete piece of music, the Seikilosepitaph. In 1890 he discovered inscriptions in an unknown Anatolian language...
as consisting of a thesis followed by a two-syllable arsis. In the Seikilosepitaph, a piece of Greek music surviving on a stone inscription from the 1st...
No. Title Length 1. "Seikilo'sEpitaph" (feat. Aeralie Brighton) 3:09 2. "Demeter - God of Farming" (Overworld) 3:32 3. "Artemis - Goddess of the Wilderness"...
Greece Musical system of ancient Greece Ancient Greek Musical Notation Seikilosepitaph Painting in ancient Greece Pottery of ancient Greece Ancient Greek...
the texts of the liturgy, at St. Martin of Trier ca. 1st century – Seikilosepitaph, the oldest surviving complete piece of music late 3rd century – Oxyrhynchus...