Tosca A.C. Lynch

University of St Andrews

Since the beginning of modern investigations on ancient rhythmics, scholars have faced significant problems in interpreting the technical terminology employed by ancient rhythmicians, especially in relation to two of the most basic terms attested in the sources: ἄρσις and θέσις, which indicate the two fundamental components of a rhythmical foot.

This paper will focus on Plato’s thought-provoking depiction of justice as special kind of harmonia ( Resp . 4.443c-444a) that epitomises the best possible organisation of the soul, exploring his nuanced use of the model of lyre tunings in performative, theoretical as well as educational terms. By comparing Plato’s use of harmonic imagery with tech...

Bringing together evidence preserved by Aristoxenus, Aristides Quintilianus, Ptolemy, Porphyry and the Greek musical handbooks in a unified framework, this article and its sequels show how the Classical modulation system reconstructed in Lynch 2018 is confirmed by the melodies recorded in the Greek musical documents. Taken jointly, these articles w...

Abstract This article completes the discussion of the Classical/Hellenistic harmonic system set out in Lynch 2022a . Taken jointly, these articles offer the first account of the use of notation keys in the Hellenistic musical documents that is fully consistent with technical evidence as well as literary testimonies about the harmonic innovations...

Building upon Lynch 2022a and 2022b, this article offers the first account of the historical evolution of the Greek harmonic system and notation keys ( tónoi ) that bridges the gap between Classical and Imperial music. This new solution allows us to reconstruct, for the first time, a continuous, if evolving, tradition that stretches from Euripides’...

Lynch, T. A.C. (2024a). ‘Unlocking the Riddles of Imperial Greek Melodies: the “Lydian” metamorphosis of the Classical harmonic system’. Greek and Roman Musical Studies 12.1. Building upon the evidence discussed in Lynch 2022a and 2022b, this article offers the first account of the historical evolution and use of the Greek notation keys (tónoi) th...

https://www.emousike.com/ddagm This app is powered by the dDAGM database, which has been developed by Tosca A.C. Lynch and collects all the musical notes attested in the standard edition of the Greek musical documents ( DAGM = Pöhlmann and West, OUP 2001). The interactive chart that is currently available in the app represents the distribution of...

This article offers an overview of a variety of paths that can be followed to investigate the rich and multifaceted world of the ancient ‘art of the Muses’, highlighting the value that different perspectives bring to the study of ancient mousikē and its development as a discipline. In other words, this article is a methodological piece in the etymo...

This figure (Lynch 2023, Fig. 21) represents the basic harmoníai that could be played by the Louvre aulos in its Imperial setting, as well as some of the modulating scales that could be produced by 'expanding' the basic scales through partial-covering of up to two finger-holes of this instrument. Each of these modes is matched to the corresponding...

https://www.emousike.com/louvreaulos

Bringing together evidence preserved by Aristoxenus, Aristides Quintilianus, Ptolemy, Porphyry and the Greek musical handbooks in a unified framework, this article and its sequels show how the reconstruction of the Classical modulation system offered in Lynch 2018 is confirmed by the melodies recorded in the Greek musical documents. Taken jointly,...

This article completes the discussion of the Classical/Hellenistic harmonic system set out in Lynch 2022a. Taken jointly, these articles offer the first account of the use of notation keys in the Hellenistic musical documents that is fully consistent with technical evidence as well as literary testimonies about the harmonic innovations of the New M...

A new page on eMousikē.com looks at the mythical 'beginnings' of ancient Greek music and poetry as the 'Art of the Muses' and explores its ramifications from Homer to Mesomedes. https://www.emousike.com/mousikē-the-art-of-the-muses

www.eMousike.com – Ancient Greek Music online | Digital Humanties | archaeological evidence & 3D models of ancient instruments | ancient Greek Harmonics, Rhythmics, Notation and more

These slides accompanied a presentation I recently delivered at the ICS Sunoikisis Seminar on Digital Approaches to Cultural Heritage, within a session on 3D modelling. In this short talk, I discussed a case study in ancient Greek music, namely my recent reconstruction of the Louvre aulos and the many different types of evidence that informed it, r...

This paper looks at different ways in which Aristophanes makes fun of the seemingly lofty subtleties of Classical Greek rhythmic theory, exploiting the aesthetic similarity between different kinds of rhythms as well as the significant role that this kind of knowledge acquired in the social and cultural context of in 5th-century Athens. After a brie...

Aristoxenus’ ‘Diagram of Many trópoi’ and the System of 13 tónoi (diatonic forms exempli gratia) – Lynch 2022a, Appendix 1. Adrastus reports that Aristoxenus’ ‘diagram of many trópoi’ (polýtropon) had a ‘magnitude of two octaves and a fourth’ (Adrastus ap. Theon Math. Plat. 64.1–4). Cleonides (203.5–204.8 Jan) and Aristides Quintilianus (Mus. 20.9...

These images depict a 3D model of a reconstruction of the Ephesus aulos (550-600 BC) that I completed in 2020 (https://zenodo.org/record/4318746). I have since changed my mind on a few details, but they should not affect significantly the acoustic properties of this instrument. The extant section of this ivory pipe is preserved at the British Muse...

This database has been created by Dr Tosca A.C. Lynch (https://oxford.academia.edu/ToscaLynch) and includes all the notes attested in the ancient Greek musical documents collected in the standard edition (DAGM = Pöhlmann, E. and West, M.L., 2001, Documents of Ancient Greek Music, Oxford: OUP). Dr Lynch will present historically informed interpreta...

This appendix presents transcriptions and diagrams of the most recent scholarly reconstructions of the ancient modes (harmoniai) attested in ancient musical treatises—especially Aristides Quintilianus’ De musica and Ptolemy's Harmonics—with further references to publications that give details on the sources, methodology, and rationales of these rec...

This chapter examines the main features of the Greek conceptualization of rhythm (rhythmos), as opposed to notions such as harmonia and lexis. After a brief discussion of the basic characterization of rhythm as the dynamic shape given to the “movement of the voice,” the chapter focuses on Aristoxenus’ development of a new “scientific” approach to t...

A COMPANION TO ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN MUSIC A comprehensive guide to music in Classical Antiquity and beyond Drawing on the latest research on the topic, A Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Music provides a detailed overview of the most important issues raised by the study of ancient Greek and Roman music. An international panel of contributo...

In this paper, I offer a close discussion of the musical innovations attributed to Phrynis, Timotheus and other ‘New Musicians’ mentioned in a famous fragment of Pherecrates’ Chiron, interpreting this fascinating passage in the light of the extant evidence about ancient harmonic theory and practice, as well as the latest research findings. More spe...

Many aspects of Greek musical culture were firmly in place in Homeric times. Epic singing to the lyre is the musical activity foregrounded in the epic songs and is envisaged as a proper occupation for a nobleman. Dance figured not only in ritual and private merrymaking, but was also part of military training in the form of dances in armor. Song was...

This article presents a new examination of the Platonic passages that feature Damon of Oa, the famous musical theorist who was exiled from Athens apparently because of his close relationship with Pericles. The interpretation presented in this article contrasts sharply with the mainstream scholarly representation of Damon as a conservative musicolog...

Ancient Greek Metre and Music: The Technical Basis of an ‘Interpretative’ Art - Celentano(M.S.) (ed.) Ricerche di metrica e musica greca per Roberto Pretagostini. Con la collaborazione di Francesco Berardi, Luigi Bravi e Paolo Di Meo. (Collana del Dipartimento di Studi Classici dall'Antico al Contemporaneo, Sezione Filologica 7.) Pp. xii + 130, ill...

‘Hearing Numbers, Seeing Sounds’ - Creese(D.)The Monochord in Ancient Greek Harmonic Science. Pp. xvi + 409, figs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Cased, £65, US$110. ISBN: 978-0-521-84324-9. - Volume 61 Issue 2 - Tosca Lynch