Pentatonic music in Greece (Ancient/Modern). Fieldwork, Theory and Praxis.

What is it about?

Nicomachus and the Ancient Greek writers offer information about the development of the pentatonic system in Greece located similarly as parallels in the contemporary musical cultures of Modern Western Greece and asserted in the Extant Fragments.

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Why is it important?

Pentatonism in ancient Greek music refers to so called ‘gapped scales’, quoted by Pseudo-Aristotle, Pseudo-Plutarch, Nicomachus and Aristides Quintilianus. In the case of Nicomachus, the interchangeabilities of pitches and positions of notes, with the musical nomenclature, make the text incomprehensible. These extracts have already been analyzed by Chailley (1956, 1968), Barker (1989, 2007) and Franklin (2019). It is important though, to shift from the Western concept of music in order to unfold the musical process revealed in the texts. Ethnomusicological research reveals a network of musical dialects which follows an evolutionary process and suggests new possible interpretations: it breaks down the predominant concept of the theory of the cycle of the fifths and leads to a ‘flexible’ pentatonism, produced by focal points created by a ‘building up’ or ‘making’ of musical scales. Additionally, the critical approach of the extant fragments in the environs of the field of Ethnomusicology offers new interpretations for an ancient Greek musical praxis . The article is accompanied by audio performances of Extant Fragments related to the text and audios or videos documented in the field. The article changes the predominant concepts about the creation of the pentatonic system and is a space and culture specific research. It also offers new interpretations of the Ancient Greek Writers traced in contemporary local musical cultures.

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