Unlocking the Riddles of Imperial Greek Melodies: The ‘Lydian’ Metamorphosis

What is it about?

Why did Imperial musicians forego the keys that shaped Classical masterpieces such as Euripides’ tragedies or Timotheus’ Persians? And why did they rename the traditional, and quintessentially Greek, Dorian mode, and called it Lýdia instead? As noted by Andrew Barker, 'there are serious puzzles here' (Barker 1989, A new solution to these, and other, riddles raised by the ‘Lydian’ metamorphosis of Imperial Greek music is offered in this new article, which is now available in open access.

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Why is it important?

Building upon Lynch 2022a and 2022b, this article offers the first account of the histori- cal 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’ Orestes to late antiquity, reconciling key theoretical insights provided by Ptolemy, Porphyry and others with documentary evidence that illustrates the structure of the Imperial harmonic system and its use in the Imperial musical documents. This approach also enables us to trace the gradual expansion of the Greek notation system from an initial set of symbols (A–Ω) to the full array recorded by Aristides and Alypius, mapping its development onto key historical milestones including the revolutionary innovations of the New Musicians and Damon of Oa’s inclusion of the Lydian mode into the Greek modulation system.