| Music is one of those art forms which act as a mirror of social and cultural processes. If the society or the culture in a particular place is degenerating, it will be reflected in the music of that place immediately. Likewise, when the society or the culture is thriving, the music will also flourish. Hence, music has a major role in the tracing the past of a country.
The music world owes much to the Ancient Greeks. In fact, the term "music" is derived from the nine Ancient Greek muses - goddesses controlling the arts and sciences. Present-day musicians refer to their muse, which is somebody who influences another person's creative work. Different musical terms, such as melody, tune, rhythm and others originated from the Greek language. Still, when Ancient Greece fell and the Byzantine and Roman Empires collapsed, Greek music stopped its development for a few centuries until it was revived in the Nineteenth century.
It is said that Greeks considered music a way of worshipping God. Music was also a part of their social life. It was played on all types of social occasions. Since drama was also quite popular in Greece, they also used music when drama was staged.
It is commonly believed that Greek music lacked harmony. It was generally performed by one vocalist and not by a chorus as is commonly seen in Greek plays. Ancient musicians stringently observed the laws of music and didn't combine one form with another. The rules were so strict that the viewers or listeners were not permitted to clap. The aim of musical shows was not to amuse but to teach common people.
Pythagoras was the first to use numbers to mark musical scales which he discovered when studying the differences in sound frequencies of varied length strings of musical instrument. This concept was introduced to Ancient Greek Music. Thus, Pythagoras became known as the father of music theory. Most musical works, as reported, was monophonic. Hence, they were similar to each other. But when musicians started introducing new things to music, some experts like Plato showed strong disapproval.
Contemporary Greek music is a combination of Greek folk music and both Eastern and Western tendencies. |
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