GREEK MUSIC. 



tlie :nu!ic of the ancients, is plain from the groat fyftcm of two 

 oftavcs having been compofed of five of thefe tetrachords, in 

 the fame manner as the fcale of Guide is of different licxa- 

 chords. 



Tl>e firft tetrachord is called by the Greek, muficiaii^ 

 hypaton, or principal ; the founds of which are denominated : 



1 . Hypate hypaton, principal of principals ; 



2. Parypale hypaton, next the principal ; 



3. Lic'hanos hypaton, or index of principals ; from its hav- 

 ing been placed with the index or fore -finger. This third 

 found of the firft tetrachord in the diatonic genus was 

 likesvife cal'ed hypaton a'iatonos. 



4. Hypate mefon, or principal of the middle or mean 

 tetrachord ; for this f mud noi. only terved as the lall or 

 higheft note of the firll tetrachord, but as the firll or lowefl 

 of the fecond ; whence thefe two tctrachords were called con- 

 joint, or conneAtd. Thefe four denominations of the iounds 

 in the firft tetrachord may be compared with the terms B mi, 

 C fa ut. D/al re, and E la mi, in the Guido fcale ; or with 

 the founds 





The nicfe in ancient mufic was of equal importance witk 

 the key note in modern mufic : being an oftave above the 

 proflambanomenos, which was thelowelt found of the ancient 

 modes, and a kind of key note to them all. 



Euclid calls mefe the found by which all other founds are 

 regulated. And Ariftotle, in his XXXVIth Problem, 

 feci. 19. fays that all the tones of a fcale are accommodated, 

 or tuned, to the mefe. The fame author likewife tells us, 

 Problem XX. that all melody, whether it moves above or 

 below the mefe, has a natural tendency to that found. 



The third tetrachord, beginning by the laft note of the 

 fecond, was thence called _/)'«■"'""'"<'"; thi^- united, or c.tijun^ 

 tetrachord ; the founds of which proceed in the fulloaing 

 order : 



Mefe; 



Trite fynemmencv, or third flring of this tetrachord from, 

 the top ; 



Paranete fynemmentn, pcnultima of this tetrachord ; 



Nete fynemmcnon, lall of the fynommenon tetrachord ; the 

 four founds of which correfpond with thofe in tlie centre of 

 our gammut, that are called A la mi re, Tija, Q Jol fa ut, 

 and 13 lafol re, cr 



The founds of the mefon, or middle tetrachord, were placed 

 in the following order : 



Hipate mefon, or principal of the mean tetrachord ; 



Parypate mefon, next to the middle principal ; 



Lichanos niefon ; 



Mefe, or middle, as this found completes the fecond 

 tetrachord, and is the centre of the wliole fyftem. The 

 founds of this tetrachord corrrefpond with thofe which in 

 the bafe of the fcale of Guido are called E la mi, Y fa ut, 

 G fol re ut, and A la mi re, which are equivalent to 



:^ 



bo 



-O. 



=1T- 



S 



After afcending regularly thus far, up to D, by three 

 conjoint tetrachords, tlie fourtli tetrachord in the great 

 fyilem is begun by dtfcending a minor third to B natural, 

 the oftave above the firll found of the lowefl tetrachord. 

 Soinethinsj of this (/o(/j/ht kind is to be found in the fcale of 

 Guido, divided into hexachords: for, after afcending fix notes 

 regularly in the durum hexackord, it is neceflary to dcfccnd 

 a major third, if we would begin the natural h.xachord ; and 

 when the natural hexach«rd is completed, if we would begin 

 at the nwlle, it cmi only be dofie by a leap of a third below. 

 This will beft appear by an example in notes : 



Durum HexachorJ. 



Natural Hexachord. 



MoUe Hexachord. 





==-ii:zzi::5=3=::§: 





e Q -g -e-^-g:z!±zzr=z: 



Lit re mi fa fol la. Ut re mi fa fol la 



L't re mi f.t fol 



It appears from the Greek tetrachords, as well as from 

 this example, that neither the ancients nor the early moderns 

 admitted ihc fharp fewnth of a key into their fcales. 



The fourth tetrachord, afcending, is called diezeugmenon, 

 disjunft, or feparated, as it begins at B natural, whicii is 

 not a note in comraoTi with any one in the other telracliords. 

 But though this fy'lem of four founds is only an octave 

 higher than that of the firft tetrachord, and though the 

 next is but a replicate of the fecond, we (hall prefent them 

 to the ri ader, as the feveral founds of which they are 

 compofed have in tlie Greek mufic different denominations. 



The firft found of the fecond octave, or feries of eight 

 founds in the ancient great fyftem, is mef, and the lirft of the 

 fourth tetrachord begins with the note 



Paramef, near the mefe, or middle found ; the next is 

 called 



Trite diezeugmenpn, or third flring of this tetrachord from 

 the top : then follows the paranete diezeugmenon ; and laftly, 

 the 



Netc diezeugnuticn, or final found of this tetrachord ; 



which includes the founds B mi, C fol fa ut, D la fol re, and 

 E la mi, in the middle of the Guido fcale, or 



The laft found of the fourth tetrachord is the firft of the 

 fifth, which is called the hyperbohon, or fuprcnie tetrachord ; 

 the founds of which afcend in the following order : 



Nete die-zeupnenon, laft of the diezeugmenon tetrachord ; 



Trite hyperloUon-, third ftring of the hyperbolson tetra- 

 chord ; 



Paranete hyperholitcn, penultima of the fuprcme tetrachord ; 



Nete hyberboldeon, laft of the fupreme, or higheft tetrachord, 

 and of the great fyftem, or diagram. 



This laft tetrachord, being added to the fcale long after 

 its firft formation, was called hyperboUon, frcm its founds 

 being more acute than the reft, and beyond the common 



bounds 



