Roman Music

Paper Summary:

Ancient Rome had an impressive and varied musical tradition. There were many different traditions in Roman music and many different situations in which music was used by the Romans. The paper shows that music was often played at large events at which masses of people gathered, such as gladiatorial fights, festivals and banquets. There was also a tradition of popular music for stringed instruments, such as the kithara, which greatly resembles our modern guitar. The paper shows that there was also a tradition of more refined classical-type chamber music that was played for the wealthy and the important citizens of Rome at gatherings and parties. In order to accommodate so many diverse styles of music, it was necessary that the Romans develop an impressive array of musical instruments proper to each style. The paper discusses the instruments developed by the Romans, including the lyre, the harp, the kithara, the lute, the flute, the panpipes and the tympani, as well as trumpets and vast array of different percussive instruments. The paper shows that these instruments, many of which antedate Roman society, were employed in Roman music for a variety of different ends and with a series of different purposes, all of which testifies to the complexity and impressive diversity that comprises the Roman musical tradition.

From the Paper:

"The kithara was perhaps the most famous, oft-used, and most romanticized instrument played by Roman musicians. The most impressive players of the kithara were said to be able to literally make the instrument weep through their deft manipulation of the strings. The kithara was very similar to our modern guitar, and, indeed, the word guitar can trace its etymology back to the roman word kithara. The kithara was larger than either the lyre or lute and it was also heavier. The kithara, however, was also able to be tuned much more precisely than either of those instruments could be and it was loud and had a more trebly and piercing tone that distinguished it from those other instruments. Popular players of the kithara who wrote and sang songs were known as the citharista, and the most popular of them were respected and lauded as much as the popular musical virtuosos of our own day are. The number of strings was at least more than the lute, but the evolution of the guitar up till the present day has included changes in the number of strings on the instrument."

More papers on Roman Music:

• Analytical Essay # 138322 : "Hildegard Von Bingen and Christian Medieval Music"
• Film Review # 117504 : "Roman Polanski's "Macbeth"
• Film Review # 113886 : "Film: "The Sound of Music"

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