Rediscovering Ancient Greek Music: A performance reconstructs the past

[@robwalsh9843]

These guys are okay, but let me tell you about this band I saw in Antioch back in 175 BC. Man, they crushed it.

[@siegfriedkleinmartins7816]

OH MY GOD....L OOOOOO L.

[@FlaxeMusic]

This nearly holds a candle to that one time in 1998 when the Undertaker threw Mankind 16 ft through a steel cage.

[@mysteriousman4966]

How old are you man?!

[@tanteedelgard1921]

@@mysteriousman4966 Just count the years: 175 BC 174 BC 173 BC 172 BC ... 😉

[@elliottv.3782]

@@FlaxeMusic we all know nothing tops that

[@YellowPsych]

Its crazy how the aulos can sound so hideous but also so beautiful. Callum’s improvisation was so surreal, it brought me into some other world.

[@maxbrumbergflutes]

He is the most amazing Aulos player, I am so much looking forward to ne recordings by him

[@eldermillennial8330]

@@maxbrumbergflutes Spencer Klavan needs to invite him on his podcast and they can discuss this Miracle in even more glorious depth! I KNEW the scrawny tenor with the dark beard was him! I had no idea he’d participated in something this! I just stumbled into it. Amazing!

[@aprcuulestdude9076]

Narnia

[@ruttolomeo1987]

Quit pot you freako

[@mekkler]

Reminds me of a kazoo.

[@joshl.8950]

The double flute played by Callum at 8:49 almost sounds like an accordion at times and others a bagpipe, but sometimes a flute. I love this instrument. Really cool

[@alexanderkupke920]

I guess the aeolus is just missing the range and the fact that it is two pipes and thus two notes cover up similarities with an oboe or a bassoon. But the instrument you pointed out have a distinct familiarity, as in both cases some sort of reed is actually what creates the sound. The rest of the instrument, the bore, length etc. then creates the typical tone. I think especially comparing it to the sound of a bagpipe is not to far off, as with the second pipe you get an effect similar to the bourdon of the bagpipes drone pipes.

[@tylerwill7259]

I think it sounds a lot like the duduk. It is a great sound tho!

[@MiklasBeatBox]

Absolute devine experience

[@maxbrumbergflutes]

Alexander Kupke the aulos seems to be the ancestor to Duduk and Oboe. You fine-tune the tonality of both pipes with embouchure technique, this gives an amazing range of tuning possibilities and dynamics that you would never have with bagpipes. Our latest researches show en even richer and more centered sound with new reed materials.

[@tomasmichael3576]

@@maxbrumbergflutes It's called diavlos (Δίαυλος). Avlos (Αυλός) roughly means flute. So di- (δι-, double) means two of those.

[@Venentine]

The performance by Callum around 9:00 sounded much like the traditional music still played today in Albania and Greece. Really amazing that we can recover these things from so long ago.

[@Balrog-tf3bg]

That’s super cool, it just gets passed down and down

[@andsalomoni]

In fact all you can do is to study the music that is still played in the "most traditional possible" situations of today. To claim that you play like they played 2500 years ago is sheer delusion.

[@littlekreeper8918]

@@andsalomoni that's so cool id love to see your papers and credentials on this

[@andsalomoni]

@@littlekreeper8918 You need credentials to understand that you can't know how did it sound a music that they played 2500 years ago, if you - nor anyone living today - couldn't ever hear it?

[@christosmerkonidis7190]

My thought too

[@denzilhamm331]

The cyclical breathing technique the double pipe improviser is using is MIND BOGGLING. Consistent and never ending sound.

[@Trobtwillis]

There are saxophonists & such who do circular breathing. I played clarinet for a couple of years or so, and I can't imagine pulling it off.

[@antonmikofsky2073]

Or Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Heard him at a club in the Village.

[@primeministerofredneckistan]

This is the absolute nerdiest thing that I have ever thoroughly enjoyed!!

[@Bye-kd8xo]

lol true, this comment made me chuckle. I think the dude with the double pipes is by far the biggest nerd in the group.

[@josephengel2091]

As a Classics major whose exes include a couple music majors, this is right up my alley😊

[@danielrodio9]

When your passion overpowers any sense of self awareness (Which in my opinion is the ideal state of being)

[@syrenaxhaferi7278]

It really is

[@joshn7232]

Is there anything else worth spending your attention on other than nerdy things?? Honestly asking, like do you watch sports and reality tv normally?

[@BlookbugIV]

Even knowing how much is unknowable, experimental archeology can sometimes hit powerfully on an intuitive level. The pipe expert’s improvisation and the idea they played them like bagpipes with air held in the cheeks, struck me as so authentic and true.

[@acka.]

There's a similar instrument, it's called Launeddas and it's played as you say, like a bagpipe with air held in the cheeks, and it sounds like one too. It's a very ancient instrument, and they way it is supposed to be played isn't lost to time, so there's no guesswork going on. Based on the Launeddas I think it's quite likely that the double flute is also supposed to be played like that. I don't know if these people had knowledge of other similar instruments to base their suppositions on, but whether that's the case or not, it's cool that they were able to get there on their own.

[@urphakeandgey6308]

I wish archeologists would consult professionals from other fields more. This is a good example, where the insight of someone who is familiar with similar instruments is very eye-opening. Don't get me wrong, they usually do. I just wish they did it more or made it standard procedure. If an archeologist makes a find and is wholly convinced they played an instrument a certain way, then that'll often go in the books even if an instrumentalist can confidently rebut it. Another example is the water erosion on the sphinx. Geologists almost unanimously agree it's water erosion and that's it's odd, but they'll rarely "stick their neck out" because some archeologists will just refuse to even acknowledge their expertise.

[@wombleofwimbledon5442]

I circle breathe with a didjeridu, and have often compared the experience to being the bagpipe.

[@Call-me-James]

I love this. Speaking as a Greek, and also an amateur composer, I am really impressed by Athenaeus' Paeon. The music you hear in Greek villages and in the Orthodox church reminds me of what I am hearing here. But a more important thing - something that most people don't know - is that melodies have a much more specific connection to lyrics than people are aware of. If you listen to the music and think about the lyrics, they fit together nicely. This is why I think the reconstruction of the melodies is accurate. Good job!!!

[@kitcutting]

We have the Greeks to thank for almost the whole entirety of (Western) music theory - the concepts of intervals, chords, and modes all come from them. I think it's fitting that the Epitaph of Seikilos, an ancient Greek piece, is the oldest complete piece of music we have.

[@skyj451]

I disagree, i don't like this music at all, it's ugly.

[@alexeiulinici]

@@skyj451 ok

[@josephnarvaez9507]

@@skyj451 ok

[@neovxr]

I was just a tourist, but at the bus station to the Knossos palace a very old man was sitting in the heat for hours playing a smaller version of such flute, very similar patterns and sounds.

[@crying2emoji5]

I love it when someone’s extreme passion (bordering on obsession) ends up culminating into a beautiful experience everyone can enjoy. Just because one person or a small group of people refused to let other people tell them, “it’s lost,” or, “it can’t be done.”

[@JaseekaRawr]

It's definitely a-coded 😂 (pretty sure I'm on the spectrum I can say it LOL)

[@MayYourGodGoWithYou]

There was a CD of reconstructed ancient Greek music put out a couple of decades [1979 according to the CD, I've just checked] ago now, Musique de la Grece Antique, which was reconstructed music from the ancient Greek era - mainly hymns from memory - put together from scraps, often on papyrus, found from that era. Well worth tracking down and listening to for anyone interested in music from that era. There is another featuring music from Rome and another music from countries passed through on the Silk road to China in the times of Marco Polo.

[@chaospoet]

I'm not even saying this to be funny but just honest. That last one Euripides' Orestes from 408 BC sounds like a an ancient world Power Metal song. I could easily hear that melody with bone crunching electric guitars and drums while someone like Simone Simons from Epica sang it.

[@maximilianberkowitz4086]

Turilli/Lione Rhapsody - Zero Gravity

[@genghiskhan6809]

I need to hear a metal version of this song now.

[@shipwreck9146]

@@maximilianberkowitz4086 WOW!!!! I think this shows how we're still the same species that we were thousands of years ago... Such similar melodies. Some classical music has similar structures to dubstep, and I always wonder if some classical music producers only made the music they did, because they were limited by the technology of their time. Like, imagine if the great composers of the past had today's technology. It'd be amazing what they could create.

[@n3tw0rk_n3k0]

@@maximilianberkowitz4086 the melody actually kinda fits. Awesome

[@AlexGoldhill]

Given the subject matter it would fit with Power Metal too.

[@Giannis_Sarafis]

The performance of mr. Callum Armstrong really, really sounds like Greek traditional music, especially the type of "kathistika", which are slow, lyric songs about unfulfilled love, tragic heroes and warriors for freedom. In the "modern" version, the musician will play his flute/bagpipe/lyre/oud/kanun etc, and then slowly sings the lyrics. Very touching performance...

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

The best way to reconstruct is to work back from what is unchanged today.

[@LeeAnthonyxxo]

Agree he was the only one who seemed relatively believable. Why did the rest of them sound like they were singing hymns in a church of England church on a Sunday service? It's like they tried to make kleftiko with English beef, English parnsips and English parsley...

[@melonsdad7498]

What a greta support for Greek Nazism and Golden Down

[@Giannis_Sarafis]

@@melonsdad7498 why do you say that? So, every classical music's masterpiece, based on traditional melodies, is nazistic?

[@nodspruductionss3812]

@@melonsdad7498 Keep those creeps away from greek heretege and art, how dear you insult us like that!

[@aristosbywater9605]

I hope one day I'll be able to see a play of the Iliad and Odyssey to traditional flutes and lyres with a Greek narrator

[@lewhitey2544]

You will my friend

[@wpjohn91]

It is incomplete i thought?

[@aristosbywater9605]

@@wpjohn91 Nope, the Iliad and the Odyssey are complete works. We're lucky we have them in complete form. So many other myths never made it

[@brianaschmidt910]

Your best bet is AC oddessy.

[@annwilliams6438]

That would be fantastic.

[@stoveone4031]

3:48 i could listen to this bloke talk all day, the passion with which he speaks is contagious

[@EliasEliadis]

As a Greek I want to thank you very much for what you do.

[@xybai5152]

what are the lyrics saying?

[@EliasEliadis]

Unfortunately it is in Ancient Greek and just by hearing I cannot say.

[@Carnophobe]

@@xybai5152 If you switch on the subtitles/closed captions some of it is translated. 11:31 onwards I noticed, not sure if it is earlier.

[@ΓεώργιοςΚουτσαύτης]

@@xybai5152 Also, their accent is very heavy, they kinda distort the words.

[@selvamthiagarajan8152]

As a non Greek I also want to thank you very much for bringing music from ancient world back to life.

[@b00mnator]

The Aulos performance at 8:49 brought me to tears... Just imagining that this performance could have actually taken place more than 2000 years ago. Times so different one can't imagine but the people still performing and enjoying these melodies and harmonies just like me right here on my chair. It's just human nature

[@b00mnator]

@@diatomdiatom Kinda proves my point

[@katsumiskytower8714]

transcending time and space :) you can feel it inside, can't you?

[@mr-x7689]

Let me introduce you to the wonderful book called "Motel of the mysteries, by David Macaulay). Once you read it, you would immediately have a different idea of things like this.

[@choronos]

The times were different but the people experiencing them were the same.

[@Taima]

I actually figured that was a part that was the least likely to be historically accurate and was more about sounding pleasing to modern ears since it was improv.

[@LilFrg]

I wish that improvisation never ended, that was stunningly beautiful. There’s nothing as good as old music

[@dimitristripakis7364]

Wow, as a Greek I never knew that music melodies have been actually preserved, thank you so much. The aulos player was amazing. Aulos in Greek = Αυλός ("avlos", with a v) , possibly coming from proto indo european h₂eulos meaning pipe.

[@A.staris]

@Dimitris Tripakis OK man but I'm sure once you heroically listened to it all, you then had to listen to an hour of Christos Nikolopoulos & Haroula to get the ancient κατάθλιψη out of your system :) 🇮🇱❤️🇬🇷

[@perseusarkouda]

Εξού και το αυλάκι του νερού.

[@alberteinsteinthejew]

It’s amazing that the ancient musical notes are still surviving

[@StanHowse]

Is it? Humans find certain sounds pleasant, certain sounds not, that's been true since day #1. There's only so many musical notes, and there by, only so many coherently sounding melodies one can string together, in not "any", but any pleasing combination. I mean, why do people "how-many" years later still like Bach? We basically just keep adding to our playlist, it's only as of late are we able to pass them down to the later generations.

[@XxLeCaptainxX]

@@StanHowse Yes, because in order to make authentic ancient Greek music you need the documentation of rhythm, melody, notation, etc, all of which could only be written on perishable material that's now 2000 years old.

[@MoontownMoss]

Get a room.

[@tin2009tin]

Such a noise.... Such an amazing noise... Callum Armstrong plays the sounds of the forests and the wild beasts, the canyon and the herds, the tides that wash out the rocks, the seagulls and the sparrows, the sun that turns the olives liquid a real nectar. So happy, so moved... Thank you

[@petemavus2948]

Witnessing your ecstasy makes me want to clutch my pearls, must I?

[@bulletsfordinner8307]

Makes your mind travel somewhere

[@omicroneridani7456]

Astounding. Especially Callum Armstrong's performance on the aulos: a clean cut on the very fabric of time, a distant and fascinating echo from a remote, mystical past.

[@Rousseau4469]

OΜG. As a Greek I have heard literally if not thousands at least hundrends of songs of country music played with clarinet and lute and this music here is as close as it can be with the country music played in today's times. A bit shocked that the main form is kept unchanged for thousands of years.

[@lo3769]

I'm guessing they used what traditional greek music sounds like today, as inspiration to fill the unknown parts, so it's probably not a coincidence

[@allancerf9038]

What was hip in 2400 B.C. apparently has stood the test of time. When I lived in Athens for a brief time, I indeed heard (and have on many CDs I purchased in Plaka) music that sounds very similar.

[@bigshrekhorner]

Yep. In fact, quite a big chunk of what is stereotypically considered arabic or turkish music was greatly influenced by ancient greek and byzantine music. So, the traditional music we have here in Greece isn't Ottoman in origin, rather, it's the direct evolution of music of the past!

[@GEOFERET]

Amazing how you achieved to do so much with so little to work with. As a Greek, I was moved, and couldn't help wondering what one of our ancestors would think listening to your recreation. Thank you so much.

[@julesl6910]

Hendrix on the two pipes is killing it truly what a legend. Everyone else was okay

[@cainen6355]

The music produced by the Aulos is extraordinarily beautiful. Something about this whole style and rythm also by the choir is touching me in a way that I haven't really experienced yet.

[@steviechampagne]

It speaks to our DNA. Long lost memories of lives once lived.

[@mcfarofinha134]

double kazoo, but sounds good

[@patriciapalmer1377]

Passionate and arresting music and lyrics. Listening to a piece that is almost 3000 years old, I spontaneously began imagining the audience of the time, who they were, what they were wearing, and wondering what relationship they were having with it. It is such earthy music that I could almost smell the smells and hear the rustlings and movement of people and all the ambient sound in a theatrical setting. I was very surprised at my active imagination during it and my emotional and cerebral reaction.

[@maryfrancis111]

Fascinating!

[@Man_fay_the_Bru]

American by any chance?

[@joshl.8950]

I think this may be why some of us are more interested in history than maybe some others. Some of us immediately transport back and kind of enter a meditation about what it must have been like. I for one seek that state and it is pleasing to my mind. :)

[@SergeantSquared]

How do thus whilst reading to see what those people were hearing sung about. By the lyrics I perceived this as a religious propaganda song, and envisioned little children frightened and awed by the spectacle while parents chuckle and pay their religious rites.

[@michaelbrownlee9497]

I get that feeling when im in old places, or holding old coins, sometimes when im out and about ill get a deja vous moment.

[@louschwick7301]

Such a foreign musical concept, the drone, and yet it was everywhere for thousands of years

[@mojeo522]

I love how the captions for the music is "ancient greek music"

[@driamhane]

XD ikr..

[@vasiliskaranos605]

I like how they say it is when it’s really not

[@randomvintagefilm273]

What do you know about it

[@KenneyCmusic]

What would you use instead to describe ancient music from Greece..?

[@Prirrie]

@@vasiliskaranos605 Why not?

[@WaterNai]

I would like to see the chorus and aulos performance again after they have had more time to rehearse. It would have been better had the chorus had the music memorized so that they could watch the conductor. Not only would they have been more synchronized, they could have played more with the mood and dynamics as the conductor was trying to have them do. Overall, this program was fascinating. I very much enjoyed the exploration into reconstructing ancient music. Callum Armstrong’s aulos performance was beautiful and moving.

[@pikaapikachuuu]

I agree, the video was fascinating but I wish they were a little more in sync and in line with the conductor. I feel like I’d have a much clearer idea of how it sounded

[@Xomby]

@@pikaapikachuuu and it felt rushed. in almost all folk music there's time for breath. time for the words to breath... after all, even your piper needs to breathe. there's no time for the words to express themselves, little time other than the shouting bits for punctuation or meaning to sink in. just felt off. they did fine. but the arranger, I think, needs to dial it all down a bit. felt like they were singing in all caps.

[@annakareninacamara6580]

@@Xomby i felt that too, but assumed it was due to the context (rushing from the Furys, you know).

[@moviemad56]

I agree, but I would also like to hear it performed by Greek singers with a profound immersion in the language. Still, kudos to them for attempting something so extraordinarily difficult!

[@cmcapps1963]

My wife and I used to listen to this in Athens and dance on the Agora under the stars. She died in the plague of Pericles. I still think of her whenever I hear this song...

[@NoBudgetBits-]

This is fantastic! How lucky we are that there is such amazing musical scholarship. A chance to experience what has for so long been lost until now. There is such humanity and visceral connection in hearing this beautiful, dramatic and almost familiar music. Wow!

[@ryanfreer77]

I’ve been fascinated by the Aulos since I first learned about it in the early 90’s. According to the sources I read at the time, it wasn’t understood-at least not well-how both pipes worked together. It’s incredible to see just how much more has been uncovered in just under 30 years. I can’t help but think that despite all this, there were many techniques born from generations of mastery, forever lost in time. All sorts of little tricks and such. Not that the music itself was lost, as professor Armand D’Angour points out. Still...I’m interested in what eventually will be discovered/rediscovered yet, and how this instrument can be played to get the most out of it. I applaud what this group, and many like them are doing.

[@GEORGEGEORGEIII]

What we recognize as the classic “Greek plays” were really Operas in everything but name. All spoken words in the “plays” of Sophocles, Aristophanes, Euripides, etc. were all sung, with live music playing.

[@Iktius]

Indeed

[@nerijusstasiulis5484]

Opera was an attempt to revive ancient Greek theatre, basically...

[@skyworm8006]

​@@nerijusstasiulis5484 An attempt but based on next to nothing. It's just enthusiasm for classical revival at the time, which was never accurate. In reality, opera was drawn from existing tradition, which never excluded singing and music, that is obvious because things tend to be written in verse. The current day opera-informed singing in this video would not be anything like Ancient Greek singing either. Characterising poetry as sung and put to instruments does not just apply to Ancient Greece but basically everywhere in the world for most of history until recently, because poetry is musical or at least rhythmic in nature, that is what originally defines it. Nowadays there exists a lot of mostly written poetry with minimal attention to performance, and some of it completely leaves out all rhythm except what you could also find in prose. That wasn't the case in the past. Of course, we think there's more to poetry than rhythm, but the musical context of poetry is further removed with it.

[@SG-nd9bf]

The guy at 3:46 seems so genuinely excited and fascinated by the whole project. You can tell he loves what he does!

[@HerrW0lf]

I love the enthusiasm of the piper, you can really tell that he absolutely loves what he's doing.

[@loszhor]

8:17 I was surprised how relaxing those high pitched pipes can be from when I first heard them play earlier in this video!

[@essenestephanie]

Agree.. half way through vid and I see it explained with semi tones pitches on separate flutes for dissonance to be in sync... in a tune. Modern ear panic.

[@hammersandcaffeinepills]

The buzzy, loud timbre of the large bore pipes is probably to help aid in protection and volume when accompanying large groups outdoors.

[@dixgun]

Interesting to learn the process that goes into the beautiful rhythms, sounds and melodies. That rhythm seems to be the rhythm of the ancient world and still very much in use today from India to Portugal.

[@dayradebaugh]

Fascinating to hear how music would have sounded 2500 yrs. ago. Wonderful!

[@dreamancyfilms]

The guy playing both pipes without stop. THE TECHNIQUE IS SICK!!! and I play the biggest bigpipes out there.

[@PPYTAO]

I loved hearing the piper explain the pipes, the whole thing was great!

[@siegfriedkleinmartins7816]

The fact that I did not looked for this - but I loved it - is the proof the algorithm is becoming concious. I' m a music teacher and more than 20 years ago did a research about the hidraulis, the water organ created by Ctesibios, circa third century BC. The research was for a column on a choir newspaper (this year the ACC choir completes 80 years of existence). Too many coincidences..... Thanks. Greetings from Brasil.

[@Inkubun]

I can tell where the passion is in the recreation of this kind of music. It really does almost feel like I'm in ancient Greece. This is wonderful.

[@jayneneewing2369]

Thank you for making this available to the masses. I am grateful for the study and application of historic knowledge with current archeology. Both fascinating, and wondrous.

[@DrunkenerWitcher]

Thinking of all pieces of ancient art gone forever I just want to cry

[@rodrigocuri6206]

awesome work, greetings from brasil

[@AnyoneCanSee]

I loved this, thank you. I particularly found what Callum Armstrong was playing to be absolutely beautiful and evocative. He brilliantly shows how the two pipes were used together to create a full musical experience. Perhaps, this way of playing developed so one person could give a performance and make a little money on his own or so one musician could accompany a bard singing at a performance.

[@willymakeit5172]

My fifth and sixth grade teacher Miss Parrot gave me such a love of Ancient Greek history. Thank you for bringing the music/poetry to life.

[@hosephanerothe1440]

Wasnt sure how this comment was going to go. Pleased to see it was wholesome

[@willymakeit5172]

@@hosephanerothe1440 took me a minute. I don’t know is Miss Parrot was familiar with such things.

[@booboobunny5655]

This is so cool, you're literally bringing history to life! 👏👏

[@kristentejera7160]

Wow!!!!!! Literally so amazing!!!!

[@louprentz8554]

How fantastic are their efforts and accomplishments

[@stefanosalmpanis5090]

Brilliant, please consider to study the folk music, especially the Pyrrichion and similar tunes along with the Byzantine music. Both heavily influenced by oriental music but so was the ancient greek music influenced by middle eastern and egyptian music. Be aware that ancient Greek music had indeed rythm and harmony but melody was also very important. Thank you for an amazing feat!

[@rrocketman]

Byzantine music is beautiful 👍

[@avalondreaming1433]

I was thinking that there are probably similar songs still being played today by folk musicians and you can find clues to what the ancient music sounded like.

[@silvermorona]

Why is everyone obsessed with talking about what influenced ancient Greece/Rome but not what influenced byzantine, ancient Egyptian or Middle Eastern cultures.

[@rrocketman]

@@silvermorona I thought lots of people were interested in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Byzantium was a continuation of Greece and Rome so it's more relevant to this video 👍

[@pablogats4627]

@@silvermorona i guess its hard to believe a group of people could accomplish and achieve as much as the greeks/romans did

[@andrewjackdaw2511]

The Fantastic thing about their concert in the Museum is those statues around them have been witnessed original Ancient Greek music.

[@gs7256]

After these comments I really appreciate your effort for reconstruction of Greek ancient music.. Magic..travel in time…

[@geokon3]

As a Greek I love that you try to recreate our ancient music, thought I can't help feeling that the Erasmian pronunciation sounds foreign and wrong, even incomprehensible

[@kathleenc8810]

Callum plays mind blowing sounds! It brought tears to my eyes!

[@barefootarts737]

I wonder how much air is required for those reeds. He makes the breathing look so easy. Incredible talent.

[@kelleygreengrass]

This is awesome! I feel connected to the ancients. This is really really cool

[@jamestarrou3685]

@3:50 this man speaks about his instrument with such passion and amusement.

[@JonJenkins1982]

That piper dude at 03:46... I wish I loved anything as much as that guy loves ancient Greek wind instruments.

[@williamdiffin28]

Bravo! Superb work. This music must have been absolutely spellbinding in its time, and the contemporary work on it begins to calculate its significance in the development of music. Of course, this opens up a whole new genre of 'classical' music, not merely of reconstructions of ancient music, but of entirely new compositions based on Ancient Greek epic poetry in an authentically ancient style. And then there are the parallels with the development of Ancient Indian and other World music to be drawn, and the natural principles common to each. You can keep Classicists, musicologists, music archaeologists, research students and musicians in jobs for generations with this work. Bravo!

[@MrVara411]

Loved the aulos player. He's really into it and explained it well. Fascinating video overall!

[@marcaskew61]

An impressive cumulative result of scholarly classical research, musicology and musicianship.

[@geogeo1261]

The ancient sound has been preserved by the orthodox church. The ancient notes have a 2 HZ slight different tuning from today. (or today tuning is slight different since then), but actually this change took place the last century. The result is excellent. I am waiting to hear music from the organ which discovered in excavation a few decays ago. It has also mechanism blowing continuously pressurized air within its copper pipes.

[@petercane6376]

Oh my God you lot are so Geeky. Never seen or heard anything like it. I was so impressed with the professor. Writing out music by hand from those priceless books. I write music by hand as well and get a lot if satisfaction from it. My father was a bandmaster and did the same for band scores. It was called dryknacking. It is a big thing for me that all this comes from Oxford ( my home town from the sixties) . So your turn to call me a Geek now....I have ordered a copy of an ancient Greek 7 string Lyre from Lutherios in Greec. Also a complete lyre method written by Dr Nikolaus Xanthousis. We are nutters together but I just love what you do. Thanks.

[@musicloverlondon6070]

This was absolutely fascinating! The pipers were particularly impressive, especially Calum Armstrong. That breathing technique must take a lot of work to master successfully and produce that tone, duration and smoothness of sound. Watching the different performers, I was somewhat reminded of Christian monastic singing (Kithara section) and even the Irish uilleann pipes during moments of the aulos section. Loved it; thanks for uploading!

[@danielgillespie9684]

Thank you for this glimpse through the veil of time. I got goose bumps. I think we need to be reminded that people who came before us were just as smart and just as (maybe more) emotionally intelligent as we “modern” folks.

[@steviechampagne]

far more intelligent and wise in the true workings of reality and the human conditions

[@rorus9530]

They've given us a small window into ancient history. How wonderful.

[@joanjetson55]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@ziamarie]

I just got done watching a video about what music would've sounded like in Ancient Rome and thought it was awesome but this takes the cake. Amazing work by all!

[@erichstocker8358]

A super interesting video. I really appreciated the work involved with this and the expertise of all the people involved. I'm especially impressed with the instrument players who had to try to resurrect with very little information the way the instruments were played. But I was wondering how this stress based approach to Greek singing meshes with the fact that Ancient Greek was essentially a pitch based language. I hear in the performance primarily a stress based Greek. It would be interesting to know how the two actually meshed. Really interesting work

[@bythegods5683]

It's pretty common for singing and spoken language to be different. In the end it's all just speculation, but I would find it strange for a musician to not use "stress" if the instrument can do it. Then why would a singer not imitate it also. Music is all about experimentation and change. They were afterall the trend setters of their time.

[@olbiomoiros]

Wow! Great work! Mad respect to those playing the pipe.

[@maryfrancis111]

Fasinating! Totally new to me. Thank you, Oliver, for introducing me to this music.

[@rue6914]

I'm 18, and going to school for a double major in opera and chemistry. Why bother learning about archaic music when I want to be a doctor anyways? This, THIS is why. Going to places that are tens of times older than I, and reveling in an art form that is bigger than I will ever be... it's amazing. It makes me feel at home and gives me a nostalgia for a world I never knew (as the motorcycle diaries aptly put it). To reconstruct something so human, that it perished when everyone else did, is truly something magical: thank you for this video. God bless your troupe.

[@guyaneseadventure]

My curiosity brought me here and my love for learning just about anything!🙂

[@z0h33y]

This was really cool to watch. The final performance with the double flute sounded a lot like a kazoo. Callum Armstrong's performance was beautiful though!

[@BlitzedPort]

Kind of insane thinking about how the devotion of thousands of humans over the span of centuries kept this music alive. And how the music has changed over time, like it's been aging this whole time. This is honestly really beautiful and a testament to the love that humans have always and will always have for music.

[@oliversmith9200]

I've played at once soprano and alto recorders for decades, inspired by aulos playing shown in ancient art. What a surprise now to hear the reedy low tones produced by the authentic instrument, and to learn of it's particular nature. It sounds much like the crumhorn. Not to mention: This is Greek music!

[@vasiliskaranos605]

This is not authentic and not Greek

[@WilliamRing45]

@@vasiliskaranos605 how do you know? An assertion without explanation/evidence is worthless.

[@vasiliskaranos605]

@@WilliamRing45 I am Greek and a musician. I know western, Byzantine, and Greek music theory and I play/sing all three types on multiple instruments and vocally. Let me tell you this: 1) their pronunciation is atrocious. No Greek speaker would be able to realize that they’re speaking Greek, and most know what Ancient Greek sounds like because it’s the liturgical language of the Greek Orthodox Church which 90% of Greek are part of. And it is historically inaccurate. 2) Theoretically speaking, this music ignores the ancient Pythagorean music theory which was the basis of all music in the area. It is preformed by notes and melodies, ignoring the modes in which the music was written. It is also sung with classical western vocal technique. The result is horrible. The way they would sing is closer to the way that Byzantine chant (a tradition that is the direct successor of Ancient Greek music that is still in use today with an uninterrupted history of preservation and passing down by generation) is sung. They are also signing it with western intervals, while Ancient Greek music and even Greek music from 100 years ago is microtonal, with specific notes that are in between the 12 notes of the western scale. Changing those notes changes the whole listening experience and image that the music puts in your head. The same applies for Byzantine music. There are countless performances of Byzantine music which are sung with the same mistakes that this is sung. It’s just not the same music as the one that is preformed by the authentic practitioners that have learned it from teachers which have learned from their teachers going back generations, rather than those non Greeks who study it scholarly and without seeking any information or source from Greeks and real Byzantine chanters. 3) the aulos (pipes) is played with harmonies or different Melodies on each pipe, while originally the melody was played on one pipe and the other pipe played a drone note which stayed the same to provide a base for the other pipe. This practice still exists in Byzantine music as the ison, which is someone who sings one note continually as the base for the actual melody. It’s not harmony or polyphony. Both those things were introduced in Western Europe in the Catholic Church in the late Middle Ages. So the way that this aulos player plays the instrument is unauthentic. Long story short, this is classical western music adapted to what non Greek scholars think ancient music sounded like plus wrong pronunciation. The end result is not good and it’s misleading and westernized.

[@WilliamRing45]

@@vasiliskaranos605 request amply fulfilled! I think they need you at Oxford.

[@siegfriedkleinmartins7816]

@@vasiliskaranos605 I must agree with you Mr Karanos. I' m a music teacher and the harmonies they used sound more west cristian, middle age, than from old Greece. But is undeniable the exquisite tecnique of the aulos player and the beauty of the piece. Greetings from Brasil.

[@matze2738]

KZbin recommending this randomly after 4 years - i love it

[@oscaroscar7904]

Ahh takes me back miss those days, i feel old now

[@Cnichal]

My heart started pounding when the double piper was playing 😍😍😍 The rhythm feels familiar like I’ve heard it a thousand times. Like it was my whole heart - crazy

[@silviaargent551]

Music soothes the soul …Greeks knew this all these years ago!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼Love this👍🏼

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

From what I’ve heard, the continuous drone had as much significance to classical and medieval musical traditions as the beat does in modern music. Something about trying to capture all that music was or could be in a single perfect note.

[@eccer]

Hell yes :) Have you listened to Swans? Go and listen to "The Glowing Man" song and "The Knot" song. They really embody just what you said there...of course many other artists do this. But swans reaaaally hit that perfect note on those songs and hammers you with them

[@gooman989898]

Callum is absolutely DOMINATING the bi-flute. Would be great to see him loosen up and go on tour with this insane Greek posse

[@robertnunn1558]

Love the passion of these folks.

[@folgore1]

Impressive. I've always wondered what ancient music sounded like and I had assumed it was lost to time. I assumed the ancients had not developed anything comparable to modern sheet music. I'm impressed that scholars with a keen eye like Professor D'Angour have been able to rediscover ancient music through surviving texts. I wonder if there's anything similar for the Romans?

[@Enshadowed]

callum's performance on the louvre aulos was truly evocative of the spirit of those ancient times. *8:56 & 9:40

[@tomashampl5899]

I was touched by the rich and wonderful sound and i sad to myself that only the vicinity of gods can provide such experience. I believe that this is the music that ancient people listened, loved and considered it the divine.

[@teodoraroosevelt]

It almost teared me up and it's an improvisation. He is so talented.

[@robertjones7605]

Impressed. I have not studied Greek literature except what you were taught in a general World Literature course. Still, to hear this interpretation was awe inspiring. Thanks to all who have worked to bring the glimpse of ancient Greece to us today. Well done!

[@tonivoul1971]

Greek literature it was at its hightest in 1800s and 1950s or earlier

[@yeetman4953]

@@tonivoul1971 really?

[@tonivoul1971]

@@yeetman4953 yea nikos kazanjakis being one of the best greek writers of the 20th century and more like him existed

[@therealzilch]

I built the kithara that Stefan Hagel plays here. It's nice to see it in an ensemble.

[@nicolasmimouni1582]

2000 years without hearing this music is not enough

[@Plantdaddygardenman]

I think they got the tempo wrong, the people are singing too fast and the tempo is off

[@CommonSenz]

@@Plantdaddygardenman not quite your tempo, is it?

[@jdkostykmusic3847]

😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@leeleeturn]

Fascinating!! Its wonderful and amazing to get this glimpse into a different culture, an ANCIENT culture!

[@michaelfaulkner6607]

Wonderful! Loved the sound of the Louvre aulos. The singing of the kithara player sounded as if it could be a precursor to Gregorian chant.

[@_Jitterbug]

I love how passionate the piper is! Wish i had the same dedication for something like that!

[@Orpheus_hymns]

LOVE FROM GREECE🙏❣ THANK YOU EXCELLENT WORK

[@norbitcleaverhook5040]

Sounds awesome. Can you explain how we know that they used the same scale measures as us. Like 3rds and 5ths? Is it became we have the flutes and can then check the notes? I thoroughly enjoyed this as I just did a small course on the Odyssey and Homeric texts and this is so cool to imagine how they sounded and how creative and artistic they were. Its a trip back in time.

[@jeffjefferson2853]

Im glad people are preserving and recreating historical music. That said, I never could have imagined I'd hear an instrument more grating to my eardrums than the kazoo. The vocals are awesome though.

[@EzEcHiEl1121]

Where can we watch the whole concert and any other reconstructed music from that era to suggest? Only little bits of it is a tease, this is really good

[@Babyboffa2018]

Very interesting indeed! Thank you.,

[@shamsheed1726]

Over 2000 years and this still slaps

[@noricoco4695]

9:10 this guy is incredible

[@FrederikWLC]

yyep

[@Megalesios]

It sounds a lot more medieval than I would have expected