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Debussy’s Syrinx: analysis, history and interpretation

Debussy syrinx analysis, interpretation and history

Debussy’s Syrinx: introduction The purpose of this guide is to help you find a clear and detailed answer to the most crucial questions related to the history of Debussy’s Syrinx, its analysis and interpretation. To start out, I’m going to shed some light on the history of the composition; then, I’ll tell you the story […]

Bragi: history and worship of the Norse god of music

norse_god_of_music_bragi

Musical skills Bragi was the god of music for the Vikings and, at the same time, the god of poetry. He was described as a wise being, particularly creative with words regardless of whether they were sung or recited. This association between music and poetry seems to derive from the idea that a true artist, […]

Mousike in ancient Greece: etymology and meaning

mousike, the muses in ancient greece

Definition and etymology of mousike In ancient Greece mousike was a multifaceted word whose origin is not so easy to reconstruct. As far as we know, the first literary references to it can be found in Pindar (Ol. 1,15) and Epicharmus (CGF 91). The word mousike corresponds to the nominative feminine singular of the adjective […]

Gods of music in ancient Egypt: Ihy, Hathor and Bes

hathor and Ihy facing a papyrus

Who is the Egyptian god of music? Before rushing to answer, we’d better re-frame the question a little bit and ask: what gods were related to music in ancient Egypt? In fact, though Ihy is commonly regarded as the Egyptian god of music, there are two other deities that have been connected with the world […]

Amphion’s lyre: myth and musical iconography

amphion uses his lyre to build the walls of Thebes

What was the special power of Amphion’s lyre? What happened when he played this musical instrument to accompany a song? How has Amphion been depicted by European artists throughout the centuries? In this article I’m going to answer these three questions by walking you through the musical iconography related to the myth of Amphion. Let’s […]