Magic of the Kithara: Hymn to Himeros
56New music, for the recreated ancient Greek kithara - the large wooden lyre, performed by the professional musicians of classical antiquity. This piece will probably be included as a track on my new album in progress, currently under construction on Bandcamp & due for release in 2025:
https://michaellevy.bandcamp.com/album/magic-of-the-kithara
Himeros was the ancient Greek god who represented desire and unrequited love. Himeros was identified by his carrying a taenia, a colourful headband worn by athletes. He is described in Hesiod's Theogony as being born alongside Aphrodite.
In this piece, I attempt to evoke a feeling of unrequited love and yearning desire, by the use of dissonance and the intensely introspective ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode - the conjunction of two tetrachords white form the equivalent intervals as A-A on the white notes of the piano, but heard here, in the intense focus of just intonation.
As no surviving actual ancient Greek kithara has yet been discovered, the recreation was based upon the many illustrations seen on countless ancient Greek vases, sculptures and artwork.
The kithara reached its pinnacle during the 5th century BCE. There is plenty of controversy about the construction - the curious spring-like structures clearly illustrated below the crossbeam to which the strings are attached, could either be interpreted as structural (providing equal & opposite reaction to the downward pull of the strings on the slender arms of the kithara, as most academic scholars believe), or maybe even evidence of some form of mechanical vibrato/portamento mechanism!
My ancient Greek kithara was recreated in modern Greece, by Luthieros:
https://luthieros.com
For more detailed information on the kithara of classical antiquity, please also see my own website blog:
https://ancientlyre.com/the-kithara-of-ancient-greece-rome
Many thanks for watching!
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