Sequenza 54N

Hildegard von Bingen: O Tu Illustrata

43 Ghiribizzi, MS 43 Nº 18 Andantino

Asteriai (Nymphs of the Stars) - a spontaneous improvisation for solo chelys (tortoise shell form) replica ancient Greek lyre, in the profound and timeless ancient Greek Phrygian mode, (equivalent intervals as D-D on the white notes of the piano and misnamed the 'Dorian' Mode in the Middle Ages) in the just intonation of antiquity.

This piece forms track 5 of my album, "The Lyre of Hermes":

http://michaellevy.bandcamp.com/album/the-lyre-of-hermes

This album will also be available from iTunes & Amazon before April 2015!

Buy on iTunes

Asteriai (Nymphs Of The Stars)

guitar: Seikilos Duet (Nektarios Garatzotis & George Bar)
composed by Nektarios Garatzotis

Epitaph of Seikilos - part 3 (Ancient Greek Music)

A rough draft of what hopefully will be the first track to my next planned album,  "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity" - which will feature the wonderfully recreated Kithara of the Golden Age of Classical Greece - hand-made in modern Greece by Lutherios:

http://en.luthieros.com/

Since late 2014, I have been collaborating with Lutherios in their inspirational "Lyre 2.0 Project" - dedicated to reintroducing the wonderful lyres of antiquity back into the modern world, to make these beautiful instruments accessible to each and every modern musician:

http://etc.ancient.eu/2016/01/11/luthieros-lyre-2-0-project/

This recording hopefully demonstrate why the kithara was so venerated in antiquity, as the instrument of the professional musician - perfect for both accompanying the human voice and for as an incredibly versatile solo instrument.

In particular, I attempt to demonstrate the wonderfully reconstructed 2500 year old vibrato mechanism, for which there is an almost overwhelming body of visual evidence to support this theory. All original illustrations of the ancient Greek kithara clearly show what appear to be curved springs beneath the yoke to which the strings are attached, with the top of the arms carved almost wafer thin, which almost certainly was to allow for lateral movement of the yoke and the attached strings, creating an eerie vocal vibrato effect - some 2500 years before the invention of the 'whammy bar' of the Fender electric guitar! 

The vibrato mechanism can be operated either by light lateral movement of either of the vertical wooden levers at each end of the yoke, or a more subtle vibrato can be achieved by pushing the discs either side of the yoke.

For full details on all my research into the kithara of ancient Greece and Rome, please also see my blog:

http://ancientlyre.com/the_kithara_of_ancient_greece__rome/
Many thanks for listening!

http://www.ancientlyre.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beautifullyre
https://twitter.com/AncientLyre
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MichaelLevy
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/michael-levy/id4324920

The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity

The very first rough draft of what hopefully will be the second track to my next planned album,  "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity" - which will feature the wonderfully recreated Kithara of the Golden Age of Classical Greece - hand-made in modern Greece by Lutherios:

http://en.luthieros.com/

Since late 2014, I have been collaborating with Lutherios in their inspirational "Lyre 2.0 Project" - dedicated to reintroducing the wonderful lyres of antiquity back into the modern world, to make these beautiful instruments accessible to each and every modern musician:

http://etc.ancient.eu/2016/01/11/luthieros-lyre-2-0-project/

This recording hopefully demonstrate why the kithara was so venerated in antiquity, as the instrument of the professional musician - perfect for both accompanying the human voice and for as an incredibly versatile solo instrument.

In particular, I attempt to demonstrate the wonderfully reconstructed 2500 year old vibrato mechanism, for which there is an almost overwhelming body of visual evidence to support this theory. All original illustrations of the ancient Greek kithara clearly show what appear to be curved springs beneath the yoke to which the strings are attached, with the top of the arms carved almost wafer thin, which almost certainly was to allow for lateral movement of the yoke and the attached strings, creating an eerie vocal vibrato effect - some 2500 years before the invention of the 'whammy bar' of the Fender electric guitar! 

The vibrato mechanism can be operated either by light lateral movement of either of the vertical wooden levers at each end of the yoke, or a more subtle vibrato can be achieved by pushing the discs either side of the yoke.

For full details on all my research into the kithara of ancient Greece and Rome, please also see my blog:

http://ancientlyre.com/the_kithara_of_ancient_greece__rome

In the final mastering, my 'bargain basement' reverb heard here in my own rough DIY mastering, will be replaced by stunningly evocative reverbs created from samples of the actual reverb from Canterbury Cathedral and Belgium Monasteries...watch this space!!!

Many thanks for listening!

http://www.ancientlyre.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beautifullyre
https://twitter.com/AncientLyre
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MichaelLevy
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/michael-levy/id4324920

The Ancient Greek Kithara

The very first rough draft of what hopefully will be the 7th and final track to my next planned album,  "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity" - which will feature the wonderfully recreated Kithara of the Golden Age of Classical Greece - hand-made in modern Greece by Lutherios:

http://en.luthieros.com/

Since late 2014, I have been collaborating with Lutherios in their inspirational "Lyre 2.0 Project" - dedicated to reintroducing the wonderful lyres of antiquity back into the modern world, to make these beautiful instruments accessible to each and every modern musician:

http://etc.ancient.eu/2016/01/11/luthieros-lyre-2-0-project/

This recording hopefully demonstrate why the kithara was so venerated in antiquity, as the instrument of the professional musician - perfect for both accompanying the human voice and for as an incredibly versatile solo instrument.

In particular, I attempt to demonstrate the wonderfully reconstructed 2500 year old vibrato mechanism, for which there is an almost overwhelming body of visual evidence to support this theory. All original illustrations of the ancient Greek kithara clearly show what appear to be curved springs beneath the yoke to which the strings are attached, with the top of the arms carved almost wafer thin, which almost certainly was to allow for lateral movement of the yoke and the attached strings, creating an eerie vocal vibrato effect - some 2500 years before the invention of the 'whammy bar' of the Fender electric guitar! 

The vibrato mechanism can be operated either by light lateral movement of either of the vertical wooden levers at each end of the yoke, or a more subtle vibrato can be achieved by pushing the discs either side of the yoke.

This piece is in Plato's favourite musical mode - the intensely introspective sounding ancient Greek Dorian Mode (misnamed the 'Phrygian' mode in the mixed up Middle Ages), which Plato considered to be the most 'manly' of all the musical modes. 

My kithara is also tuned in lovely pure sounding just intonation, with A tuned at 432 Hz - although I do not believe in all the 'New Age' nonsense clogging the Net about 432 Hz, the subtly lower pitch does enhance the overall richness of the timbre of my gut strings in the lower registers.

Here is my blog on the whole 432 Hz thing:

http://ancientlyre.com/blogs/is_432_hz_new_age_schmertz/

For full details on all my research into the kithara of ancient Greece and Rome, please also see my blog:

http://ancientlyre.com/the_kithara_of_ancient_greece__rome

In the final mastering, my 'bargain basement' reverb heard here in my own rough DIY mastering, will be replaced by stunningly evocative reverbs created from samples of the actual reverb from Canterbury Cathedral and Belgium Monasteries...watch this space!!!

Many thanks for listening!

http://www.ancientlyre.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beautifullyre
https://twitter.com/AncientLyre
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MichaelLevy
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/michael-levy/id4324920

Kithara of the Golden Age of Classical Greece

Improvisation for Piano Day 2016 by Michael Ford. #PianoDay
If you like my music, please "like" my Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Michael-Ford-Piano-221557034537760/

Rainy Daydream

The factory of water drops and plastic legs

for Piano Day 

                          dedicated to Alice

Until The Rivers Run Dry

Michael Levy is a UK-based composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, whose musical mission is to create an entirely new musical genre, which could best be described as a 'New Ancestral Music' - dedicated to creating new music for the recreated ancient lyre, featuring an exotic palette of ancient musical modes and intonations not heard for almost 2000 years.

Michael has collaborated with the Grammy award winning Canadian composer, Rufus Wainwright - Rufus musically incorporated one of Michael's "Hymn to Zeus"  in two scenes of his second opera, "Hadrian" - which premiered in Toronto on 13th October 2018.

In 2022, Michael collaborated with the iconic American artist, Jeff Koons – his music for recreated ancient Greek kithara is currently the main soundscape of Koon’s animatronic sculpture, “Apollo Kithara” (2020-2022) on view at DESTE’s Project Space on the Greek island of Hydra.

Kithara of the Golden Age of Classical Greece

Michael Levy Lyre Music

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