Great work Michael, this new piece sounds really inspired and different... and not only because of the sound effects. The singing works well too, can't wait to hear more!

This sounds beautiful, but you have gotta hear this: https://soundcloud.com/user-102831922/the-crevace-harp-on-the-piano-dmac61744

Happ new year from Russia. Why no more tracks last years? : (

"Spirit of the Kithara" - track 1 from my album, "The Ancient Greek Modes". The concept of this album, is to recreate the both the sounds of the musical modes once used in Ancient Greece (as described in the writings of Plato & Aristotle) & to restore the lost sounds of the ancient Greek Kithara - the large wooden lyre once favoured by the professional musicians of Ancient Greece...

THE ANCIENT GREEK MODES

The names of musical modes in use today, (e.g. Dorian, Mixolydian etc) although having the same names as the original Greek musical modes, were actually misnamed during the Middle Ages! Apparently, the Greeks counted intervals from top to bottom.  When medieval ecclesiastical scholars tried to interpret the ancient texts, they counted from bottom to top, jumbling the information. The  misnamed medieval modes are only distinguished by the ancient Greek modes of the same name, by being labelled “Church Modes”. It was due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, that medieval modes were given the wrong Greek names!

According to an article on Greece in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the original ancient Greek names for species of the octave included the following (on white keys):

B-B: Mixolydian
E-E: Dorian
A-A: Hypodorian
D-D: Phrygian
G-G: Hypophrygian
C-C: Lydian
F-F: Hypolydian

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

THE REPERTOIRE

The seven original compositions arranged for replica lyre which form the repertoire of this album, are each written in one of the seven Ancient Greek Modes.
 
The lyre-playing techniques heard in this album, are authentically based on lyre-playing styles which have remarkably survived from Antiquity & which still can be heard today in the amazing lyres still played throughout the continent of Africa, where unlike the rest of the Western world, a precious remnant of the cross-cultural influences from the around ancient world have miraculously survived. 

THE LYRE PLAYING TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS ALBUM

Some of these lyre-playing techniques include the “block & strum” method, still practiced today by the Krar Lyre players of Eritrea in East Africa – this technique allows the player to strum rhythm & basic chords on the lyre, similar to an acoustic guitar. This technique entails blocking strings with the left hand which are not required and leaving open only the strings which form the required intervals, which then can be strummed with a plectrum in the left hand. 

Ancient illustrations of Kithara players seem to infer that this technique was also prominent in Ancient Greece – many illustrations clearly depict the left of the lyre player blocking/dampening the strings with the left hand whilst strumming the open strings with a plectrum in their right hand.

I also demonstrate all the possible styles available on the Kithara. These include the use of tremolo (based on the style of Egyptian Simsimiyya Lyre Players still heard today), alternating between harp-like finger plucked tones played with the left hand, and guitar-like plectrum-plucked tones with the right hand, using basic finger-plucked intervals/chords with the left hand to form a basic harmonic background for the melodic line being played with the plectrum in the right hand (the surviving fragments of Ancient Greek music clearly imply a basic harmonic tonality to these ancient melodies (as opposed to simple folk melodies which can simply be accompanied by a drone).

To hear my arrangements for solo lyre, of some of these actual surviving melodies from Ancient Greece, please listen to my other albums, “A Well Tuned Lyre - The Just Intonation of Antiquity” & “The Ancient Greek Lyre”.

THE 7 TRACKS

1) “Spirit of the Kithara”  (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Dorian Mode)

2) “Dancers of Dionysus”  (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode)

3) “Hymn To Poseidon” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypodorian Mode)

4) “Procession of the Olympians” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Lydian Mode)

5) “The Sanctuary of Apollo” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Hypophrygian Mode)

6) “The Oracles of Delphi” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Mixolydian Mode)

 7) “Glory of the Parthenon” (Composition For Lyre in the Ancient Greek Phrygian Mode)

For full details, icluding a free PDF booklet of the album notes, please see:

http://ancientlyre.com/albums_for_solo_lyre/the_ancient_greek_modes/

Spirit of the Kithara (Composition for Solo Lyre in the Ancient Greek Dorian Mode)

Pan's Labyrinth - Lullaby (Music Box)

The first track was written by a guy called Mesomedes (late 1st Century. AD) the track is called "Hymn to the Sun"

Track 2, Mesomedes, (late 1st Century. AD) "Invocation of Calliope and Apollo"

Track 3, Mesomedes, (late 1st Century. AD) "Hymn to Nemesis"

Track 4, Limenius,  (127 BC)          "Paean and processional"   (Limenius is one of the two earliest known composers in recorded history for a surviving piece of music)


Ancient Greek Music

Vampiric Dark Violin Music - Dark Waltz - Beautiful & Dark

Songs by Erutan for the Elf-Bard Katherine

Transylvanian Lullaby

 "Odysseus and the Sirens" - a clip of track 1 from my new album, in progress, "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity"...

Regarding the story of Odysseus and the Sirens in Homer’s “Odyssey”, quoting from Wikipedia:

“In Greek mythology, the Sirens (Greek singular: Σειρήν Seirēn;Greek plural: Σειρῆνες Seirēnes) were dangerous yet beautiful creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island…Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sang to him, and so, on the advice of Circe, he had all of his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied tightly to the mast, no matter how much he would beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they bound him tighter. When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus demonstrated with his frowns to be released”

This piece is an evocation of the sort of melody which may once have accompanied a recitation of this tale. I use the distinctively poignant and luring ancient Greek Phrygian mode (misnamed the ‘Dorian’ mode in the Middle Ages), featuring an atmospheric background of ocean sounds, with the sound of the kithara enhanced by a subtle reverb, sampled from Belgian monasteries…

The album will on all of the major digital music stores and streaming sites real soon - keep an eye on my new bulletins!!

The album features 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 the poignant and enchanting ancient Greek Phrygian Mode (misnamed the 'Dorian' mode in the Middle Ages).

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

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

"Odysseus and the Sirens" - Clip of Track 1, "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity"

Dark Vampire Music - The Vampire Masquerade  Waltz - YouTube

Peter Gundry - Elven Fantasy Dream Music - Once Upon A Dream - Original

Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod (Youtube Royalty Free Music) from YouTube Audio Library https://goo.gl/KubjEG
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(No Copyright Music) Canon in D Major - Kevin MacLeod

Dark Piano - Liar

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, No 13 Dance of the Knights

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев, tr. Sergej Sergeevič Prokof'ev) (27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 -- 5 March 1953) He was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is generally regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century.

Credits:
Intro (Live from Wembley Stadium) Muse HAARP (Standard CD/DVD)
Christopher Wolstenholme, Dominic Howard, Matthew Bellamy
WMG (on behalf of Warner Music UK); LatinAutor - Warner Chappell, ASCAP, LatinAutor, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, Muserk Rights Management, PEDL, Warner Chappell, and 14 Music Rights Societies

Prokofiev - Dance Of The Knights

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.

"Odysseus and the Sirens" - Clip of Track 1, "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity"

Michael Levy Lyre Music

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