Greek Culture The Origin of All
Having indulged in Pythagorean intervals, I have heard an interesting story, that is that the basis of western music is the horn. What is the difference between a horn and "bong", the sound of a Japanese bell.
A horn changes its tone simply by following harmonics. It is said that there was a horn which destroyed the fortress of Jericho in 8,000 B.C.
This old instrument has harmonics, i.e. fifth, from the keynote, as the next element.
That means..?
This also makes the basis of harmony between tonic(1st) and dominant(5th).
It may be relevant to why Pythagoras had an idea of setting up intervals taking the perfect 5th note from the keynote of A.
Ancient Greek apparently requires a few pages just for the inflection list of such basic verbs as
ο, _παρξη, ουσ_α, ζω_, υπ_σταση { being }
_παρξη { existence }.
Learning Greek forms the basis for all European languages, and also gives relevant knowledge with synonyms of India-Sanskrit, alphabet and the writing of Russian. I have heard these stories from a friend who lives in India, and from a French violinist who has studied in Russia. Greek is also the basis for mathematics. This is a well known fact as one sees symbols like √ and vector.
I have liked Greek myths since my childhood. Words like an aporia of Hercules, Hera, Aphrodite, Narcissos, Mycenae and Peloponesos Peninsula excited me very much. I won the Elizabeth competition in 1980, and was subsequently invited to various places in the world. My first recital was held at Herkules Saal in Munich. What I felt then was not a quiver of excitement, but an immeasurable fear, when I noticed my name parallel with great masters like Wilhelm Kemp, Jean-Pierre Rampal. I also noticed Sculptures of Hercules demonstrating various scenes which only made me realize how small I was, but did not give me any hints for my future.
What surprised me was that my daughter chose ancient Greek after 1 year of compulsory Latin at junior-high school. I was pleased to encounter the history and culture of Greece, setting aside the difficulties in its grammar. My daughter once asked me to send her notes to her friend's home where she had brought ten thick books for the study of Persia. I managed to send it using PC. She send me a message saying "Mama is greater than Cyrus or Caesar. Even Zeus would appreciate you effort", which made me happy.
Again, I am closing my essay with a story about my child.
By the way, I will have a concert with a lecture in 15th January, 2010 at the Bunka Kaikan. The subject is Bach and Brahms. I am thinking about my talk. It might be good if I can explain well about western music originating from horns, harmony, polyphony, and the real excitement of hearing and tasting music.
at Tokyo