We all love music. And sometimes we ask ourselves what was the first music ever written in human history. This question is not easy to answer. Let’s see why.
Perhaps you have never asked yourself such a question. Honestly, even assuming “point zero” in music, it’s hard to prove. The only thing we can investigate is how, when, and why did primitive man feel the need to invent and adopt a new language that no longer spoke with words or gestures, but with sounds?
Documentable answers and testimonials are difficult to find. Perhaps the first sounds were born trying to imitate the sounds of nature. But what drove man to this pursuit?
Herbert Spencer tackles this problem in an 1858 essay. Origin and function of music, everything stems from an emotional need. Men have thought of using non-verbal language to express their feelings. A language that can convey strong emotions that cannot be expressed in words. According to this vision, music is born as an outlet for emotions.
Darwin did not accept this paper. In his 1871 masterpiece of his Human Evolution and Sexual Choices, he emphasizes that the ability to create musical language is not a prerogative of humans. To understand how this ability is inherent in all living things, one need only observe the animal world. Unlike Spencer, Darwin states that music is not a cultural refinement that arrived with human maturity, but a much older convention rooted in and distributed in the living world. Observing the chirping of non-verbal birds suggests that even the ancestors of humans tried to engage with each other through rhythm and sound before acquiring the power to express mutual love in a clear language. plausible.
Who do you support, Darwin or Spencer?
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Who wrote the first music? What musical contributions did ancient civilizations make?
In the first ancient civilizations, music ceased to be a strictly sensory experience to become a specific language. It has become an art form. I could research many examples scattered around the world, but I will limit myself. We stick to those that had a direct cultural and geographical impact on society and its musical system.
For Egyptians, music played an important role in religious ceremonies. They possessed their own tools of creation, including their own hydraulic organ powered by a bellows that worked in waterfalls, already described in the text of Ctesibius of Alexandria (3rd century BC).
From Egyptians to Hebrews is a short walk. Jewish civilization was present in the first Christian music as it introduced a true musical style that was then adopted into Gregorian chant. rice field. This is a type of early church bell, a small ram’s horn used to gather believers to the synagogue.
Then we arrive in Greece. The Greeks lived their music deeply. For them, it was more than just art, it was a quenching of passion. Aristotle said that music has the power of catharsis and liberation, and a very convenient outlet. Without music, certain repressed instincts and certain passions could have created stressful situations that were difficult to manage. Music was everywhere in Greece. It accompanied the reading of poetry and the intonation of choral music. There was Parthenos (the song of the virgin) and Epinykion (the song of victory from the Greek words Epi (above) and Nike (victory)). An interesting fact related to the Greek mythological character Nike, who was portrayed as a winged woman, from which the term “winged victory” comes. Today, the name and stylized wing symbol of the famous “Nike” brand still derives from the goddess Nike. Let’s go back to the Greeks. This civilization-based music is based on a scale consisting of only four notes. Coincidentally, this reminded me of her four strings on the mythical and legendary instrument, the lyre, and brought you a story worth telling.
According to Greek mythology, the inventor of this instrument was Hermes. One day God found a turtle in a cave. After killing it, he took the shell and stretched a string of sheep intestines in it. He then gave the instrument to Apollo, the latter to his son Orpheus, the most famous poet and musician in history. He became so good at playing it that Seneca himself said:
“To the sweet music of Orpheus, the rapids of the express train stopped the rapids, and the temporary waters were forced to make their way, losing their abrupt start.”
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tell me about music
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All creatures loved Orpheus and were enchanted by his music and poetry, but Orpheus had his eyes on only one woman, Eurydice, who became his wife. However, fate did not foresee lasting love for them. He fell madly in love with her and tried to seduce her. The girl ran off to escape his insistence, but unfortunately she stepped on a snake hiding in her bush and bit it, killing her instantly. Orpheus went mad with pain and, unable to imagine his life without his wife, decided to descend into the kingdom of death. First, he persuaded Charon with his music to take him across the river Styx. Afterwards, the dog Cerberus and the judge of the dead were convinced to let him pass, and despite being surrounded by cursed souls who tried to capture him in every possible way, Orpheus fell into the presence of Hades and Persephone. Standing before them, Orpheus began to sing of his despair and loneliness, and his melody was so painful that the ruler of the underworld himself was moved. Orpheus was therefore allowed to bring Eurydice back to the living kingdom. However, during her journey he preceded her, and did not turn her to see her until they reached her daylight.So Orpheus took her bride’s hand and I began my journey towards the light. During the journey, suspicions began to rise in his mind that the Shadow, and not Eurydice, was leading the way. Forgetting her promise, he turned to her and helplessly witnessed her death for the second time. For seven days in vain he tried to persuade Charon to bring him again before the Lord of the Underworld. In response, he sent him back to the Land of the Living.
The next step in the history of music, which first appeared on Earth, continues in the Roman Empire, where musical notation was also invented. But that’s another story.
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