Description
It is not often realized how deeply our music today has been influenced by the music of ancient Greece. In fact Greece is no less the cradle of western music than of western civilization as a whole. That influence is evident in such things as musical aesthetics, musical terminology, the instruments we use, and possibly even our musical forms. It is no coincidence that the word music itself originally meant ‘the arts of the Muses’ where performing on instruments role. Melody, rhythm, harmony, orchestra, canon, organ, symphony. These are not merely Greek words: important Greek concepts lie behind them – as they do behind the modes.
