A live performance of the 2nd century "Hymn to Nemesis", by Mesomedes of Crete - a possible track for my new album in progress, "Magic of the Kithara".
Mesomedes of Crete was a Roman-era Greek performer of the kithara (kitharode) and lyric poet. He was a freedman and favorite of Emperor Hadrian, who made him his chief musician; he also served under Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius.
Prior to the discovery of the Seikilos epitaph in the late 19th century, the four surviving hymns of Mesomedes were the only source of notated music from the ancient world. Three were published by Vincenzo Galilei in his Dialogo della musica antica e della moderna (Florence, 1581), during a period of intense investigation into music of the ancient Greeks. These hymns had been preserved through the Byzantine tradition.
In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis was the goddess who enacted retribution against those who succumb to hubris. Hubris denotes over confidence & exaggerated pride. It can be associated with a lack of knowledge or interest in history, also with shaming or contempt of others. Nemesis is the goddess of retribution and denotes the destruction, suffering or punishment that can follow in the wake of hubris.
The translation of the words of the song which this melody once accomanied, as translated by Martin R West is as follows:
"Nemesis, winged one that tilts life's balance, dark-eyed goddess, daughter of Justice, that curbest the vain neighings of mortals with thy adamant bit, and in thy hatred of their pernicious insolence drivest out black resentment: under thy wheel that neither stands still nor follows a fixed track men's gleaming fortune turns about. Unobserved, thou treadest at their heel; the haughty neck thou bendest; under thy forearm thou measurest off life, and ever thou turnest thy frowning gaze into men's hearts, with the scales in thy hand. Be gracious, blest dispenser of justice, Nemesis, winged one that tilts life's balance"
The surviving melody by Mesomedes has such a distinctive rhythm (easily inferred from the syllables of the text of the song), that in arranging the melody for recreated kithara, I decided to explore the guitar-like timbre the ancient Greek kithara was capable of, by featuring exclusively, the 'block and strum' playing technique, which still survives in parts of Africa today, where lyres have continued to have been played since antiquity. This technique, entails blocking specific strings not required to sound with fingers of the left hand, whilst strumming only those notes desired to sound, with a plectrum in the right hand (almost all depictions of actual ancient Greek kitharodes, clearly illustrate this very technique, with the performer's left hand fingers splayed out behind the open strings being strummed with the plectrum).
Due for release on all the usual digital music platforms on 1st January 2025, each and every one of the tracks for "Magic of the Kithara" can be previewed, as they are created, only on Bandcamp:
michaellevy.ba...
The kithara reached its pinnacle during the 5th century BCE. There is plenty of controversy about the construction - the curious spring-like structures clearly illustrated below the crossbeam to which the strings are attached, could either be interpreted as structural (providing equal & opposite reaction to the downward pull of the strings on the slender arms of the kithara, as most academic scholars believe), or maybe even evidence of some form of mechanical vibrato/portamento mechanism!
My recreated ancient Greek kithara was hand-made in modern Greece by Luthieros:
www.luthieros.com
For more detailed information on the kithara of classical antiquity, please also see my own website blog:
ancientlyre.co...
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