Synaulia
Encyclopedia
Synaulia is a team of musicians, archeologists, paleorganologists and choreographers dedicated to the application of their historical research to
ancient music and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and Roman periods.
referred to a group of instruments consisting mainly of wind instruments.
The group was founded and at first sponsored by a local museum in Leiden, Netherlands
in 1995 by Italian paleorganologist Walter Maioli
and choreographer and anthropologist Natalie Van Ravenstein.
In the beginning the Synaulia’s main task was mainly educational: the reconstruction of ancient musical instruments for the Dutch archeological center, Archeon. Later the scope was widened to include a more profound study into Italy’s music and dance focusing primarily on ancient Rome.
The fruits of Synaulia’s intensive study were used as material for films, serials and documentaries about ancient Rome (among them The Gladiator
by Ridley Scott
and the television series Rome
), the use of the instruments for scholastic purposes, as well as in the publication of numerous articles on the subject.
In the absence of a system of musical notation for the period in question, the reconstruction and study of ancient musical expression was based on comparative studies of iconography
, textual analysis, social studies and customs, also drawing from paleorganology, ethnomusicology
, archeology and historiography
.
The richness of the iconographic documentation, the abundance of tested theories and numerous literary connections facilitated the study and reproduction of a wide range of antique musical instruments, helping to determine, among other points of interest, their melodic and harmonic possibilities and acoustic quality.
Armed with this historical information, the group’s research was then subdivided into several main research branches.
The first branch was dedicated to wind instruments. The research led to the reconstruction of instruments such as syrinx, fistulae, tibiae, cornu, tuba, bucina, iynx, and rhombus.
The second branch dealt with string instruments: among others the lyra
, cithara, sambuca
, cordae and pandura
were reconstructed.
The Greeks
and Romans
did not invent string instruments, but rather improved and created variations on the existing ones. The first mentions of antique string instruments such as zither
s, lyre
s and harp
s were documented in the area from the Nile
to Mesopotamia
around 3000 BC. The lyre in particular had an essential role in Greek-Roman life. The Greek lyre
was a strongly symbolic instrument made of tortoise shell
(representing the intermediate life between Sky and Earth), a piece of stretched leather (a symbol of sacrifice) and two horns to which the cords were affixed (representing the celestial Bull). This instrument represented a symbolic altar, uniting Sky with Earth.
In many representations other instruments often accompany the string instruments. The most common duo is the lyrae et citarae drawn together by the Pan flute
. Other frequently represented combinations are stringed instruments and tibiae, double instruments with reed and double flutes with the tympanum
and other percussion instruments.
The third branch was dedicated to percussion, and work was undertaken to reconstruct the tympanum
, cymbal
, scabillum, sistrum
, rasum and other celebrated instruments from the late imperial period, the so-called “Golden Age
” (aurea aetas).
) Romolo Staccioli e Maria Grazia Iodice (Università La Sapienza, Rome
), Paola Elisabetta Simeoni (Museo Nazionale delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari), Maria Grazia Siliato, Marcus Junkelmann Ratzennhofen (Germany
), Carlo Merlo (Clesis, Rome
), Magdi Kenawy (Accademia d’Egitto, Rome
), Werner Hilgers (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
, Germany), il H.P. Kuhnen (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier Germany), Maria Paola Guidobaldi (Sovrintendenza di Pompei
), Febo Guizzi (Milan
), Gerard Ijzereef (Amsterdam
) e Fabrizio Felice Ridolfi (Rome
).
ancient music and dance, in particular to the ancient Etruscan and Roman periods.
History
The name comes from the Greek synaulia, which in ancient RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
referred to a group of instruments consisting mainly of wind instruments.
The group was founded and at first sponsored by a local museum in Leiden, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1995 by Italian paleorganologist Walter Maioli
Walter Maioli
Walter Maioli is an Italian researcher, paleorganologist, poly-instrumentalist and composer.Specialized in experimental archaeology and music, in particular that of archaic civilization. He has been researching the music of antiquity and prehistory for more than 35 years...
and choreographer and anthropologist Natalie Van Ravenstein.
In the beginning the Synaulia’s main task was mainly educational: the reconstruction of ancient musical instruments for the Dutch archeological center, Archeon. Later the scope was widened to include a more profound study into Italy’s music and dance focusing primarily on ancient Rome.
The fruits of Synaulia’s intensive study were used as material for films, serials and documentaries about ancient Rome (among them The Gladiator
Gladiator (2000 film)
Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed...
by Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
and the television series Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), the use of the instruments for scholastic purposes, as well as in the publication of numerous articles on the subject.
The archeological-musical research work
In the absence of a system of musical notation for the period in question, the reconstruction and study of ancient musical expression was based on comparative studies of iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, textual analysis, social studies and customs, also drawing from paleorganology, ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, archeology and historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
.
The richness of the iconographic documentation, the abundance of tested theories and numerous literary connections facilitated the study and reproduction of a wide range of antique musical instruments, helping to determine, among other points of interest, their melodic and harmonic possibilities and acoustic quality.
The first branch was dedicated to wind instruments. The research led to the reconstruction of instruments such as syrinx, fistulae, tibiae, cornu, tuba, bucina, iynx, and rhombus.
The second branch dealt with string instruments: among others the lyra
Lyra
Lyra is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its principal star, Vega — a corner of the Summer Triangle — is one of the brightest...
, cithara, sambuca
Sambuca
Sambuca is an Italian anise-flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as white sambuca to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue in colour or bright red ....
, cordae and pandura
Pandura
The pandura is an ancient Greek string instrument from the Mediterranean basin.It is derived from pandur, a Sumerian term for long-necked lutes...
were reconstructed.
The Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
and Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
did not invent string instruments, but rather improved and created variations on the existing ones. The first mentions of antique string instruments such as zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
s, lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
s and harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s were documented in the area from the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
to Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
around 3000 BC. The lyre in particular had an essential role in Greek-Roman life. The Greek lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
was a strongly symbolic instrument made of tortoise shell
Tortoiseshell material
Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced mainly from the shell of the hawksbill turtle, an endangered species. It was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s in the manufacture of items such as combs, sunglasses, guitar picks and knitting needles...
(representing the intermediate life between Sky and Earth), a piece of stretched leather (a symbol of sacrifice) and two horns to which the cords were affixed (representing the celestial Bull). This instrument represented a symbolic altar, uniting Sky with Earth.
In many representations other instruments often accompany the string instruments. The most common duo is the lyrae et citarae drawn together by the Pan flute
Pan flute
The pan flute or pan pipe is an ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting usually of five or more pipes of gradually increasing length...
. Other frequently represented combinations are stringed instruments and tibiae, double instruments with reed and double flutes with the tympanum
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
and other percussion instruments.
The third branch was dedicated to percussion, and work was undertaken to reconstruct the tympanum
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
, scabillum, sistrum
Sistrum
A sistrum is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient Iraq and Egypt. It consists of a handle and a U-shaped metal frame, made of brass or bronze and between 76 and 30 cm in width...
, rasum and other celebrated instruments from the late imperial period, the so-called “Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
” (aurea aetas).
Scientific collaborations
Other collaborators as consultants and collaborators of the project are Nathalie van Ravenstein, Luce Maioli, Ivan Gibellini, Anna Maria Liberati (Museo della Civiltà Romana, Maurizio Pellegrini (Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
) Romolo Staccioli e Maria Grazia Iodice (Università La Sapienza, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), Paola Elisabetta Simeoni (Museo Nazionale delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari), Maria Grazia Siliato, Marcus Junkelmann Ratzennhofen (Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Carlo Merlo (Clesis, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), Magdi Kenawy (Accademia d’Egitto, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), Werner Hilgers (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
The Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, or LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, is a museum in Bonn, Germany, run by the Rhineland Landscape Association. It is one of the oldest museums in the country. In 2003 it completed an extensive renovation...
, Germany), il H.P. Kuhnen (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier Germany), Maria Paola Guidobaldi (Sovrintendenza di Pompei
Pompei
Pompei is a city and comune in the province of Naples in Campania, southern Italy, famous for its ancient Roman ruins. As of 2010 its population was of 25,671.-History:...
), Febo Guizzi (Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
), Gerard Ijzereef (Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
) e Fabrizio Felice Ridolfi (Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
).
Discography
- Synaulia, Music of Ancient Rome, Vol. I – Wind InstrumentWind instrumentA wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s - Amiata RecordsAmiata RecordsAmiata Records is an independent cross-cultural record label founded in 1992 by Matteo Silva and Marc Eagleton withheadquarters in the historic center of Florence and offices in London, Lugano and Rome. Amiata derives its name from the mountain in southern Tuscany, one of the most un-spoilt areas...
ARNR 1396, Florence, 1996 - Synaulia, Music of Ancient Rome, Vol. II – String instrumentString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s - Amiata RecordsAmiata RecordsAmiata Records is an independent cross-cultural record label founded in 1992 by Matteo Silva and Marc Eagleton withheadquarters in the historic center of Florence and offices in London, Lugano and Rome. Amiata derives its name from the mountain in southern Tuscany, one of the most un-spoilt areas...
, ARNR 0302, Rome, 2002
Filmography
Compositions of Synaulia, Music of Ancient Rome vol. I and vol. II were used in soundtracks of documentaries and films, like:- A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 film)A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 1999 American film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Michael Hoffman. The ensemble cast features Kevin Kline as Bottom, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Everett as Titania and Oberon, and Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel,...
by Micheal Hoffman, 1999 - GladiatorGladiator (2000 film)Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed...
by Ridley ScottRidley ScottSir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
, 2000 - Carvilius - Un enigma dall’antica Roma, Discovery Channel, 2002
- The Village by Night Shyamalan, 2004
- Lo sport tra Grecia ed Etruria, 2004
- Empire, TV series serie produced by Touchstone Television/Abc, 2005
- Rome, TV series produced by BBC-HBO, 2005–2007
- Alexander the GreatAlexander (film)Alexander is a 2004 epic film based on the life of Alexander the Great. It is not a remake of the 1956 film which starred Richard Burton. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role...
, Beyond the Movie , National Geographic, 2006 - Storia del teatro Italiano by Giorgio Albertazzi and Dario Fo, Rai 2, Rai trade, 2006
- La donna si fa bella, moda costume e bellezza nell’Italia antica, 2006
- The Nativity StoryThe Nativity StoryThe Nativity Story is a 2006 drama film based on the nativity of Jesus starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Filming began on May 1, 2006 in Matera, Italy and in Morocco. New Line Cinema released it on December 1, 2006 in the United States and one week later on December 8 in the...
, New Line Cinema, 2006 - Demetra e il Mito, by Maurizio Pellegrini and Ebe Giovannini, 2007
- La via Clodia, by Ebe Giovannini, 2007
- Storia del vino nell’età antica, Ministry of Cultural Activities and Heritage, Supervision for Archeological Heritage of the Southern Etruria, 2008