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''Elementa harmonica'' (''Ἁρμονικὰ στοιχεῖα'' in Greek; ''Elements of Harmonics'' in English) is a
treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...
on the subject of musical scales by
Aristoxenus Aristoxenus of Tarentum (; born 375, fl. 335 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Peripatetic school, Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been lost, but one musi ...
, of which considerable amounts are extant. The work dates to the second half of the
4th century BC The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical antiquity, Classical era, Epoch (reference date), epoch, or historical period. This century marked the height of Classi ...
. It is the oldest substantially surviving work written on the subject of
music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
.


Title

The work is generally known as ''Aristoxenou Harmonika Stoicheia'' or ''Elements of Harmonics''. ''Oxford Paperback Reference''(an
World Cat
It is also known by the shorter title ''The Elements,'' rendering Greek Στοιχεία.


The Work


Historical context

Aristoxenus's work departs from prior studies in which music was studied only in relation to an understanding of the '' kosmos''. The study of music in the
Pythagorean school Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * N ...
c.500 had focused on the mathematical nature of harmonia.
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
, whose
Peripatetic school The Peripatetic school ( ) was a philosophical school founded in 335 BC by Aristotle in the Lyceum in ancient Athens. It was an informal institution whose members conducted philosophical and scientific inquiries. The school fell into decline afte ...
Aristoxenus belonged to, addressed the subject in his work ''
On the Soul ''On the Soul'' ( Greek: , ''Peri Psychēs''; Latin: ) is a major treatise written by Aristotle . His discussion centres on the kinds of souls possessed by different kinds of living things, distinguished by their different operations. Thus pla ...
''. Aristoxenus opposed the position of the Pythagoreans; he favoured an intellectual treatment of the subject in Aristotelian terms, i.e. by applying the exercise of inductive logic with attention to
empirical evidence Empirical evidence is evidence obtained through sense experience or experimental procedure. It is of central importance to the sciences and plays a role in various other fields, like epistemology and law. There is no general agreement on how the ...
.(p. 254) ''AMS Studies in Music Series'' As such, the Elements is the first and earliest work on music in the classical Greek tradition.
Musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...
as a discipline comes into being with the systematic study undertaken in the work.


Description

The work is a theoretical treatise concerned with
harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
and harmonics, and thus pertains to a burgeoning theory of euphonics. The study of harmonics is especially concerned with treating melody in order to find its components (the Greek word for melody is μέλος).(additionally using ''American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition'' at thefreedictionary.com) In the first sentence of the treatise Aristoxenus identifies Harmony as belonging under the general scope of the study of the science of
Melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
. Aristoxenus considers notes to fall along a continuum available to auditory perception. Aristoxenus identified the three tetrachords in the treatise as '' diatonic'', the ''chromatic'', and the ''
enharmonic In music, two written notes have enharmonic equivalence if they produce the same pitch but are notated differently. Similarly, written intervals, chords, or key signatures are considered enharmonic if they represent identical pitches that ar ...
''. Aristoxenus aims to attempt an empirical study based upon observation. As such, his writing contains criticisms of earlier approaches and attitudes, including those of the Pythagorean and ''harmonikoi'', on the problems of sound perceptible as music.


Synopsis

The work comprises 3 books. Book II seems not to follow from Book I, and it is quite widely but not unanimously assumed that Book I is a separate work from Book II & III.(p. 187 "Meibom, Westphal") The parts of harmonics:("Distantia & Landels") (1) The Genera - the ways in which the differences between these are determined (2) Distantia (Intervals) - the distinction of how these are differentiated (3) Notes - ''dynameis'' (4) Systēmata - enumerating and distinguishing the types, and explaining how they are put together out of Notes and Intervals (5) Tonoi (Modes) - including the relations between them (6) Modulation (7) Construction / Composition


Discussion

The use of ''dynamis'' (pl. ''dynameis'') as a musical term seems to have been originated by Aristoxenus. The term normally denotes power and potentiality. Sidoli contends in his review (cf. ref.) that the initial use of the concept by Aristoxenus was rather "elusive."


Later Reception

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...
's concepts of architectural and machine design draw heavily on the ''Elements'' of Aristoxenus. The ''Elements'' was studied earnestly during
the Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
by theoreticians and musicians.(p. 273) Renaissance thinkers were faced with a choice between following Pythagoras or Aristoxenus.


Editions and Translations

Antonius Gogavinus translated the book into Latin as ''Elementa Harmonica'' in 1564. Marcus Meibom included Aristoxenus' text in ''Antiquae musicae auctores septem'' (1652), his series of Latin translations of Greek music theory. Paul Marquard translated it into German as ''Aristoxenou harmonikōn ta sōzomena: Die harmonischen fragmente des Aristoxenus'' (1868). Rudolf Westphal also created a German edition (Leipzig, 1883). Henry Stewart Macran was the first to translate ''Elementa Harmonica'' into English (Oxford, 1902). An edition was published in Latin during 1954, and another in the same year in Italian, by ''Typis Publicae Officinae Polygraphicae''.
the Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Open Library ID : OL14785002M
''University of Toronto MARC record'' etrieved 2015-05-08/ref> There is an English translation by Andrew Barker in his ''Greek Musical Writings'' (volume 1 published 1984, volume 2 1989).


Modern Studies

* Bélis, Annie, ''Aristoxene de Tarante et Aristote: Le Traité d’harmonique'', Études et commentaires 100 (Paris, 1986). * Cazden, Norman. "Pythagoras and Aristoxenos Reconciled", ''Journal of Music Theory'' 32. 1 (1958), 51–73. * Huffman, Carl A. ''Aristoxenus of Tarentum : Discussion''. Transaction Publishers, 2012. * Laloy, Louis. ''Aristoxène de Tarent et la Musique de l'antiquité'' (Paris, 1904). * Landels, John G. ''Music in Ancient Greece and Rome'' (London and New York, 1999). * Litchfield, Malcolm. "Aristoxenus and Empiricism: A Reevaluation Based on His Theories". ''
Journal of Music Theory The ''Journal of Music Theory'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established by David Kraehenbuehl (Yale University) in 1957. According to its website, " e ''Journal of Music Theory'' fosters co ...
, Vol. 32, No. 1''. (Spring, 1988). Duke University Press: 51–73. doi:10.2307/843385. JSTOR 843385. * Winnington-Ingram, R.P. "Aristoxenus and the Intervals of Greek Music", ''Classical Quarterly'' 26 (1932), 195–208.


See also

*


References

{{Reflist, 2


External Links

Manuscripts
Elementa Harmonica
Vat.gr.191 in the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
.
Elementa Harmonica
Vat.gr.221 in the Vatican Library. Ancient Greek philosophical literature Music theory