An Ancient Philosophical Song Reconstructed and Played for the First Time in 1,000 Years

Above and below, you can watch musicians perform “The 1,000-year-old song ‘Song of Solace,’ an arrangement of poetic passages by Roman philosophers.” boethius“A masterpiece” solace of philosophy”, an influential medieval document written in the 6th century. According to the University of Cambridgethe performance of this work, until recently lost to the passage of time, did not come easily.

[T]The task of performing such ancient works today is not as easy as reading and playing the music in front of your eyes. 1,000 years ago, music was written in a way that recorded melodic contours, but not the “notes” that today’s musicians recognize. We rely on aural traditions and the memories of musicians to keep them alive. Since these aural traditions disappeared in the 12th century, it has often been considered impossible to reconstruct the “lost” music of this period, precisely because pitch is unknown.

After more than 20 years of painstaking work to identify the techniques used to set the form of a particular poem, research is now underway. Dr Sam Barrett from the University of Cambridge This allowed him to reconstruct the melody from the rediscovered leaves of the 11th century “Cambridge Song.”

The piece is performed here by three members of the medieval musical ensemble known as Benjamin Bagby, Hanna Martí, and Norbert Rodenkirchen. Sequentia.

Note: An earlier version of this post appeared on our site in 2016.

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