Elementa rhythmica : the fragment of book II and the additional evidence for Aristoxenean rhythmic theory

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Bibliographic Information

Elementa rhythmica : the fragment of book II and the additional evidence for Aristoxenean rhythmic theory

Aristoxenus ; texts edited with introduction, translation, and commentary by Lionel Pearson

Clarendon Press , Oxford University Press, 1990

Available at  / 22 libraries

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Note

This fragment of book 2 is the only surviving pt. of Elements of rhythm

Includes additional material in English and Greek, commentary in English, bibliographical references, and indexes

Contents of Works

  • Elementa rhythmica, book II / Aristoxenus
  • Introduction to the study of rhythm / Michael Psellus
  • Fragmenta Neapolitana
  • On the primary chronos (fragment) / Aristoxenus
  • P. Oxy. XXXIV 2687

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Three manuscripts together preserve a fragment from book II of the "Elementa Rhythmica" of Aristoxenus, a contemporary of Aristotle. This edition offers the first critical text to be published for over a century and the only commentary since that of Westphal in 1893. Professor Pearson offers further evidence of Aristoxenian theory in extracts from later Greek musical writers, and from the important papyrus fragment "Oxyrhynchus Papyri" 2687, also presented here with translation and commentary. He shows that Aristoxenus explains rhythm in terms that would be acceptable to musicians today, and that he does not regard rhythm as "purely quantative". Moreover, he maintains here that rhythm, as Aristoxenus understands it, can be found in the lyric poetry of the fifth century, and that he offers an alternative to current metrical theory. This study covers rhythm and harmonic theory from the surviving fragments of Aristoxenus' text and other sources, and then applies it to actual texts of Greek poetry, aiming to reveal the rhythm or rhythms to which Aristoxenus thought the verse was meant to be sung.

Table of Contents

  • Part 1 Introduction: the evidence
  • the Greek theory of rhythm - Aristoxenus and others. Part 2 Texts and translations: Aristoxenus, "Elementa Rhythmica", Book II
  • Michael Psellus, "Introduction to the Study of Rhythm"
  • "Fragmenta Neapolitana"
  • Aristoxenus, "On the Primary Chronos" (fragment)
  • P. Oxy. XXXIV 2687. Part 3: commentary.

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