Abstract
Language | English |
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Number of pages | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Event | Symposium Cumanum 2016: Music in the Time of Vergil - Villa Vergiliana, Cuma, Italy Duration: 22 Jun 2016 → 24 Jun 2016 https://www.vergiliansociety.org/symposium-cumanum-2016/ |
Conference
Conference | Symposium Cumanum 2016 |
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Country | Italy |
City | Cuma |
Period | 22/06/16 → 24/06/16 |
Internet address |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- ancient Roman social history
- music
- pastoral literature
- Virgil
- singing contests
- pan-pipes
- bucina
- tuba
- brass instruments
- pigs
- herding
- shepherd-musician
Cite this
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Musica rustica : the nature of ancient Roman pastoral music. / Cross, Rodney.
2016. Abstract from Symposium Cumanum 2016, Cuma, Italy.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › Research
TY - CONF
T1 - Musica rustica
T2 - the nature of ancient Roman pastoral music
AU - Cross, Rodney
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - While the poetry of Vergil’s Eclogues has received considerable deliberation in recent scholarship, the nature of the musica rustica (or pastoral music), alluded to throughout these poems, has been overlooked to some extent. The association between notions of ‘the bucolic’ and music is particularly evident, not only in the lyrical style of bucolic poetry (including the works of the earlier Greek poets: Theocritus, Moschus and Bion) but also in the strong reference to ‘shepherd-musicians’ across a range of ancient literary and visual texts. Vergil especially, conjures up this image of the ‘shepherd-musician’ and clearly associates music with the pastoral experience in the Augustan period. Vergil’s third eclogue itself refers specifically to the practice of wagered musical contests between shepherds (Verg. Ecl. 3). The presence of the syrinx (Pan-pipe) was extremely common in pastoral poetry, largely due to its strong symbolic connection with its mythical inventor, Pan, the Greek god of shepherds and the woodlands. Varro however, also notes the use of the Roman bucina (a Roman lip-vibrated aerophone or ‘brass instrument’) in herding swine, most notably in the form of “having them gather at the sound of the horn... [so] that they might not become lost when scattered into wooden country” (Varro. Rust. 2.4.20). This source indicates that pastoral music may have also had significant practical applications in the agricultural sphere. With particular reference to the Eclogues of Vergil, this paper will consider the representation of Roman ‘shepherd-musicians’ and the nature of their pastoral music in literary and visual sources, in order to call further attention to this area of study.
AB - While the poetry of Vergil’s Eclogues has received considerable deliberation in recent scholarship, the nature of the musica rustica (or pastoral music), alluded to throughout these poems, has been overlooked to some extent. The association between notions of ‘the bucolic’ and music is particularly evident, not only in the lyrical style of bucolic poetry (including the works of the earlier Greek poets: Theocritus, Moschus and Bion) but also in the strong reference to ‘shepherd-musicians’ across a range of ancient literary and visual texts. Vergil especially, conjures up this image of the ‘shepherd-musician’ and clearly associates music with the pastoral experience in the Augustan period. Vergil’s third eclogue itself refers specifically to the practice of wagered musical contests between shepherds (Verg. Ecl. 3). The presence of the syrinx (Pan-pipe) was extremely common in pastoral poetry, largely due to its strong symbolic connection with its mythical inventor, Pan, the Greek god of shepherds and the woodlands. Varro however, also notes the use of the Roman bucina (a Roman lip-vibrated aerophone or ‘brass instrument’) in herding swine, most notably in the form of “having them gather at the sound of the horn... [so] that they might not become lost when scattered into wooden country” (Varro. Rust. 2.4.20). This source indicates that pastoral music may have also had significant practical applications in the agricultural sphere. With particular reference to the Eclogues of Vergil, this paper will consider the representation of Roman ‘shepherd-musicians’ and the nature of their pastoral music in literary and visual sources, in order to call further attention to this area of study.
KW - ancient Roman social history
KW - music
KW - pastoral literature
KW - Virgil
KW - singing contests
KW - pan-pipes
KW - bucina
KW - tuba
KW - brass instruments
KW - pigs
KW - herding
KW - shepherd-musician
UR - https://www.vergiliansociety.org/symposium_cumanum/symposium-cumanum/
M3 - Abstract
ER -