Orchestra: From Ancient Greek Theatrical Space to Modern Musical Ensemble
Orchestra, from Greek ‘orchēstra’ (dancing space), now refers to a large ensemble of musicians playing together.
Music
Music derives from Greek word Μουσική (Musiki) that is very close related from the word Μούσα (Moùsa – Muse).
“Quatre Muses: Euterpe, Polihímnia, Clio, Melpòmene, Museu de Cirene” by Sebastià Giralt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Muses were the inspirational godesseses for the arts.
They were 9 Muses
- Calliope
Calliope means Good Looking (Calli from Greek word Kalos that means good and ope that means looks. For this reason and optics. She was protector and insipator of Epic poetry. - Clio
Protector and inspirator of history. Clio from verb kléo (κλέω) that means narrate / recount. From Clio originates the Greek word for key (klidi – κλειδί) that was the key to understand future. - Euterpe
Muse of music. Her name means Good (ευ) pleasure (Τέρψη Terpe). - Thalia
Muse of comedy, geometry, architecture and agriculture. Her name originates from ancient Greek verb θαλλείν (thalin) that means to flourish. This verb in modern Greek is used only for the word αειθαλές (aethalés) which means evergreen. - Melpomene
Muse of Greek Mythology and the first muse of Music. Her name originates from verb mélpo (μέλπω) means sing hymns. - Terpsichore
Muse of dance and chorus. Actually her name combines pleasure (Τέρψη) with greek word for dance is χορός (chorós). There is a English word for someone relating to dance with here name Terpsichorean - Erato
Muse of Lyric poetry. She invented love poems and she was protector of marriage & love and if her name reminds a little bit erotic is not coincidence. Her name has the same origins with word eros (έρως). - Urania
Muse of Astronomy. Uranós (ουρανός) is the Greek name for word sky. For this reason and planet Uranus. - Polyhymnia
Muse of Sacred poetry. Greek word for psalt is úmnos (ύμνος – hymn). Poly means many so her name is the many humns to the gods.
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Symphony, from Greek ‘symphonia’ (sounding together), refers to a large-scale orchestral music composition with multiple movements.
Etymology and Origin of word Harmony
The word “harmony” has its etymology and origin in ancient Greek.
Exploring the Evolution of Meaning from Ancient Greek Lyric Poetry to Modern Song Lyrics
The word “lyric” has its origins in ancient Greece. It comes from the Greek word “lyrikos,” which means “singing to the lyre.” The lyre was a musical instrument with strings that was commonly used in ancient Greece. The term “lyric” originally referred to a type of poetry that was meant[…]
Acoustic
Verb listen in Greek is Ακούω (Akuo). From the same verb is the Greek word Ακουστική (Akustiki).Word Ακουστική is the Greek word for the sense of sound. E.g The Ancient Theatre in Epidavros has great acoustic.We also use the same word as adjective for organs that not electrically amplified. Acoustic[…]