DESCRIPTION:
"The Death of Agamemnon" - track 5 from my album "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity", recreating the sound of the ancient Greek kithara of the Golden Age of classical Greece. For full details, purchase links, plus a free PDF booklet of the fully illustrated, detailed album notes, please see my website blog:

http://www.ancientlyre.com/ancient_greek_themed_albums/the_ancient_greek_kithara_of_classical_antiquity/

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same
area. When Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was taken to Troy by Paris, Agamemnon commanded the united Greek armed forces in the ensuing Trojan War.

Upon Agamemnon's return from Troy, he was murdered (according to the oldest surviving account, Odyssey 11.409–11), by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife, Clytemnestra...

All the track on this album are performed on the wonderfully recreated ancient Greek kithara (the lyre of the professional musicians of ancient Greece), hand-made in modern Greece by Luthieros:

http://en.luthieros.com/

The kithara was the highly advanced, large wooden lyre favoured by only the true professional musicians of ancient Greece, which reached its pinnacle of perfection during the “Golden Age” of Classical Antiquity, circa 5th century BCE.

Since late 2014, I have been collaborating with Luthieros in their inspirational "Lyre 2.0 Project" - dedicated to reintroducing the wonderful lyres of antiquity back into the modern world, to make these beautiful instruments accessible to each and every modern musician.

This album hopefully demonstrates why the kithara was so venerated in antiquity, as the instrument of the professional musician - perfect for both accompanying the human voice and for as an incredibly versatile solo instrument.

The main musical concept of the album is to imagine the sort of melodies which once may have accompanied recitations of some of the classic legends and epic poems of ancient Greece, which would have almost certainly have been accompanied by the kithara; the lyre of the true professional musicians of classical antiquity. Indeed, almost all the great works of literature from ancient times were originally meant to be sang; the music giving weight and emotional emphasis to the text and in doing so, helping to convey its true meaning...

The ancient Greek kithara was quite literally, the ‘guitar’ of classical antiquity – indeed, it is actually from the word “kithara” which we derive our modern word ‘guitar’. Therefore, in this release, for the first time, I decided to include some simple vocal lines, as just like the modern guitar, the kithara almost begs to accompany the human voice. However, as I am certainly no professional singer, my intention to include these basic vocal lines was to accompany the sound of the kithara, rather than vice versa.

All the tracks in this album are original compositions, in a selection of some of the original ancient Greek musical modes, in the wonderfully pure just intonation of antiquity.

Many thanks for watching!

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