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Cited by 35Musicology and Musical AnalysisClassical Antiquity StudiesClassical Studies and Philology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Melody and word accent relationships in ancient Greek musical documents: the Pitch Height Rule

Cosgrove, Charles H., Meyer, Mary C.·2006·The Journal of Hellenic Studies
DOI 10.1017/s0075426900007667
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Abstract

It has long been known from the extant ancient Greek musical documents that some composers correlated melodic contour with word accents. Up to now, the evidence of this compositional technique has been judged impressionistically. In this article a statistical method of interpretation through computer simulation is set forth and applied to the musical texts, focusing on the convention of correlating a word's accent with the highest pitch level in the melody for that word: the Pitch Height Rule. The results provide a sounder basis for judging evidence for the operation of this convention in specific pieces and a sharper delineation of its use in the history of ancient Greek music. The ‘rule’ was used by at least some composers from the late second century BC through the second century AD, but there is no certainty that it was used before or after this period. In some cases where previous scholars have discovered the rule's operation, statistical analysis casts doubt. Of special interest is the showing that one piece long judged as offering no evidence of the use of the rule probably displays an inversion or parody of the rule for rhetorical-musical effect.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s0075426900007667

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Show all 9 references

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Haslam, 1976, 3161. Texts with musical notation, P.Oxy., 44, 63
  2. Wagner, 1924, Der Oxyrhynchos-Notenpapyrus, Philologus, 79, 205
  3. Crusius, 1893, Zu neuentdeckten antiken Musikresten: I. Nachträgliches über die Seikilosinschrift; II. Fragment einer Partitur des euripideischen Orestes, Philologus, 52, 173
  4. Winnington-Ingram, 1955, Fragments of unknown Greek tragic texts, SO, 31, 1
  5. Pöhlmann, 1970, Denkmäler altgriechischer Musik. Sammlung, Übertragung und Erläuterung aller Fragmente und Fälschungen
  6. Anderson, 1983, Word-accent and melody relationships in ancient Greek musical texts, Journal of Music Theory, 17, 198
  7. Abeti, 1921, Ein neu entdeckter früchristlicher Hymnus mit antiken Musiknoten, ZfMW, 4, 528
  8. Reinach, 1922, Un ancêtre de la musique d'Église, RMus, 3, 19

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Metadata

Authors
Cosgrove, C. H., & Meyer, M. C.
Affiliations
  • Northern Seminary (US)
  • University of Georgia (US)
Venue
The Journal of Hellenic Studies
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2006-11
Volume
126
Pages
66-81
ISSN
  • 0075-4269 (ISSN-L)
  • 2041-4099
DOI
10.1017/s0075426900007667
OpenAlex
W2044623440
Semantic Scholar
0ab06b72f6301005fdd89a9be5208c2a20ce6f5d
Cited by
35
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2018: 16 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 1940 d)
Locations
The Journal of Hellenic Studies (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Musicology and Musical Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Classics › Classical Antiquity Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Classical Studies and Philology
Keywords
ancient Greek music, word accent, melodic contour, parody, inversion, rhetorical effect

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Melody and word accent relationships in ancient Greek musical documents: the Pitch Height Rule. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1017/s0075426900007667
The paper
Cosgrove, C. H., & Meyer, M. C. (2006). Melody and word accent relationships in ancient Greek musical documents: the Pitch Height Rule. The Journal of Hellenic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075426900007667