The pencil-drawn diagrams are meticulous, noting the contents and whereabouts of their author's discoveries. A map depicts a bird's eye view of one room, showing a pile of wheels; another shows a series of steps. The documents - recently displayed at Weston Library in Oxford as part of "Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive' - describe the discovery of the first known intact royal burial from ancient Egypt that became a world-famous archaeological find.
But long before Howard Carter and co's 1922 haul, the land of the pharaohs had proved an irresistible draw, with a fascination for the early dynasties frequently translated into music. Biblical connections were a focus for the likes of Handel (Israel in Egypt), Rossini (Moses in Egypt; Moses and Pharaoh) and Anton Rubinstein (Moses), whose works were based on the Old Testament's deliverance of the Israelites, while the 'Arabian Dance' from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 2 evokes a historian who visits the Sphinx, and Philip Glass's 1983 opera Akhnaten explores the titular pharaoh's monotheism.
Interest in the mysterious world of mummies and hieroglyphs was stirred when merchants began importing curiosities from their travels, generally acquired by dubious means (tomb looting was common until the early 20th century). Collectors such as Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823) paved the way for Egyptology to become an area of academic study, usually defined as the period from the 5th millennium BC to the 4th century AD.
The dry climate of Egypt supported the survival of ancient musical instruments such as end-blown flutes and pipes played originally with single or double reeds, harps and trumpets (see box, p50), providing evidence of music in this early civilisation. Pythagoras is believed to have investigated musical theory in Egypt before moving to mathematics and Plato is said to have praised its practice of the art form.
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av BBC Music Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av BBC Music Magazine.
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Discovering Donizetti - Thanks to a two-year lockdown project, nearly 200 previously lost Donizetti songs will now see the light of day
Thanks to a two-year lockdown project, nearly 200 previously lost Donizetti songs will now see the light of day. For most people, undertaking a lockdown project meant learning to bake sourdough bread, getting fit with Joe Wicks, or taking up a language. But Professor Roger Parker, the eminent historian of Italian opera and emeritus professor at King's College London, had something far more ambitious in mind. He set about unearthing songs by Gaetano Donizetti - many of which had been lost since the composer's lifetime - and the enterprise turned into a two-year labour of love.
Composer of the month - Bohuslav Martinů - Though the Czech absorbed many influences from his exile abroad, his colourful music was always distinctively his own
The youngest of six, Bohuslav was a sickly child, and his father or older sister often had to carry him the 193 steps up to the tower. He was shy at school, too, though showed an early talent for the violin and gave his first concert at 14. By the following year, the future composer was off to the Prague Conservatoire to take the first, if faltering, steps towards a career in music.
Symphonies Beside the Sea- Before cinema, the wireless and coach trips cast them adrift, seaside orchestras were once a major holiday attraction
Before cinema, the wireless and coach trips cast them adrift, seaside orchestras were once a major holiday attraction. It's a dimension of music-making that once was integral to many a British holiday experience, yet now has all but vanished. The tide went out, you might say, on the professional seaside (or pier, or spa) orchestra many decades ago. In their glory days, though - perhaps a quarter-century on either side of 1900-these ensembles were everywhere, from Bridlington to Eastbourne, New Brighton to Worthing, Blackpool to Bexhill-on-Sea, Cleethorpes to Brighton... the list is astonishing.
Richard Morrison- Do Classical Works About Mortality Reveal More To Us As We Get Older? Is it inevitably true that, as we journey through the decades, we are better able to interpret or empathise with a profoundly death-obsessed masterpiece such as Schubert's Winterreise?
As we get older do we respond differently to that vast canon of music dealing with mortality? Is it inevitably true that, as we journey through the decades, we are better able to interpret or empathise with a profoundly death-obsessed masterpiece such as Schubert's Winterreise? Or do human beings possess such a flexible sense of empathy that we can relate to virtually any state of mind if it is evoked convincingly enough by a composer?
Do Notes Win Votes? - There are multi-dimensional ways that music is used by political campaigners and their supporters today.
It was a little bit of history repeating when Rishi Sunak announced the UK General Election to the heckling of his political opponents blasting out D:Ream's 'Things Can Only Get Better'.
Västra Karup Sweden
The spirit of soprano Birgit Nilsson is alive and well in the town of her birth, home to a festival dedicated to her memory
Federico Colli
\"At this moment in time we don't need more virtuosi. We need musicians to engage with the philosophy of music
Harmonic Progression
What happens when classical music-style levels of ambition, invention and sheer length are brought to pop? The answer, as Meurig Bowen explains, is Prog Rock
Golden years
Young musicians may be physically fit, but with age come the advantages of wisdom and experience
Sweet Sixteen
As The Sixteen celebrates its 45th birthday, founder Harry Christophers speaks to Andrew Stewart about directing a choral powerhouse
