EUTERPE 2018: A Doublepipe School led by Callum Armstrong & Barnaby Brown
Tarquinia, Italy, 3–6 May 2018. Venue: Hotel Velcamare
Ur pipes by Marco Sciascia with reeds by Barnaby Brown
The doublepipe was the most popular musical instrument of ancient Greece and Rome. This inaugural Euterpe school, organised by the European Music Archaeology Project, is named after the Greek muse of music, the “Giver of delight”. It caters for all levels, from beginners to professionals. Beginners will make simple Sumerian “Ur” pipes to take home, which are ideal for learning circular breathing and practising quietly. Students of Louvre, Berlin, Pydna, Poseidonia or Elgin auloi must bring their own instruments. Sheet music will be provided for solo and ensemble music-making on these six varieties of doublepipe.
Repertoire will include the Athenaios paean, the Orestes chorus, Pindar’s 12th Pythian Ode (on the invention of the aulos), and exercises based on the Aristides scales and anonymous Bellermanni. The final concert will involve all participants in an ensemble composition inspired by the Pythikos nomos with five sections:
Repertoire will include the Athenaios paean, the Orestes chorus, Pindar’s 12th Pythian Ode (on the invention of the aulos), and exercises based on the Aristides scales and anonymous Bellermanni. The final concert will involve all participants in an ensemble composition inspired by the Pythikos nomos with five sections:
1. Apollo surveys the ground;
2. he challenges the serpent;
3. they fight and we hear the dying serpent’s hissing and teeth grinding;
4. a libation song;
5. a victory dance.
The 4-day programme includes small-group teaching, vocabelising (to-a ta-e te-o), gentle stretching to mitigate the dangers of practising, rehearsals, talks, Skype conversations (with Stefan Hagel and other experts), informal performances and collegiate conversations over meals: a wholesome programme designed to energise and equip students to develop as doublepipe players back home, supported year-round by strong connections with fellow learners. There are no masters yet!
The 4-day programme includes small-group teaching, vocabelising (to-a ta-e te-o), gentle stretching to mitigate the dangers of practising, rehearsals, talks, Skype conversations (with Stefan Hagel and other experts), informal performances and collegiate conversations over meals: a wholesome programme designed to energise and equip students to develop as doublepipe players back home, supported year-round by strong connections with fellow learners. There are no masters yet!
In 2010, the Municipality of Tarquinia sponsored a meeting at Hotel Velcamare, where ideas for an EU culture project began to coalesce. After several pre-application meetings and a successful submission, EMAP began. In 2013, a larger team of doublepipe specialists met at the Velcamare to plan one of EMAP’s packages: the Auloi/Tibiae Revival Project. This team named itself the Workshop of Dionysus and set up a multi-author blog, doublepipes.info, to facilitate its interdisciplinary work. The Euterpe 2018 school grows directly out of these Workshop of Dionysus meetings.
Photographers: Placido Scardina (02, 04), Aly Wight (06), Angelo Meriani (07), Olga Sutkowska (10).
In the following videos, Callum Armstrong and Barnaby Brown play the four doublepipes that form the focus of Euterpe 2018:
Pydna aulos (c. 400 BCE)
Poseidonia aulos (c. 500 BCE)
