Author Archives: Barnaby Brown

Phragmites australis vs Arundo donax

So far as I am aware, no aulos player today uses reeds made of Common Reed, Phragmites australis. We all use Giant Reed, Arundo donax. The reason is simple: the doublepipe revival began in a cultural environment that only esteemed Arundo. … Continue reading

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First score for Megara aulos: Alcestis, Kommos

In this video, I discuss my approach to composing and playing music on an aulos reproduced by Chrestos Terzēs after an original buried at Megara in c. 300 BCE. The reeds are by Robin Howell. The occasion is the 2019 … Continue reading

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The Euripides Orestes Chorus

Score and commentary: Euripides-Orestes-Chorus_2018-08-02.pdf Open file formats: doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.6885089 A tiny piece of mummy cartonnage with musical notation was found in 1892. Written in about 200 BCE, it is thought to transmit music composed by Euripides for his tragedy Orestes (408 BCE). My … Continue reading

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Euterpe 2018 preparation

This page contains experiments in sound and notation. We are sharing these experiments so that 1) participants can prepare for the 1st Euterpe doublepipe school, and 2) scholars can send us feedback before rehearsals begin on 3 May. After the … Continue reading

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Hichiriki reeds

by Jean Jeltsch, Robin Howell and Barnaby Brown This Japanese hichiriki reed was photographed by the bassoon reed researcher Jean-Marie Heinrich in the 1980s. It bears a striking resemblance to an aulos reed acquired by the Berlin Egyptian Museum in 1894: … Continue reading

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The 1st Euterpe doublepipe school

Our parent organisation, the European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP), is organising a doublepipe school in Tarquinia, Italy, 3–6 May 2018. For the programme and further information on the Euterpe school, see www.emaproject.eu/events/euterpe. Euterpe is the Greek muse of music, commonly represented playing … Continue reading

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A Louvre deluxe model by Robin Howell

In June 2017, Callum Armstrong upgraded to a deluxe Louvre model, developed for him by Robin Howell in Toronto, Canada. Callum’s first performance playing this ‘Rolls-Royce’ instrument was at the 10th MOISA Meeting in Oxford last July: The photographs above … Continue reading

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Introducing the aulos of Poseidonia

Last week, I had the honour of playing the aulos of Poseidonia beside the original in the ancient city of Poseidonia, 100km south of Naples. Here I am with Marco Sciascia, who made a reproduction for the EMAP exhibition in … Continue reading

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Delphic Paean by Athenaios Athenaiou

Updated on 17 Jan 2019 Here is a draft of some performing materials I am developing with Armand D’Angour and Stefan Hagel. This is an experiment – we would welcome feedback from singers and academics. Our idea is to move away … Continue reading

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Making reed caps 1

A very exciting package arrived 10 days ago from Robin Howell in Toronto – just before we left for a family holiday in Cornwall. Here are two videos kindly made by my 10-year-old son Sebastian, documenting my holiday project: a … Continue reading

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