Evolution of Music from 1400 BC till the present day

[GrandizerII]

Recently, I've been going through a YouTube playlist containing a chronological list of music clips from the old BC days up till the present (2019) and enjoying the experience. Here's a link to this playlist for anyone interested:

Evolution of Music

I might as well use this thread to post each of these clips per post, successively (starting from the first) and once every few days or so. And then we can comment on what we think about the clip and what it makes us feel and the historical context surrounding it and such.

First clip:





Amazing how even back in 1400 BC the music was this good!

For context, this was a reconstruction of the oldest known melody (Hurrian Hymn no. 6), performed by Michael Levy using a lyre.

For more details:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurrian_songs

Btw, I am assuming the rapid beats at the end are just a modernistic creative finisher to the music and wasn't part of the original music. Otherwise, that would be even more impressive!

[The Valkyrie]

You mean the Intelligent Design of music, surely?

[GrandizerII]

You mean the Intelligent Design of music, surely?

Yes, of course, how did I forget about William Lane Craig's Argument for God from Ancient Musical Creativity?

---

Perhaps I should summarize a bit of the stuff stated on the Wiki page:

So this hymn is one of many hymns that were inscribed on clay tablets in cuneiform writing around 1400 BC. These clay tablets were discovered in the 1950s somewhere in Syria.

The hymn of interest is the only one of these hymns that has been discovered in a substantially complete form, and it is referred to as the Hurrian hymn to Nikkal (or h.6, for short). Nikkal refers to the name of some Semitic goddess.

[GrandizerII]

I might as well post the next clip now, since the initial interest level here doesn't appear high enough to warrant waiting for a longer while (for comments/insights on the current clip).





This one is from 500 BC. Lovely tune, and very clearly "Asian-esque".

For more details:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianzhong_...Yi_of_Zeng

Or at least I think that's the right Wiki article. If the article I've linked is not relevant to what's shown in the clip, please let me know.

[no one]

[onlinebiker]

Lol.. I tried linking that this morning.

Gotta zugzug it...

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

At least they had the good sense to keep Ringo off of drums.

Boru

[GrandizerII]

Next clip:





This is music from an ancient Greek play "Orestes" by Euripides:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orestes_(play)

A bit spooky and dark (especially with the chorus). Reminds me a little of Bohemian Rhapsody actually, in the sense that public judgement is being made on the main character for murdering someone and mercy is being asked for.

[Rev. Rye]

Peeking into the full playlist (currently at exactly 1000 videos), I can't help but notice the complete lack of old blues and country music from the list. One reason I'm a big fan of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music is it demonstrates a time when the line between country music, the blues, folk songs, and even jazz or gospel (okay, jazz was already a bit different from the rest at this point) were a lot more permeable than one would have expected. In essence, it's the primordial ooze containing the common ancestors from which all the popular music we listen to today comes from, and I'm legitimately surprised that there's nothing of that primordial ooze in this playlist documenting the evolution of music. Not even a token Robert Johnson or Carter Family track.

[GrandizerII]

Peeking into the full playlist (currently at exactly 1000 videos), I can't help but notice the complete lack of old blues and country music from the list. One reason I'm a big fan of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music is it demonstrates a time when the line between country music, the blues, folk songs, and even jazz or gospel (okay, jazz was already a bit different from the rest at this point) were a lot more permeable than one would have expected. In essence, it's the primordial ooze containing the common ancestors from which all the popular music we listen to today comes from, and I'm legitimately surprised that there's nothing of that primordial ooze in this playlist documenting the evolution of music. Not even a token Robert Johnson or Carter Family track.

Well, that's a shame. Maybe we can supplement the playlist by posting here those clips you feel are missing once when we get to around the same time periods you're referring to.