Seikilos epitaph
Oldest surviving complete piece of music / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation,[1] being dated between the first and second century CE. The song — the melody of which is recorded, alongside its lyrics, in ancient Greek musical notation — was found engraved on a pillar (a stele) from the ancient Hellenistic town of Tralles, Turkey, in 1883. It is a Hellenistic Ionic song in either the Phrygian octave species or Iastian tonos. While older music with notation exists (for example the Hurrian songs), all of it is in fragments; the Seikilos epitaph is unique in that it is a complete, though short, composition.[2]
Although usually referred to as an epitaph, it is possible (according to a suggestion put forward by Armand D'Angour) that it does not mark a tomb, but was merely a monument erected by Seikilos himself to commemorate his skill.[3]