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Elena Methodieva Stoynova is
a
professional
musician and
a
musicologist
researching
ancient Greek music in
its
Thracian environment
(today's North Eastern Greece and Balkan region). Her research is
mainly focused on the ancient
musical instruments used
in the Balkans, the
islands of the Aegean
Sea,
and in
Asia Minor.
In 1998
she
defended a thesis with the
subject:“Ancient guitar:
Theoretical investigation,
Attempt to make a restoration, Musical
performance” at
the Institute of History
of Art,
Bulgarian Academy of Science.
The instrument she constructed (picture on
the right) as part of this research project has been used in several concerts in Germany.
Her playing approach is based on the use of plectrum as
a mobile
bridge held with the right hand and sliding upwards on the strings , above
the level of the left hand, which positioned behind the resonator box is
pulling the strings.
Since
pictorial evidence from Greek vases is not adequate for establishing a
clear idea of the exact function of the plectrum in the ancient
instrumental techniques, we may assume that this approach might not be far
from how a cithara was originally played, considering that there is at
least one piece of pictorial evidence supporting this assumption (a
depiction of a muse
holding
the plectrum with the right hand placed above the level of the left
hand).
Elena Stoynova has also created two instruments
of the Lyra type.
Here is the picture of one of them.
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Audio samples of cithara performance
Here are
some sound clips from one of Elena's concerts in
Germany (Bonn,
October 2004, Exhibition
of Thracian treasures)
Invocation of Calliope and Apollo
Extant ancient Greek hymn by Mesomedes, 1st c. AD
(See also a
vocal
version of this hymn by another researcher).
Beethoven
“An die Freude” (“Ode to Joy”)
Related links:
Reconstruction of ancient citharas and lyras by another researcher:
replica of an
ancient Cithara, by Ioannidis Nikolaos
replica of an
ancient Lyra, by Ioannidis Nikolaos
For more information on the various types of
ancient guitars visit the page ANCIENT
GREEK
INSTRUMENTS
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