THE MUSICIANS:
VALERIA FORTUNATA and LINUS SUPERBUS play ROMAN MUSIC as it probably was!
We cannot really use the word "exactly" since very little is known about
the sort of music that would have been familiar to Roman ears. Merely playing
"later" or "modern-sounding" music on re-constructed instruments seems pointless,
so we have laboured hard to produce a "likely" Roman Musical Sound!
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| The Somnia Imperii CD is immediately available.
The cost for customers in the U.K. is £12 (inclusive
of postage and packing). Payment for the U.K. can be made
by cheque, which should be made payable to V.J. MARSHALL and
sent to me at the address below.
Valerie Marshall,
Tudor Lodge,
Pymoor Lane, PYMOOR,
near Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB6 2EF. |
| You can also order using a credit card and pay in your own
currency! We use Paypal to process our credit card orders. |
| Cost U.K. £12.00 including postage & packing. |
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| Cost U.S.A./North America - U.S.$19.00 including shipping. |
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| Cost Europe - Euros 15.00 including shipping. |
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Here are short extracts, recorded as part of the CD.
Important Note:
In order that the samples download reasonably quickly,
we have had to compromise and sacrifice some sound quality. Therefore, the
samples are only 8 bit and do not convey the true sound quality of the
instruments, but do give a good indication of the sound of each.
WARNING:
These samples must NOT be copied for any purpose, commercial or personal.
They are here purely for potential customers as "previews" for CD's or to
help decide which instrument to order.
APOLOGIES to all "genuine" customers
obliged to hear my voice on every single sound sample! Unfortunately, it
has been necessary to add this to prevent the "parasites and leeches" out
there using my music without permission. However, I hope you will still find
the music perfectly audible and therefore suitable for the original purpose
intended.
LEGIO HISPANA (music to depict lXth. Legion moving north across Hadrian's
Wall to do battle. Legend has it that the legion was never seen again! The
instruments heard are - Tuba, Tympana & Utriculus) -
Click here for
the sound sample - (file name legiohispana.wav - file size 2.3 Meg)
BACCHANALIA (ASKAULES - the bagpipe was known to The Ancient World, there
being literary references also to a Greek version called - Askaules. The
pipe heard here uses primitive, all single, reeds. Accompanying instruments
are Tympana and Cymbalum.)
Click here
for the sound sample - (file name - askaules.mp3 - file size 782K)
Download Sound Sample -
Double Aulos
with 2 Tubae and Tympana playing part of a Pompa (processional piece)
- (252K - file name "PompaBritannia.mp3")
Download Sound Sample -
Fistulae with
Lyra and Cymbalum - (378K - file name "tepidarium.mp3")
Download Sound Sample -
Two Corna
with Tympanum - (252K - file name "GloriaRomanorum.mp3")
THESE TRACKS (AND MANY OTHERS) CAN BE HEARD IN FULL ON THE ROMAN MUSIC
CD.
Music For Historical Productions
-The band are also available for media work - for
more information click here.
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COMBAT OF THE GLADIATORS AT THE MUSEUM
OF LONDON
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translates as - "Heralds of the British Province" - suggests a liking for
fanfaring, pomp and the martial side of music. This arose from a need to
provide appropriate accompaniment for Gladatorial Combat - Pompae (ceremonial
processionals) - Battle Re-enactment and Festive occasions. For these, the
louder instruments are needed - TUBAE (trumpets) - BUCINA or CORNU (large
circular war trumpet/horn) and Utriculus (Bagpipe). All the evidence suggests
that the Romans, like us, needed and used plenty of loud music as a backdrop
for these type of events. The majestic sound of Tubae rising above the roar
of the mob for gladatorial combat is something quite special - evocative
sounds which dispel the centuries in an instant! |
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A LONG
ABSENCE |
After a long absence of 1600 years, gladiators returned to the City of London
(Museum of London) to perform on the site of the Ancient Roman Arena there.
The late Roman re-enactment society (Britannia) and our musicians (Praecones
Britanniae) re-created a very real "experience" of what it must have been
like to have been there all those centuries ago! Packed attendances for the
two shows added that extra ingredient - wild, full-throated enthusiasm which
raised hairs on the back of the neck!
Britannia can be contacted on
shadrake@blueyonder.co.uk
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The Empress arrives prior to the start
of The Games |
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....and now The
Emperor! |
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The Emperor's
Guard |
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OTHER
MUSIC |
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Clearly too, there were smaller, more domestic occasions where music
of a different nature would have been heard from instruments such as Lyra
(Lyre) and Fistula Obliqua (flute) or, as shown in this Roman floor mosaic
(pic left), Tibiae (double reedpipes) - Tympanum (tambourine-like drum) and
Cymbalum (small bronze cymbals giving a ringing sound)
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INSTRUMENTS:
From sources such as the mosaic above, also from carvings, paintings and
surviving instruments, we have been able to gain a good indication of the
sort of sounds that were familiar. The images also offer pointers as to their
probable use as well as likely combinations of instruments.
ROMAN MUSIC PICTURE
GALLERY |
Left to right: Roman Bagpipe - Tympanum & Tibiae |
Left to right: Tympanum - Dronepipe & Double Aulos |
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The FULL collection comprises -
FISTULAE (whistle-flutes) - FISTULA OBLIQUA (tranverse flute) - SYRINX (panpipes)
- AULOS - PHRYGIAN TIBIA - TIBIAE (reeds) - PHUSALIS (bladderpipe) - UTRICULUS
(bagpipe) - CORNU - TUBAE - LITUUS (lip reeds) - TYMPANUM - CYMBALUM - SISTRUM
- CROTALA (percussions) and LYRA (plucked strings).....so keep an eye on
our picture gallery! |
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Phrygian Tibia
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Roman Tibiae
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ASKAULES & TYMPANA
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ANIMAL HORNS
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ROMAN CORNU |
PHUSALIS (bladderpipe) |
ROMAN BAGPIPE (Utriculus) |
FISTULAE IMPARES |
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Viewed from top:
Crotala - Cymbala and Sistrum |
left to right: ETRUSCAN AULOS, FISTULA OBLIQUA, BONE PIPES and SYRINX |
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For more pictures of Roman Instruments, please
click HERE |
PRAECONES PROVINCIAE BRITANNIAE
Valerie Marshall
Tudor Lodge, Pymoor Lane, Pymoor, Ely, Cambridgeshire. CB6 2EE. England.
To send me an E-Mail message :
praecones@ancestral.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1353 698084
Fax : 0871 277 2589
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