Alypius (music writer)

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For the 4th century Greek geographer, see Alypius of Antioch.

Alypius of Alexandria was a Greek writer on music who flourished c. 360[1]. Of his works, only a small fragment has been preserved, under the title of Εισαγωγη Μουσικη ("Introduction to Music"); it was printed with the tables of notation in the Antiquae Musicae Scriptores of Marcus Meibomius, (in quarto, Amsterdam 1652). Meibomius not only made use of the manuscript belonging to Joseph Scaliger, from which Meursius gave the first edition (1616[2]), but others also existing in England and Italy. Karl von Jan published an authoritative edition in Musici Scriptores Graeci, 1895-1899.[2]

Alypius's work is the best source of modern knowledge of the musical notes of the Greeks, including a comprehensive account of the Greek system of scales, transpositions, and musical notation. His age is uncertain: Jean-Benjamin de la Borde, in his Essai sur la Musique, iii. 133, places him towards the end of the fourth century.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Alypius". The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05. URL accessed 2006-09-27.
  2. ^ a b "Alypius". (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 26, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005972
  3. ^ Rose, Hugh James [1853] (1857). A New General Biographical Dictionary, London: B. Fellowes et al.