Oxyrhynchus hymn

The Oxyrhynchus hymn (or P. Oxy. XV 1786) is the earliest known manuscript of a Christian hymn to contain both lyrics and musical notation. It is found on Papyrus 1786 of the Oxyrhynchus papyri, now kept at the Papyrology Rooms of the Sackler Library, Oxford. This papyrus fragment was unearthed in 1918 and the discovery was first published in 1922.^[1] The hymn was written down around the end of the 3rd century AD.^[2]

Description

The text, in Greek, poetically invokes silence so that the Holy Trinity may be praised.

The music is written in Greek vocal notation.^[3] It is entirely diatonic, with an ambitus of exactly an octave from F to F an octave above, and a final nominally on G (assuming a key signature without sharps or flats). The notation is Hypolydian, and employs the rhythmic symbols macron (diseme), leimma + macron, stigme, hyphen, and colon.^[4] The text is largely set syllabically, with a few short melismas. The hymn's meter is essentially anapaestic, though there are some irregularities.^[5]

It is often considered^[who?] the only fragment of Christian music from ancient Greece, although Kenneth Levy^[6] has persuasively argued that the Sanctus melody best preserved in the Western medieval Requiem mass dates from the 4th century.^[3] It is similar to the hymn in its largely syllabic texture and diatonic melody, with slight differences.^[vague]

Modern recordings of the hymn have been included on a number of releases of Ancient Greek music.

Text

.. Let it be silent

Let the Luminous stars not shine,

Let the winds (?) and all the noisy rivers die down;

And as we hymn the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Let all the powers add "Amen Amen"

Empire, praise always, and glory to God,

The sole giver of good things, Amen Amen.^[7]

See also

• Oxyrhynchus papyri

Notes

1. ^ Hunt and Jones 1922.
2. ^ Pöhlmann and West 2001, 192.
3. ^ ^{a b} McKinnon 2001.
4. ^ Pöhlmann and West 2001, 190–91 and 192.
5. ^ Pöhlmann and West 2001, 192–93.
6. ^ Levy 1958–62.
7. ^ West 1992, 325.

Sources

• Hunt, Arthur S., and H. S. Jones. 1922. "Christian Hymn with Musical Notation", The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, edited by Bernard P. Grenfell, Arthur S. Hunt, E. Lobel et al., 15:21–25. London: Egypt Exploration Fund.
• Levy, Kenneth. 1958–62. "The Byzantine Sanctus and its Modal Tradition in East and West". Annales Musicologiques 6: 7–67.
• McKinnon, James W. 2001. "Christian Church, Music of the Early. §II: Special Issues, 8. The Musical Character of Early Christian Song". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries.
• Pöhlmann, Egert, and Martin L. West. 2001. Documents of Ancient Greek Music: The Extant Melodies and Fragments. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-815223-X
• West, M. L. 1992. Ancient Greek Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-814975-1

Discography

• Atrium Musicæ de Madrid, Gregorio Paniagua. 1979. "Christian Hymn of Oxyrhynchus." Musique de la Grèce Antique. Harmonia Mundi (France) HMA 1901015. Arles: Harmonia Mundi.
• Christodoulos Halaris. 1992. "Hymn to the Holy Trinity". Music of Ancient Greece. Orata ORANGM 2013. [Greece]: Orata Ltd.
• Ensemble De Organographia. 1995. "Christian hymn, Anonymous (3rd c. AD) Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1786." Music of the Ancient Greeks. Pandourion PRCD1001. Oregon City: Pandourion Records.

External links

• Oxyrhynchus 1786 at Oxyrhynchus Online, with low- & high- resolution images of the papyrus itself.