Passionate about: ancient musical instruments
The sounds of our ancestors
Lyres and other ancient instruments seen decorating ancient Greek urns are being recreated and played by a Nicosia-based musician
Once he realised the sounds of contemporary musical instruments weren’t as satisfying as he once thought, Michalis Georgiou needed to discover something new… or focus on something old! He went for the latter and is now the only person in the world to uncover, reconstruct and revive the music and instruments of ancient Greece. After seven years of research, he has recreated some of the oldest forms of musical instruments, formed an orchestra and written a book.
Being a musician and teacher, Michalis has always had a close relationship with instruments but only the contemporary kind. Eight years ago he began experimenting with a pumpkin after a sudden urge had him searching for a different sound when he realised our ancestors were the originators of divine sounds. “I began researching ancient manuscripts and carefully scrutinising all ancient illustrations on pottery, plans, calculations and drawings,” he explains. “I discovered the variety of materials they used and decided to recreate musical instruments with great accuracy.”
Many instruments, such as those belonging to the Lyre family, are well documented in ancient manuscripts and pottery painting and this was of great help to Michalis in the course of his reconstruction work. There are, however, instruments whose reconstruction has been based on isolated references in manuscripts and on old pots. “The only way to go about recreating instruments with very little or no information is to rely on the common characteristics of the well-documented ancient instruments both from a material and theoretical point of view,” Michalis explains.
One of the first attempts the musician and researcher made was with a tortoise shell, one of the basic materials for the creation of the lyre, one of the oldest and most distinct musical instruments. “I found a tortoise shell at a second-hand dealer and attempted to recreate the bouzouki,” he says. “It was amazing listening to a completely different sound coming out of this instrument we hear so often.” From then on his task got more complicated; Michalis now orders animal horns from Africa and even goats intestines, which he uses for strings. “Any type of material can be found,” he says, “but of course, it’s taken seven years to perfect it. I can now make a lyre in a day.”
But perhaps what he is most proud of is the recreation of the complicated Apollo’s guitar. “This instrument was worshipped by Apollo and it was always played by professional musicians. It is constructed entirely of wood and its main characteristic is the complex structure of its arms and the complicated apparatus found in the interior,” Michalis explains. “The technical expertise associated with the construction of this apparatus demands a very high level of knowledge in applied physics and mathematics to achieve these resonances.”
1999 was when he took the initiative as a music tutor and created a large youth orchestra that plays with the ancient instruments at the Palouriotissa Lyceum that was awarded the first gold medal of the Panhellenic Art Competition. The Ministry of Education in Greece also awarded him with an honorary diploma for all the work and dedication he put into creating the orchestra.
The 40 types of instrument Michalis has constructed so far are not for sale. In fact, he makes them so the members of his orchestra, Terpandros, can play them. “It is an orchestra composed of ancient Greek musical instruments solely and the members are old pupils of mine from the school I work at. This is how I will carry on the work I have been doing, so I hope the younger generation takes note.”
Ancient Greek Musical Instruments book available at En Tipis Publications. Tel: 22-452185
