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438 438 On Ancient Greek Music. and lyre answering one another alternatively, either with the same or different strains, as in our preludes, ritornellos, and rondos ^. Now with respect to the first of these, I do not think the distinction which Plato makes between the /kgXyj will allow it. For jueXo^ certainly means the strain or air of the song, which Plato says was different in the lyric and vocal music, but which M. Burette's first supposition makes to be the same. The like objection applies in some measure to his second ; for although the lyre and voice would sound in different modes, the strains would be essentially the same, by which sameness of strain I mean that the notes would be synchronous, and would proceed by the same intervals. But there are other and weightier objections to it: for Mei- bomius (p. 35) quotes passages which shew that " not only did not the ancients employ the thirds and sixths^ as a part of their antiphonia^ or their paraphonia, but that even so late as Bryennius and Psellus, writers of the middle ages, they had not come into use.'*' Now as a concert in two modes, one a third above the other, implies both these con- cords, I do not see how the irepocpcovia can be interpreted in this manner. Of his third hypothesis I have disposed already. His fourth may undoubtedly be true, but it i« not all the trvith : for if it were, what does Plato mean by joining ^vjUL(p(jovov with avTicpcorov^ ? From all these considerations it seems to me that the passage must be interpreted to imply something very analo- gous to our counterpoint. On this explanation the rrvKvdrrj^ 2 I should not have noticed M. Burette's suppositions after Bumey's remarks on them (Vol. i. pp. 137 — 143) had not I seen their untenableness in a somewhat different light; and had not some mistakes of Bumey's (as for example that respecting dvri- (p(jovo9 in p. 143) made me desirous to refute them u.pon what 1 considered more correct grounds. ^ fieXcocelTaL fxev yap tov ^tot nrecrcrdpoov ekdi-n-co ^lacr^^fxaTa TroWd, diacfxjova fiev- Toi Travra' to fxev ovv eXdxLGTOv kut' avTi]v t^}v tjj^? (pcovij'S <pu(TLV SpLCTaL, AnstOX- enus Harmon, p. 20. Ed. Meibom. 4 He means symphonia. See note 5. 5 Besides which M. Burette has mistaken the meaning of difn-L<pu}vov, For Aris- totle, Prob. XXXIX. 19, says to fxhv dvTL(ptovov crvpLtpcovov ecrri Std iracrwu' e/c TraiSaJu ydp, i/eojiy, Kal dvSpojv yiveTai to dv^i<pwvov' i. e. Antiphony is symphony, by octaves; for it arises from (the mingled voices of) children, youths, and men. So that it bore no resemblance to the antiphonies of the Romish church service, which are responsive sitrainsj sung alternately by the prie»st and the people.