Hear the Earliest Song of the World from More Than 3,400 Years Ago
In the same way that primitive humans produced art through cave art and ceramics, music has acted as a global means of expression since ancient eras. While we may never experience the multitude of melodies that have faded from history, there exists a remarkable musical composition from approximately 1,400 BCE that has survived on clay tablets for over 3,400 years. Referred to as the oldest song that can be played, the “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” was unearthed by archaeologists in the 1950s within the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit, located in what is now contemporary Syria.
The tablets feature inscriptions in the Hurrian language employing Sumerian cuneiform script, including both the words and the musical notation for the Hurrian Hymn. However, the exact sound of the song remains uncertain, as the guidelines do not specify the exact duration and pitch of the notes, unlike modern sheet music. Extensive analysis by scholars has led to various interpretations regarding how the music may be performed. Nevertheless, one interpretation appears to be most compelling.
Canadian musician Peter Pringle has recreated “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” drawing upon the insights of archaeomusicologist Dr. Richard J. Dumbrill. In the video above, he performs the piece on a long-necked lute, which resembles a hybrid between the Turkish baglama and the Persian setar. “I crafted this instrument myself as an experiment,” Pringle discloses. “It features four strings, though the bass notes come from a double course. It’s tuned F-C-F. Lutes like this have been in use since the most ancient periods throughout Mesopotamia and Anatolia.”
Pringle has also incorporated sounds from ancient pipes in a backing track. “The pipes audible are replicas of the 5,000-year-old silver pipes found in the Sumerian city of Ur during the 1920s,” he clarifies. “These are reed instruments, but since I can’t perform wind instruments and sing simultaneously, I sampled the pipes and play them through a pedal keyboard, akin to a pedalboard used by organists.
“My left foot manages the lower register pipe, and my right foot the upper register.” Pringle notes, “Players of these instruments employed a technique called ‘circular breathing,’ which is still practiced today for wind instruments such as the Armenian duduk and the Australian didgeridoo.”
Experts believe “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” was dedicated to Nikkal, the goddess associated with orchards and fertility in the ancient Near East. Pringle’s captivating rendition of this world’s oldest known piece of music offers a powerful insight into a long-lost world from millennia past.
Experience Pringle’s interpretation of the oldest recorded song in the video above.
Peter Pringle: YouTube
Source: THE OLDEST SONG IN THE WORLD
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