[gothic-l] Ostrogothic or Visigothic Music

[Tim O'Neill]

sunburst wrote:

> I have now written about half of the poems in Germanic Alliterative Verse
> that I will need in order to produce a CD of traditional music featuring the
> Gothic language.  In that project, I will be making use of some of the
> original Visigothic melodies.  I can't really effectively describe how they
> sound; you will have to hear them for yourself.

Can I put in an order for your CD now? ;>

Those interested in the Germanic round lyre/harp might
want to look at this link on how to make and play one:

http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~priestdo/lyre.html

I made a copy of the Sutton Hoo lyre a few years ago and
tuned it to a pentatonic scale. I used a lighter wood than
the maple used in the original, so I don't think my lyre
was authentic in its sound, but it gave me an idea of how
such an instrument would play.  The British Channel Four (?)
documentary of a few years ago, _The Story of English_,
also had a professor of Old English playing a Germanic lyre
and reciting _Beowulf_.  An account of another performer of
_Beowulf_ on an Germanic harp can be found at:

http://home.earthlink.net/~lavransrm/Beowulf.html

A photo of a Sutton Hoo Germanic lyre reconstruction can
be found at the bottom of this page:

http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/eliot/722/Sutthoo.htm

Horn, bone and amber harp bridges have been found at
various sites throughout the Germanic world, including at
Jorvik/York and Birka.  Several remains of Germanic harps
have survived in Europe as well, making it fairly likely
that the Goths used similar round lyres to accompany their
songs/alliterative poetry.

What are the pieces on your CD about Albareiks?

Tim O'Neill

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