Echoes of Seikilos

Seasons Greetings all!

Here's a little something I'm cooking up for a concert next year. 
It's based on the Epitaph of Seikilos, which is the earliest surviving complete song.

I tried to give it a flavour of Antiquity, and to create unexpected harmonies.
Haven't come up with lyrics yet; though it will start with the original Ancient Greek text translated into English.

Maybe my piano part is a bit too thin? Or perhaps I should keep it sparse? 

The notation is intended for midi, and I'll be adjusting the dynamics upwards by at least one degree for the musicians.
When I make the final score, I'm intending to write out the spread stacked chords in full as arpeggios. 
 

N.B. Score updates will be posted further down the thread.

Hi @Alex Weidmann!

On 12/30/2025 at 10:00 AM, Alex Weidmann said:

tried to give it a flavour of Antiquity, and to create unexpected harmonies.

Indeed the harmony creates unexpected effect. I like the modulations throughout. At b.56 when you move to E flat major I thought you were using the clichetic "up an semitone" modulation just like many boring pop songs do, but you prove me wrong haha. 

On 12/30/2025 at 10:00 AM, Alex Weidmann said:

Maybe my piano part is a bit too thin? Or perhaps I should keep it sparse? 

I don't think it sparse, especially when played in real life it will be full of pedals and the texture would not be thick at all. Only the scoring would be a bit confusing, I think you can simply write those arpeggios out in 32th notes and then have a pedal under it. This will create the same effect and without the arpeggio signs haha.

Thx for sharing!

Henry

Thanks so much for listening Henry! Glad you liked it 🤗

I have some lyrics for this now. 
They're from two different translations of the Epitaph. 
I'm very inexperienced with fitting lyrics to music: so any advice would be really helpful!