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.

Edited January 27Jan 27 by Alex Weidmann

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!

Edited January 27Jan 27 by Alex Weidmann
Score improvements