Although Horace is generally regarded (and taught) as a lyric poet, Lyons here expands on his previous work where he proposed that the Odes of Horace were in fact songs to entertain the Roman patricians. Moving into the Augustan Age and the early Medieval period, he examines both the internal structure of the poems and their musical arrangements in the Ode to Phyllis and the rediscovered St. Petersburg codex. Although it cannot be proved that they were actually performed in the early Roman Empire, he compiles evidence that the Carmina were sung by Horace to the accompaniment of his lyre. Includes 50 plates, twelve of which are in color. Besides a short index of topics, there are extensive indexes of personal and place names, along with a listing of neumed manuscripts. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
- Genre: Poetry, Literary Criticism, Music
- Subgenre: Ancient + Classical + Medieval, General
- Publisher: Aris & Phillips
- Pages: 204
- Language: English
- Format: hardcover
- Release Date: May 12, 2010
- Date Published: May 12, 2010
- Author: Stuart Lyons