Seikilos Epitaph

The oldest piece of music in the world.

For DC Solstice 2024, we introduced this song with:

This next song is included not only for its content, but for the fact that it currently exists at all.

In the first century CE, a man named Seikilos (see-ki-los) placed a stone in the ground to mark the grave of a woman named Euterpe (yu-ter-pay). The stone bore this inscription: “I am a tombstone, I am an image. Seikilos placed me here as a long-lasting sign of deathless remembrance.” Below this was written a song. Dedicated to Euterpe. This is the Seikilos Epitaph, and it is the oldest fully intact piece of music in the world.

There is a recording and sheet music available.

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