Roman music -- what do you think it means?

[kevinmathie]

I've been thinking about this entry in the latest Taxi listings a few days:

NEW LISTING -- COMPOSERS OF LATIN (ROMAN) INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC NEEDED by a Music Producer...

The rest of the listing is all about the deal, and a description of who the listing is intended for, and not any more detail on what this producer wants from a musical perspective. What do you think? Is the producer looking for church Latin (as in Gregorian Chants, etc.)? Or, since he specifies "Roman," is he/she looking for an ancient Roman flavor such as what might underscore a documentary or film about ancient Rome?

In reality, no one actually knows much about ancient Roman music. Almost nothing is written down, although scholars have speculated that the music may have been influenced heavily by the Greeks, so it may have been monophonic in nature, and may have followed the Greek modes. From pictures and carvings, we know what some of the instruments were that may have been used, but not much about how those instruments were used.

On the other hand, if the producer just wants basic orchestral cues with our culturally-accepted imaginings of what ancient Roman music might have sounded like, then that's much easier.

Thoughts?

[kevinmathie]

Well, here I am responding to my own post. But, after I posted this, I thought, "hmm...maybe I should contact Taxi directly!" I don't know why that wasn't my first thought...

Anyway, I just got an answer back, and thought I'd share it with you, just in case any of you had the same question. The answer is: it's up to our interpretation of what "Roman" means. Since this is a new library, he/she is open to a lot of ideas.

So, I'm just going to watch HBO's "Rome" again, I suppose, and see which direction I end up going with this listing.

[mazz]

Miklos Rosza had this same issue when he composed the music for Ben Hur. His solution makes for interesting listening. You might give that one a spin as well.

Cheers!

Mazz

[kevinmathie]

Oo! Yes, Ben Hur. I'll definitely check it out

Thanks!

[tomaragon]

It's interesting to note that most of the time the actors portraying Romans in the movies speak with an English accent!

Go figure!!!

[Kolstad]

This is fun and enlightning reading!

Sometimes when things are jotted down on paper or a screen, they seem so authoritative that you forget the interpretation part. You don't want to piss off people by submitting something irrellevant, so it's good to learn these listings sometimes are NOT implying that the clients always know excactly what they want, and that it's just up to the musicians to guess it. There ARE a cretive space to work in..

Hans Zimmer did a pretty good roman job on "Gladiator", too
But sad to say the first thing that entered my mind was "Asterix"

[jdhogg]

Has anyone here seen the star studded "caligula"?

[mojobone]

It's interesting to note that most of the time the actors portraying Romans in the movies speak with an English accent!

Go figure!!!

It's more than just interesting; there happens to be a very good reason for that. Rome was an empire; so was Britain-the accent was used to delineate the comparison. You may have noticed very few Romans in films have a Cockney accent-they tend to be a bit more posh. I'd imagine if you mounted a production in Spain, you'd have the Castilians play the Romans.

[llama]

It's interesting to note that most of the time the actors portraying Romans in the movies speak with an English accent!

Go figure!!!

It's more than just interesting; there happens to be a very good reason for that. Rome was an empire; so was Britain-the accent was used to delineate the comparison. You may have noticed very few Romans in films have a Cockney accent-they tend to be a bit more posh. I'd imagine if you mounted a production in Spain, you'd have the Castilians play the Romans.

AH!!!! That also explains why a lot of the actors in Star Wars had English accents.....with the empire analogy and all that.

Derek

[mojobone]

More on topic, I'd say that with Rome being the center of that empire and all roads leading there, it was probably the sort of place where any young Mediterranean musician might go to seek his fortune; sorta like modern LA or NYC. You could probably find any sort of indigenous music from any part of that empire, right there in the capitol. Greek, Turkish, Cypriot, perhaps even Celtic music traditions may have rubbed elbows in those ancient Roman streets. That's if ancient Rome is what's meant, rather than the modern city of Rome, heh. Anyhoo, I'd probably err on the side of what a Hollywood producer thinks sounds Romish.

OR, you might also think in terms of the available instruments and modes; Ionian, Dorian and so forth or panflute, zither, lyre and sackbut.