dithyramb

The dithyramb (; Ancient Greek: διθύραμβος, dithyrambos) was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in The Laws, while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the Republic that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is the only speaker. However, in The Apology Socrates went to the dithyrambic poets with some of their own most elaborate passages, asking their meaning, but got a response of, "Will you believe me?" which "showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them." Plutarch contrasted the dithyramb's wild and ecstatic character with the paean. According to Aristotle, the dithyramb was the origin of Athenian tragedy. A wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing is still occasionally described as dithyrambic.¶

History

Dithyrambs were sung by choirs at Delos, but the literary fragments that have survived are largely Athenian. In Athens, dithyrambs were sung by a Greek chorus of up to fifty men or boys dancing in circular formation, who may or may not have been dressed as Satyrs, probably accompanied by the aulos. They would normally relate some incident in the life of Dionysus or just celebrate wine and fertility. The ancient Greeks laid out the criteria of the dithyramb as follows:¶

special rhythm aulos accompaniment in Phrygian mode enriching text considerable narrative content originally antistrophic character Competitions between groups, singing and dancing dithyrambs were an important part of the festivals of Dionysus, such as the Dionysia and Lenaia. Each tribe would enter two choirs, one of men and one of boys, each under the leadership of a coryphaeus. The names of the winning teams of dithyrambic contests in Athens were recorded. The successful choregos would receive a statue that would be erected—at his expense—as a public monument to commemorate the victory. However, most of the poets remain unknown. The earliest mention of dithyramb, found by Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge, is in a fragment of Archilochus, who flourished in the first half of the seventh century BCE: "I know how to lead the fair song of the Lord Dionysus, the dithyramb, when my wits are fused with wine." As a literary composition for chorus, their inspiration is unknown, although it was likely Greek, as Herodotus explicitly speaks of Arion of Lesbos as "the first of men we know to have composed the dithyramb and named it and produced it in Corinth." The word dithyramb has no known origin, but is frequently assumed not to be derived from Greek.¶

Modern examples

Dithyrambs are rare in English language literature. In German literature they appear more frequently, and from the 19th century several compositions were inspired by them.¶

Literature

John Dryden's "Alexander's Feast" (1697) is a notable example of an English language dithyramb. Friedrich Schiller wrote a Dithyrambe in 1796. Friedrich Nietzsche composed a set of Dionysos-Dithyramben in 1888/89. The poetry cycle Dithyrambischer Herbst by Austrian poet Alfred Grünewald was published in 1920.¶

Music and dance

From the 19th century dithyrambs appear frequently in classical music, as well in vocal as instrumental compositions. Franz Schubert wrote a song for bass voice based on Schiller's Dithyrambe (D 801, published as Op. 60 No. 2 in 1826). Schubert's earlier attempt at setting the same poem for a more extended vocal ensemble had remained unfinished (D 47, 1813). Schubert's Fantasie in C Major, Op. 15 (D.760), often called the "Wanderer Fantasy", was referred to as "the splendid Wanderer-Dithyramb" by Franz Liszt in his letter to Professor Siegmund Lebert of December 2, 1868. Johann Friedrich Reichardt (in Schillers lyrische Gedichte volume 2, published around 1809) and Wilhelm Taubert (Op. 144 No. 2, 1864) were other composers setting Schiller's poem. Other composers basing vocal music on dithyrambs include Giuseppe Verdi ("Brindisi", No. 6 of his 1845 Album di Sei Romanze), and Max Bruch (Op. 39, c. 1871). Othmar Schoeck's 1911 Dithyrambe, Op. 22 is based on an unnamed verse by Goethe. Instrumental dithyrambs were composed by Robert Volkmann and Hermann Ritter. Nikolai Medtner composed several dithyrambs, including a set of three for solo piano as his Opus 10. Additionally, the final movement of his first violin sonata carries the title, and the last of his Vergessene Weisen Op. 40 is a Danza ditirambica. The last movement of Igor Stravinsky's Duo Concertant for violin and piano is entitled Dithyrambe. Richard Edward Wilson's 1983 Dithyramb is for oboe and clarinet.¶

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Dithyramb”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.¶

dithyramb is literary and music genre, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition.¹¶

The source record links this tradition to 26 external registers, which can be verified through the citation.¹¶