harmonia

plural harmonias · plural harmoniai

1. entertainmentA harmonic mode in ancient Greek music, characterized by a particular set of chords and rhythmic patterns.

   In 1935, Hamilton trained a chamber orchestra in Stuttgart to perform in the harmoniai.

   1993, John H. Chalmers, Jr., Divisions of the Tetrachord: A Prolegomenon to the Construction of Musical Scales, →ISBN, page 146

   4 more examples

   […]concerning the ancient Greek harmoniai, or modes, in the diatonic genus.[…]degree signify the harmonia in which it appears and what degree it represents; for instance, “D-2” means that this ratio—11/10—is the second degree (ascending) in the Dorian harmonia.

   1949, Harry Partch, Genesis of a Music: Monophony: the Relation of Its Music to Historic and Contemporary Trends; Its Philosophy, Concepts, and Principles; Its Relation to Historic and Proposed Intonations; and Its Application to Musical Instruments, The University of Wisconsin Press, pages 320 and 323

   In the case of Mixolydian harmonia, the framework chord is ¹⁄₁, ¹⁴⁄₁₁, ¹⁴⁄₁₀, and ²⁄₁.[…]while the various diatonic harmoniai are modes of each other, this is not true of the other two genera, which are uniquely derived from their corresponding diatonic forms.

   1991, 1/1: The Quarterly Journal of the Just Intonation Network, pages 4 and 5

   While Pollux attributed to Diodorus of Thebes the expansion of the aulos beyond four trupemata, Athenaeus and Pausanias refer to Pronomus of Thebes as the one who developed an aulos that was capable of playing aulema in Dorian, Phrygian, or Lydian harmoniai. In his description of a statue of Pronomus in Boeotia, Pausanias observes: For a time, auletes had three types of auloi. They played Dorian aulema on one, different auloi were made for pieces in the Phrygian harmonia, and the so-called Lydian aulema was played on other auloi.

   1999, Thomas J. Mathiesen, Apollo’s Lyre: Greek Music and Music Theory in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Lincoln, Neb.; London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 183

   That rhythm was somehow implicated in the identity of the harmoniai is suggested in Aristotle’s anecdote about the composer Philoxenus, who attempted to compose a dithyramb, The Mysians, in the Dorian harmonia, but was unable to do so.

   2020, Edward Nowacki, Greek and Latin Music Theory: Principles and Challenges, University of Rochester Press, →ISBN, page 18

2. human sciencesThe soul regarded as a harmonious blend of the parts of the physical body.

   Socrates argued against the idea of the soul being a harmonia.

1. Greekhuman sciencesThe goddess of harmony and concord, and the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia.
2. astronomy40 Harmonia, a main belt asteroid.

   Synonyms: w:40 Harmonia, ㊵