Lord Byron, Edited by Rowland E. Prothero - "The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1"

W. S. B. Mathews - "A Popular History of the Art of Music"

Harriet T. Comstock - "A Son of the Hills"

Thomas Hill Green - "An Estimate of the Value and Influence of Works of Fiction in Modern Times"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Ten Books on Architecture

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7. In the same manner the voice executes its movements in concentric
circles; but while in the case of water the circles move horizontally on
a plane surface, the voice not only proceeds horizontally, but also
ascends vertically by regular stages. Therefore, as in the case of the
waves formed in the water, so it is in the case of the voice: the first
wave, when there is no obstruction to interrupt it, does not break up
the second or the following waves, but they all reach the ears of the
lowest and highest spectators without an echo.

8. Hence the ancient architects, following in the footsteps of nature,
perfected the ascending rows of seats in theatres from their
investigations of the ascending voice, and, by means of the canonical
theory of the mathematicians and that of the musicians, endeavoured to
make every voice uttered on the stage come with greater clearness and
sweetness to the ears of the audience. For just as musical instruments
are brought to perfection of clearness in the sound of their strings by
means of bronze plates or horn [Greek: echeia], so the ancients devised
methods of increasing the power of the voice in theatres through the
application of harmonics.




CHAPTER IV

HARMONICS


1. Harmonics is an obscure and difficult branch of musical science,
especially for those who do not know Greek. If we desire to treat of it,
we must use Greek words, because some of them have no Latin equivalents.
Hence, I will explain it as clearly as I can from the writings of
Aristoxenus, append his scheme, and define the boundaries of the notes,
so that with somewhat careful attention anybody may be able to
understand it pretty easily.

2. The voice, in its changes of position when shifting pitch, becomes
sometimes high, sometimes low, and its movements are of two kinds, in
one of which its progress is continuous, in the other by intervals. The
continuous voice does not become stationary at the "boundaries" or at
any definite place, and so the extremities of its progress are not
apparent, but the fact that there are differences of pitch is apparent,
as in our ordinary speech in _sol_, _lux_, _flos_, _vox_; for in these
cases we cannot tell at what pitch the voice begins, nor at what pitch
it leaves off, but the fact that it becomes low from high and high from
low is apparent to the ear. In its progress by intervals the opposite is
the case. For here, when the pitch shifts, the voice, by change of
position, stations itself on one pitch, then on another, and, as it
frequently repeats this alternating process, it appears to the senses to
become stationary, as happens in singing when we produce a variation of
the mode by changing the pitch of the voice. And so, since it moves by
intervals, the points at which it begins and where it leaves off are
obviously apparent in the boundaries of the notes, but the intermediate
points escape notice and are obscure, owing to the intervals.

3. There are three classes of modes: first, that which the Greeks term
the enharmonic; second, the chromatic; third, the diatonic. The
enharmonic mode is an artistic conception, and therefore execution in it
has a specially severe dignity and distinction. The chromatic, with its
delicate subtlety and with the "crowding" of its notes, gives a sweeter
kind of pleasure. In the diatonic, the distance between the intervals is
easier to understand, because it is natural. These three classes differ
in their arrangement of the tetrachord. In the enharmonic, the
tetrachord consists of two tones and two "dieses." A diesis is a quarter
tone; hence in a semitone there are included two dieses. In the
chromatic there are two semitones arranged in succession, and the third
interval is a tone and a half. In the diatonic, there are two
consecutive tones, and the third interval of a semitone completes the
tetrachord. Hence, in the three classes, the tetrachords are equally
composed of two tones and a semitone, but when they are regarded
separately according to the terms of each class, they differ in the
arrangement of their intervals.

4. Now then, these intervals of tones and semitones of the tetrachord
are a division introduced by nature in the case of the voice, and she
has defined their limits by measures according to the magnitude of the
intervals, and determined their characteristics in certain different
ways. These natural laws are followed by the skilled workmen who fashion
musical instruments, in bringing them to the perfection of their proper
concords.

[Illustration]

5. In each class there are eighteen notes, termed in Greek [Greek:
phthongoi], of which eight in all the three classes are constant and
fixed, while the other ten, not being tuned to the same pitch, are
variable. The fixed notes are those which, being placed between the
moveable, make up the unity of the tetrachord, and remain unaltered in
their boundaries according to the different classes. Their names are
proslambanomenos, hypate hypaton, hypate meson, mese, nete synhemmenon,
paramese, nete diezeugmenon, nete hyperbolaeon. The moveable notes are
those which, being arranged in the tetrachord between the immoveable,
change from place to place according to the different classes. They are
called parhypate hypaton, lichanos hypaton, parhypate meson, lichanos
meson, trite synhemmenon, paranete synhemmenon, trite diezeugmenon,
paranete diezeugmenon, trite hyperbolaeon, paranete hyperbolaeon.

[Illustration]

6. These notes, from being moveable, take on different qualities; for
they may stand at different intervals and increasing distances. Thus,
parhypate, which in the enharmonic is at the interval of half a semitone
from hypate, has a semitone interval when transferred to the chromatic.
What is called lichanos in the enharmonic is at the interval of a
semitone from hypate; but when shifted to the chromatic, it goes two
semitones away; and in the diatonic it is at an interval of three
semitones from hypate. Hence the ten notes produce three different kinds
of modes on account of their changes of position in the classes.

7. There are five tetrachords: first, the lowest, termed in Greek
[Greek: hypaton]; second, the middle, called [Greek: meson]; third, the
conjunct, termed [Greek: synemmenon]; fourth, the disjunct, named
[Greek: diezeugmenon]; the fifth, which is the highest, is termed in
Greek [Greek: hyperbolaion]. The concords, termed in Greek [Greek:
symphoniai], of which human modulation will naturally admit, are six in
number: the fourth, the fifth, the octave, the octave and fourth, the
octave and fifth, and the double octave.

8. Their names are therefore due to numerical value; for when the voice
becomes stationary on some one note, and then, shifting its pitch,
changes its position and passes to the limit of the fourth note from
that one, we use the term "fourth"; when it passes to the fifth, the
term is "fifth."[7]

[Note 7: The remainder of this section is omitted from the
translation as being an obvious interpolation.]

9. For there can be no consonances either in the case of the notes of
stringed instruments or of the singing voice, between two intervals or
between three or six or seven; but, as written above, it is only the
harmonies of the fourth, the fifth, and so on up to the double octave,
that have boundaries naturally corresponding to those of the voice: and
these concords are produced by the union of the notes.




CHAPTER V

SOUNDING VESSELS IN THE THEATRE


1. In accordance with the foregoing investigations on mathematical
principles, let bronze vessels be made, proportionate to the size of the
theatre, and let them be so fashioned that, when touched, they may
produce with one another the notes of the fourth, the fifth, and so on
up to the double octave. Then, having constructed niches in between the
seats of the theatre, let the vessels be arranged in them, in accordance
with musical laws, in such a way that they nowhere touch the wall, but
have a clear space all round them and room over their tops. They should
be set upside down, and be supported on the side facing the stage by
wedges not less than half a foot high. Opposite each niche, apertures
should be left in the surface of the seat next below, two feet long and
half a foot deep.

2. The arrangement of these vessels, with reference to the situations in
which they should be placed, may be described as follows. If the theatre
be of no great size, mark out a horizontal range halfway up, and in it
construct thirteen arched niches with twelve equal spaces between them,
so that of the above mentioned "echea" those which give the note nete
hyperbolaeon may be placed first on each side, in the niches which are
at the extreme ends; next to the ends and a fourth below in pitch, the
note nete diezeugmenon; third, paramese, a fourth below; fourth, nete
synhemmenon; fifth, mese, a fourth below; sixth, hypate meson, a fourth
below; and in the middle and another fourth below, one vessel giving the
note hypate hypaton.

3. On this principle of arrangement, the voice, uttered from the stage
as from a centre, and spreading and striking against the cavities of the
different vessels, as it comes in contact with them, will be increased
in clearness of sound, and will wake an harmonious note in unison with
itself.

But if the theatre be rather large, let its height be divided into four
parts, so that three horizontal ranges of niches may be marked out and
constructed: one for the enharmonic, another for the chromatic, and the
third for the diatonic system. Beginning with the bottom range, let the
arrangement be as described above in the case of a smaller theatre, but
on the enharmonic system.

[Illustration]

4. In the middle range, place first at the extreme ends the vessels
which give the note of the chromatic hyperbolaeon; next to them, those
which give the chromatic diezeugmenon, a fourth below; third, the
chromatic synhemmenon; fourth, the chromatic meson, a fourth below;
fifth, the chromatic hypaton, a fourth below; sixth, the paramese, for
this is both the concord of the fifth to the chromatic hyperbolaeon, and
the concord[8] of the chromatic synhemmenon.

[Note 8: Codd. _diatessaron_, which is impossible, paramese being
the concord of the fourth to the chromatic meson, and identical with the
chromatic synhemmenon.]

5. No vessel is to be placed in the middle, for the reason that there is
no other note in the chromatic system that forms a natural concord of
sound.

In the highest division and range of niches, place at the extreme ends
vessels fashioned so as to give the note of the diatonic hyperbolaeon;
next, the diatonic diezeugmenon, a fourth below; third, the diatonic
synhemmenon; fourth, the diatonic meson, a fourth below; fifth, the
diatonic hypaton, a fourth below; sixth, the proslambanomenos, a fourth
below; in the middle, the note mese, for this is both the octave to
proslambanomenos, and the concord of the fifth to the diatonic hypaton.

6. Whoever wishes to carry out these principles with ease, has only to
consult the scheme at the end of this book, drawn up in accordance with
the laws of music. It was left by Aristoxenus, who with great ability
and labour classified and arranged in it the different modes. In
accordance with it, and by giving heed to these theories, one can easily
bring a theatre to perfection, from the point of view of the nature of
the voice, so as to give pleasure to the audience.

7. Somebody will perhaps say that many theatres are built every year in
Rome, and that in them no attention at all is paid to these principles;
but he will be in error, from the fact that all our public theatres made
of wood contain a great deal of boarding, which must be resonant. This
may be observed from the behaviour of those who sing to the lyre, who,
when they wish to sing in a higher key, turn towards the folding doors
on the stage, and thus by their aid are reinforced with a sound in
harmony with the voice. But when theatres are built of solid materials
like masonry, stone, or marble, which cannot be resonant, then the
principles of the "echea" must be applied.

8. If, however, it is asked in what theatre these vessels have been
employed, we cannot point to any in Rome itself, but only to those in
the districts of Italy and in a good many Greek states. We have also the
evidence of Lucius Mummius, who, after destroying the theatre in
Corinth, brought its bronze vessels to Rome, and made a dedicatory
offering at the temple of Luna with the money obtained from the sale of
them. Besides, many skilful architects, in constructing theatres in
small towns, have, for lack of means, taken large jars made of clay, but
similarly resonant, and have produced very advantageous results by
arranging them on the principles described.




CHAPTER VI

PLAN OF THE THEATRE


1. The plan of the theatre itself is to be constructed as follows.
Having fixed upon the principal centre, draw a line of circumference
equivalent to what is to be the perimeter at the bottom, and in it
inscribe four equilateral triangles, at equal distances apart and
touching the boundary line of the circle, as the astrologers do in a
figure of the twelve signs of the zodiac, when they are making
computations from the musical harmony of the stars. Taking that one of
these triangles whose side is nearest to the scaena, let the front of
the scaena be determined by the line where that side cuts off a segment
of the circle (A-B), and draw, through the centre, a parallel line (C-D)
set off from that position, to separate the platform of the stage from
the space of the orchestra.

2. The platform has to be made deeper than that of the Greeks, because
all our artists perform on the stage, while the orchestra contains the
places reserved for the seats of senators. The height of this platform
must be not more than five feet, in order that those who sit in the
orchestra may be able to see the performances of all the actors. The
sections (cunei) for spectators in the theatre should be so divided,
that the angles of the triangles which run about the circumference of
the circle may give the direction for the flights of steps between the
sections, as far as up to the first curved cross-aisle. Above this, the
upper sections are to be laid out, midway between (the lower sections),
with alternating passage-ways.

3. The angles at the bottom, which give the directions for the flights
of steps, will be seven in number (C, E, F, G, H, I, D); the other five
angles will determine the arrangement of the scene: thus, the angle in
the middle ought to have the "royal door" (K) opposite to it; the angles
to the right and left (L, M) will designate the position of the doors
for guest chambers; and the two outermost angles (A, B) will point to
the passages in the wings. The steps for the spectators' places, where
the seats are arranged, should be not less than a foot and a palm in
height, nor more than a foot and six fingers; their depth should be
fixed at not more than two and a half feet, nor less than two feet.

[Illustration: THE ROMAN THEATRE ACCORDING TO VITRUVIUS]

4. The roof of the colonnade to be built at the top of the rows of
seats, should lie level with the top of the "scaena," for the reason
that the voice will then rise with equal power until it reaches the
highest rows of seats and the roof. If the roof is not so high, in
proportion as it is lower, it will check the voice at the point which
the sound first reaches.

5. Take one sixth of the diameter of the orchestra between the lowest
steps, and let the lower seats at the ends on both sides be cut away to
a height of that dimension so as to leave entrances (O, P). At the point
where this cutting away occurs, fix the soffits of the passages. Thus
their vaulting will be sufficiently high.

6. The length of the "scaena" ought to be double the diameter of the
orchestra. The height of the podium, starting from the level of the
stage, is, including the corona and cymatium, one twelfth of the
diameter of the orchestra. Above the podium, the columns, including
their capitals and bases, should have a height of one quarter of the
same diameter, and the architraves and ornaments of the columns should
be one fifth of their height. The parapet above, including its cyma and
corona, is one half the height of the parapet below. Let the columns
above this parapet be one fourth less in height than the columns below,
and the architraves and ornaments of these columns one fifth of their
height. If the "scaena" is to have three stories, let the uppermost
parapet be half the height of the intermediate one, the columns at the
top one fourth less high than the intermediate, and the architraves and
coronae of these columns one fifth of their height as before.

[Illustration: _From Durm_

THE THEATRE AT ASPENDUS]

7. It is not possible, however, that in all theatres these rules of
symmetry should answer all conditions and purposes, but the architect
ought to consider to what extent he must follow the principle of
symmetry, and to what extent it may be modified to suit the nature of
the site or the size of the work. There are, of course, some things
which, for utility's sake, must be made of the same size in a small
theatre, and a large one: such as the steps, curved cross-aisles, their
parapets, the passages, stairways, stages, tribunals, and any other
things which occur that make it necessary to give up symmetry so as not
to interfere with utility. Again, if in the course of the work any of
the material fall short, such as marble, timber, or anything else that
is provided, it will not be amiss to make a slight reduction or
addition, provided that it is done without going too far, but with
intelligence. This will be possible, if the architect is a man of
practical experience and, besides, not destitute of cleverness and
skill.

8. The "scaena" itself displays the following scheme. In the centre are
double doors decorated like those of a royal palace. At the right and
left are the doors of the guest chambers. Beyond are spaces provided for
decoration--places that the Greeks call [Greek: periaktoi], because in
these places are triangular pieces of machinery ([Greek: D, D]) which
revolve, each having three decorated faces. When the play is to be
changed, or when gods enter to the accompaniment of sudden claps of
thunder, these may be revolved and present a face differently decorated.
Beyond these places are the projecting wings which afford entrances to
the stage, one from the forum, the other from abroad.

9. There are three kinds of scenes, one called the tragic, second, the
comic, third, the satyric. Their decorations are different and unlike
each other in scheme. Tragic scenes are delineated with columns,
pediments, statues, and other objects suited to kings; comic scenes
exhibit private dwellings, with balconies and views representing rows of
windows, after the manner of ordinary dwellings; satyric scenes are
decorated with trees, caverns, mountains, and other rustic objects
delineated in landscape style.




CHAPTER VII

GREEK THEATRES


1. In the theatres of the Greeks, these same rules of construction are
not to be followed in all respects. First, in the circle at the bottom
where the Roman has four triangles, the Greek has three squares with
their angles touching the line of circumference. The square whose side
is nearest to the "scaena," and cuts off a segment of the circle,
determines by this line the limits of the "proscaenium" (A, B). Parallel
to this line and tangent to the outer circumference of the segment, a
line is drawn which fixes the front of the "scaena" (C-D). Through the
centre of the orchestra and parallel to the direction of the
"proscaenium," a line is laid off, and centres are marked where it cuts
the circumference to the right and left (E, F) at the ends of the
half-circle. Then, with the compasses fixed at the right, an arc is
described from the horizontal distance at the left to the left hand side
of the "proscaenium" (F, G); again with the centre at the left end, an
arc is described from the horizontal distance at the right to the right
hand side of the "proscaenium" (E, H).

2. As a result of this plan with three centres, the Greeks have a
roomier orchestra, and a "scaena" set further back, as well as a stage
of less depth. They call this the [Greek: logeion], for the reason that
there the tragic and comic actors perform on the stage, while other
artists give their performances in the entire orchestra; hence, from
this fact they are given in Greek the distinct names "Scenic" and
"Thymelic." The height of this "logeum" ought to be not less than ten
feet nor more than twelve. Let the ascending flights of steps between
the wedges of seats, as far up as the first curved cross-aisle, be laid
out on lines directly opposite to the angles of the squares. Above the
cross-aisle, let other flights be laid out in the middle between the
first; and at the top, as often as there is a new cross-aisle, the
number of flights of steps is always increased to the same extent.

[Illustration: THE GREEK THEATRE ACCORDING TO VITRUVIUS]




CHAPTER VIII

ACOUSTICS OF THE SITE OF A THEATRE


1. All this having been settled with the greatest pains and skill, we
must see to it, with still greater care, that a site has been selected
where the voice has a gentle fall, and is not driven back with a recoil
so as to convey an indistinct meaning to the ear. There are some places
which from their very nature interfere with the course of the voice, as
for instance the dissonant, which are termed in Greek [Greek:
katechountes]; the circumsonant, which with them are named [Greek:
periechountes]; again the resonant, which are termed [Greek:
antechountes]; and the consonant, which they call [Greek: synechountes].
The dissonant are those places in which the first sound uttered that is
carried up high, strikes against solid bodies above, and, being driven
back, checks as it sinks to the bottom the rise of the succeeding sound.

2. The circumsonant are those in which the voice spreads all round, and
then is forced into the middle, where it dissolves, the case-endings are
not heard, and it dies away there in sounds of indistinct meaning. The
resonant are those in which it comes into contact with some solid
substance and recoils, thus producing an echo, and making the
terminations of cases sound double. The consonant are those in which it
is supported from below, increases as it goes up, and reaches the ears
in words which are distinct and clear in tone. Hence, if there has been
careful attention in the selection of the site, the effect of the voice
will, through this precaution, be perfectly suited to the purposes of a
theatre.

The drawings of the plans may be distinguished from each other by this
difference, that theatres designed from squares are meant to be used by
Greeks, while Roman theatres are designed from equilateral triangles.
Whoever is willing to follow these directions will be able to construct
perfectly correct theatres.




CHAPTER IX

COLONNADES AND WALKS


1. Colonnades must be constructed behind the scaena, so that when sudden
showers interrupt plays, the people may have somewhere to retire from
the theatre, and so that there may be room for the preparation of all
the outfit of the stage. Such places, for instance, are the colonnades
of Pompey, and also, in Athens, the colonnades of Eumenes and the fane
of Father Bacchus; also, as you leave the theatre, the music hall which
Themistocles surrounded with stone columns, and roofed with the yards
and masts of ships captured from the Persians. It was burned during the
war with Mithridates, and afterwards restored by King Ariobarzanes. At
Smyrna there is the Stratoniceum, at Tralles, a colonnade on each side
of the scaena above the race course, and in other cities which have had
careful architects there are colonnades and walks about the theatres.

2. The approved way of building them requires that they should be
double, and have Doric columns on the outside, with the architraves and
their ornaments finished according to the law of modular proportion. The
approved depth for them requires that the depth, from the lower part of
the outermost columns to the columns in the middle, and from the middle
columns to the wall enclosing the walk under the colonnade, should be
equal to the height of the outer columns. Let the middle columns be one
fifth higher than the outer columns, and designed in the Ionic or
Corinthian style.

3. The columns will not be subject to the same rules of symmetry and
proportion which I prescribed in the case of sanctuaries; for the
dignity which ought to be their quality in temples of the gods is one
thing, but their elegance in colonnades and other public works is quite
another. Hence, if the columns are to be of the Doric order, let their
height, including the capital, be measured off into fifteen parts. Of
these parts, let one be fixed upon to form the module, and in
accordance with this module the whole work is to be developed. Let the
thickness of the columns at the bottom be two modules; an
intercolumniation, five and a half modules; the height of a column,
excluding the capital, fourteen modules; the capital, one module in
height and two and one sixth modules in breadth. Let the modular
proportions of the rest of the work be carried out as written in the
fourth book in the case of temples.

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