A drawing based on an Ancient Greek vase painting of a kithara player, one of the sources the Neumans used for the reconstruction of this instrument.

De Organographia

De Organographia / Gayle & Philip Neuman / Pandourion Records
17850 S. Edgewood St.
Oregon City, OR 97045

phone: 503-631-2973

You can contact Philip Neuman by email at neuman@up.edu.

De Organographia performs the music of Ancient Greece on a myriad of faithful reproductions of period instruments. Their concerts are informative and entertaining presentations using period text and song to bring to life the musical art of the distant past. The ancient Greek repertoire of De Organographia is brought alive in an improvisatory style based on precepts preserved in the writings of antiquity.

De Organographia performs on a collection of instruments of their own making: aulos (double reed pipe), lyra (Lyre), kithara (the ornate lyre of the professional musician), syrinx (panpipes), syrinx monokalamos (vertical flute), trichordon (small 3 stringed lute), psythirã (rattle), tympanon (drum), kymbala (cymbals), and salpinx (trumpet).

Music of the Ancient Greeks is the title of their CD released in 1995 that includes virtually all of the extant music, an amazing group of diverse pieces dating from 500 BC to 300 AD. Included are two choral ode fragments from "Orestes" and "Iphigeneia in Aulis" by Euripides, "Hymn to the Sun", "Hymn to Nemesis" and "Invocation of Calliope and Apollo" by the Cretan composer Mesomedes, and the two most extensive pieces which are paeans from Delphi. They were both performed there in 126 BC at the same occasion and were found carved onto the walls of the Athenian Treasury at Delphi.

Ancient Greek music is unlike anything heard in concert today. The 50 or so surviving pieces range from exotic dramatic choruses written in tunings that employ microtones (musical intervals smaller than a half step) to almost modern sounding instrumental melodies. Many are written in odd meters such as 5/4 and 15/8 (expressed in modern time signatures) which are also found in some of today's eastern European folk music. There are hymns and invocations to various gods, a skolion or drinking song, and the earliest christian hymn that survives with musical notation.

Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks, comprising 24 tracks, was released in 1999.

The Neumans have presented concerts, workshops, clinics and lectures throughout the United States, Europe and Asia since 1978, and have been featured on numerous television and radio programs, including National Public Radio's "Performance Today". De Organographia recordings include "Bicinia Sacra et Profana" and "Music of the Ancient Greeks". The Neumans have lectured and performed ancient Greek music for such prestigious institutions as Oberlin Conservatory, Case Western Reserve University, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, and have written for the British journal "Didaskalia: Ancient Greek Theatre Today".

Philip Neuman, winds and kithara, is the conductor of the Oregon Renaissance Band and teaches 16th century counterpoint at the University of Portland and recorder and Renaissance wind classes at Portland's Community Music Center. He is an internationally known maker of early woodwinds. He has performed with the American Bach Soloists and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Gayle Stuwe Neuman, voice and strings, is the director and vocal soloist of the Oregon Renaissance Band and teaches recorder at Portland's Community Music Center. She builds early woodwinds and reeds for an international market. She has performed with The Whole Noyse and Magnificat.


"You greatly enriched the understanding of ancient music among musical people in academic communities all over Cleveland. They were universal in singing your praises. You are articulate, talented, and passionate. And we salute you for your accomplishments and thank you for helping us to present a first class program!"
- Cleveland Museum of Art

"The concert was one of those magical moments I'll always remember."
- Sheehan Gallery

"Gayle Stuwe Newman has a lovely voice- beautiful tone, and a wonderfully accurate and steady intonation. "
- Martin West, author of "Ancient Greek Music", recognized as the world's leading authority on ancient Greek music

"Phil Neuman's spoken commentary was at once a delight, scholarly and hilarious."
- The Oregonian

"Gayle Neuman dispatched the florid coloratura with accuracy and rhythmic elan."
- The Oregonian

"Your concerts were captivating, humorous, musically exciting and geared towards your changing audiences. You were able to reach out and communicate your enthusiasm to many different people, and they certainly are responding! Thank you, thank you. "
- Water Music Festival

De Organographia

Ancient Greek Music
Philip Neuman - Gayle Stuwe Neuman


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Last updated: Tue Jul 30 13:58:14 EDT 2002