Recovering epic labyrinth over 1,000 years

British researchers successfully restored the lost music of more than 1,000 years ago by finding the book disappeared for a century.

According to UPI, Sam Barrett, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, UK, thanks to the help of the trio of classical musicians to successfully restore many songs from the Middle Ages, a task that seemed impossible.

Hundreds of Latin songs recorded with medieval music symbols are called "neumes". This method of recording only highlights the melody line without accurately representing the low pitch of the note. To perform neumes, musicians need to know how to play traditional music that disappeared from the 12th century.

An example of medieval musical notation "neumes".(Photo: Ancient Origins).

"We only know the lines of the melody and how to express them, not the exact notes that make up the melody," Barrett said.

After studying ancient music theory, Barrett collaborated with the Sequentia (three members) group to get an idea of ​​using musical instruments and re-expressing songs.

Barrett and Benjamin Bagby, co-founders of the Sequentia group, successfully restored the "Consolation of Philosophy" , an epic poem written by Roman philosopher Boethius. The Sequentia group performed the song on a small church at Pembroke College, England, on April 23.

The project could not have been successful if the research team did not find the lost book page from the collection of "Cambridge Songs" in the Latin song compiled in the 11th century. A German scholar tore this page in 1840 and it disappeared for more than a century. In 1982, the book was accidentally ripped off in the archives of the Frankfurt, Germany library.

"The symbols on the book disappeared and helped us complete the huge amount of repertoire of songs, something we couldn't do without it," Barrett said.