[Brief discussion]
Contextually with his recollection of the good music of ancient times-and in opposition to the age of barbarism in which he writes-Athenaeus quotes Aristoxenus, who in turn, in the 4th century, nostalgically recalled good ancient music. Both Athenaeus and his source lament a music that aims at crowd popularity rather than ethical-moral elevation. The adjective πάνδημος in association with μουσική takes on in this sense the meaning of “vulgar” and “inferior”. One could remind the definition of “popular and mercenary music” in [Plut]. De mus. 1135c: Κρέξος δὲ καὶ Τιμόθεος καὶ Φιλόξενος καὶ οἱ κατὰ ταύτην ἡλικίαν γεγονότες ποιηταὶ φορτικώτεροι καὶ φιλόκαινοι γεγόνασι, τὸ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ θεματικὸν νῦν ὀνομαζόμενον διώξαντες («Cressus, Timotheus, Philoxenus and their contemporary composers, on the other hand, opened the doors to vulgarity and the desire for the new at all costs, pursuing the style now called “popular” and “mercenary”»). Cf. Plat. Leg. 700a-e, [Plut]. De mus. 1136b. Intimately linked to the concept of πάνδημος μουσική is that of θεατροκρατία, for which please refer to the relevant tab.
[Bibliography]
A. BARKER (ed. and tr.), Greek Musical Writings, Vol. I: The Musician and His Art, Cambridge 1984, 218 con n. 95; A. VISCONTI, Aristosseno di Taranto: biografia e formazione spirituale, Naples 1999, 144-151; E. CSAPO, ‘The Politics of the New Music’, in P. MURRAY – P. WILSON (edd.), Music and the Muses: The Culture of Mousike in the Classical Athenian City, Oxford 2004, 237.
[Keywords]
Musical decay, “vulgar” music
[Francesco Buè]