Lou Harrison: The Tuning of the Babylonian Harp

Lou Harrison discusses the recent translation of an ancient Sumerian cuneiform tablet, in which the musical scale used by the Babylonians is described. This discovery has pushed back the origin of musical theory by at least 1,500 years. Harrison accompanies his talk with auditory illustrations of ancient scales and other plectrum pleasantries. The musical knowledge developed by the ancient Babylonians was passed on and refined by Pythagorus and Ptolemy and eventually influenced the Western musical tradition.