Didymus the Musician (Greek:Δίδυμος) was amusic theorist in Rome of the end of the 1st century BC or beginning of the 1st century AD, who combined elements of earlier theoretical approaches with an appreciation of the aspect of performance. Formerly assumed to be identical with theAlexandrian grammarian andlexicographerDidymus Chalcenterus, becausePtolemy andPorphyry referred to him as Didymusho mousikos (the musician), classical scholars now believe that this Didymus was a younger grammarian and musician working in Rome at the time ofEmperor Nero.[1] He was a predecessor of Ptolemy at thelibrary of Alexandria. According toAndrew Barker,[2] his intention was to revive and produce contemporary performances of the music of Greek antiquity. Thesyntonic comma of 81 / 80 ≅ 21.506 cents is sometimes called thecomma of Didymus after him.[1]
Among his works wasOn the Difference between theAristoxenians and thePythagoreans (Περὶ τῆςδιαφορᾶς τῶνἈριστοξενείωντε καὶΠυθαγορείων).
We know of his theory only indirectly from the works of Porphyry and Ptolemy. There, one finds examples of histetrachords as measured string lengths from which the following frequency ratios are calculated:
| tetrachord type | interval 1st–2nd | interval 2nd–3rd | interval 3rd–4th |
|---|---|---|---|
| diatonic | 16 / 15 | 10 / 9 | 9 / 8 |
| chromatic | 16 / 15 | 25 / 24 | 6 / 5 |
| enharmonic | 32 / 31 | 31 / 30 | 5 / 4 |
LikeArchytas, he used amajor third, but appears to have been the first to use it in thediatonic as the product of themajor (9:8) andminor (10:9)whole tones, as the proportions produced by 10 / 9 × 9 / 8 = 5 / 4 . The ratio of these whole tones 9 / 8⧸ 10 / 9 = 9 / 8 × 9 / 10 = 81 / 80 ; is the so-calledsyntonic comma, also referred to asDidymos' comma.[3][4]
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