“Hurrian Hymn No.6” is considered the world's earliest melody, but the oldest musical composition to have survived in its entirety is a first century A.D. Greek tune known as the “Seikilos Epitaph.” The song was found engraved on an ancient marble column used to mark a woman's gravesite in Turkey.
The “Hurrian Hymn” is the earliest known song to be recorded in writing, dating to around the 13th century BCE. The text of this hymn is concerned with the promotion of fertility. It refers to the making of offerings and libations to the moon goddess, Nikkal.
The Hurrian Hymn was discovered in the 1950s on a clay tablet inscribed with Cuneiform text. It's the oldest surviving melody and is over 3,400 years old. The hymn was discovered on a clay tablet in Ugarit, now part of modern-day Syria, and is dedicated the Hurrians' goddess of the orchards Nikkal.
"Sumer is icumen in" is the incipit of a medieval English round or rota of the mid-13th century; it is also known variously as the Summer Canon and the Cuckoo Song.
There are tons of tunes much older than Greensleeves. You might be thinking of the song “Sumer is icumin in” which dates from a MUCH earlier time. It is the earliest example of six-part polyphony, but tunes go back FAR earlier than that. There were many chants written for church singing which date to a very early time.
Henry VIII did not compose Greensleeves. It is a romantic myth that Henry wrote the song for his lover and future queen consort Anne Boleyn. The piece is based on an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until after Henry's death, making it more likely to be Elizabethan in origin.
Which is older Greensleeves or what child is this?
"What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol with lyrics written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865 and set to the tune of "Greensleeves", a traditional English folk song, in 1871. Although written in Great Britain, the carol today is more popular in the United States than its country of origin. What Child Is This?
According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.
No historical evidence exists to tell us exactly who sang the first song, or whistled the first tune, or made the first rhythmic sounds that resembled what we know today as music. But researchers do know it happened thousands of years ago. The earliest civilizations throughout Africa, Europe and Asia had music.
The oldest known lullaby is a Babylonian lullaby found inscribed on a clay tablet about 4000 years old. Lullabies are used to sooth babies to sleep. We have inherited them and we pass them along.
Jesus Refulsit Omnium is often cited as the oldest known Christmas song in the world. Like many of the first Christmas songs, “Jesus Refulsit Omnium” is a Christian hymn. The hymn was composed in Latin by St. Hilary of Poitiers sometime in the fourth century.
There's still one very important ingredient in rock and roll: a distorted guitar. And that's why we agree that Jackie Brenston's “Rocket 88” from 1951 should be considered the first rock and roll song.
The song is called 'After the Ball' by Charles Harris. It was written in 1891 and debuted in 1892. Sheet music was one of the metrics used to determine the popularity of a song.
There's even a dispute over the exact title. Yet “It's a Small World,” also known as “It's a Small, Small World” and “It's a Small World (After All),” is very likely the most played song in music history — nearly 50 million times.
"Mother Love" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven, released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. It was written by Mercury and Brian May. Mercury recorded two out of three verses before becoming too sickly to continue recording, so May recorded the final verse himself later.
This song had a estimated earning of $65 million. After 120 years, 'Happy Birthday', is sill the richest and most profitable song of all time. It was written by the Hill Sisters in 1893 because they needed a song that they could sing to their kindergarten class on someone's birthday.
The song with the most weeks at No. 1 is "I Believe" by Frankie Laine which stayed in the Top 10 for 35 weeks, 18 of them at No. 1 and a further seven at No. 2.
This list shows the twenty-seven artists with the most number ones on the UK Singles Chart. American singer-actor Elvis Presley has most number one singles with twenty-one. English band The Beatles have the most number one singles for a band, with eighteen.
King Henry VIII was a Renaissance monarch who was educated in music and several languages. The King wrote "Green Groweth the Holly" as his own take on the developing Christmas carol style. It is not known exactly when King Henry wrote the carol. In addition to writing the words, the King also composed the music.
Most historians now believe 'Greensleeves' dates back to Elizabethan times – after the reign of Henry VIII. The song – whose full, less elegant title is 'A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves' – appears to be based on an Italian style of song that didn't reach England until after Henry's death, in 1547.
