THE EARLIEST ORGANISTS.

Nevertheless, the Alexandrian terra-cotta, the Zliten mosaics, and the three Roman funeral inscriptions document women playing the hydraulis throughout the Roman Empire from the first through the third centuries CE. FEATURES Many are surprised to learn that the organ was first created during the third century before the Common Era. A mosaic floor made for a Roman villa includes two scenes that depict the hydraulis.5 In each, the head of a female organist appears behind the instrument, which she plays alongside male trumpet and horn players. He then reports information that he learned from the musician Alcides: that the hydraulis was said to have been invented by a barber, Ctesibios, then residing in Alexandria, that he was reputed to have become very famous, and that he gave lessons to his wife, Thais.3 Thus the first documented organist was a woman - the wife of the hydraulis's inventor - who lived in Alexandria during the third century BCE. [Extracted from the article]