Seikilos epitaph
The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The epitaph has been variously dated, but seems to be either from the 1st or the 2nd century AD. The song, the melody of which is recorded, alongside its lyrics, in the ancient Greek musical notation, was found engraved on a tombstone (a stele) from the Hellenistic town Tralles near present-day Aydın, Turkey, not far from Ephesus. It is a Hellenistic Ionic song in either the Phrygian octave species or Iastian tonos. While older music with notation exists (for example the Hurrian songs), all of it is in fragments; the Seikilos epitaph is unique in that it is a complete, though short, composition.
Irish music collecting
Very little Irish music composed before 1700 survives. Some airs from this period are preserved in manuscript, the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book being one of the more notable examples. A reference to " Callen O Costure Me/Cailin O Chois tSuire Me" in William Ballet's book of lute music in the late 16th centureyis the first known record of an Irish song being set down in musical notation.