[HANASHIR:5147] Re: Trope dates

[BZcantor <BZcantor...>]

In a message dated 02/02/2000 11:34:03 PM Eastern Standard 
Time, RuthEllen (at) ibm(dot)net writes:
>
>  OK, I'll jump in here.  I'm not an expert but I play one on TV . . . 
>  no what I mean is I am going to be teaching a class on chanting 
>  starting this month.  I'll tell you what I think I know about this 
>  subject and then I would *greatly* appreciate the real experts 
>  jumping in with their information so I can better impersonate an 
>  expert when my class begins.
>  
I don't know if I'm one of the "experts" to whom you refer, but I do 
teach this subject occasionally at the CAJE Conference (or Music 
Pre-Conference).  So, here are some minor additions to a good 
presentation of this subject, compliments of what I remember from 
Cantorial School at JTS and some additional study over the years.
>
>  As stated the Sof Pasuk is like a period separating one verse 
>  from another.  The etnachta is the next main division, dividing 
>  each verse into two pieces.  The zakef Katon is another pause  
>  as is rivii.  There are others which I don't know off the top of my 
>  head. 
>
So far, so good.  I use the term "Revi-ah" rather than "Revi-i" for the
diamond-shaped trope, following the usage of Solomon Rosowsky 
and Abraham Binder.  "Revi-i" is an adjective meaning "fourth", 
whereas "Revi-ah" is a noun meaning "four-square" describing that 
trope mark.  It stems from the oldest trope music, Torah trope, which 
apparently was four descending notes in the opinion of some people. 

The other disjunctives (mafsikim or "separators") which end phrases 
are Tevir and Segol, according to Rosowsky.  Some modern scholars
now disagree with his system, but I am suspending judgement until
I read Josh Jacobson''s new book on the subject.  Thus the main six
"phrase-ending" disjunctives are:   Sof Pasuk = period,  Etnachta =
semi-colon,  Segol = a second semi-colon if there are three main
clauses,  Revi-ah and Tevir = strong commas, and Zakeif Katon =
weaker comma.  In Rosowsky's system of analyzing trope, the other
disjunctives do not end phrases or clauses, but I know that there is
some disagreement about the use of the Tipcha in particular.
>  
>  Most trop marks are positioned to indicate the accented syllable.  
>  Yitiv is an exception to this and I think there are others but I don't 
>  know which they are.
>
That's why they are called "Ta'amei HaMikra", or Accents of Reading.
Yetiv is a Prepositive, always at the beginning of a word, as is the
Telisha Gedola.  When the accent is later in a owrd which has the 
Telisha Gedola, some sources will print a second Telsiha over the
accented syllable.  

There are also four Postpositive trope, which are always over the last 
syllable of a word.  Pashta, Zarka, Segol, and Telisha Ketana should
be printed over the last syllable, and if the accent is "Milel" on the
penultimate syllable, there may be a second trope to indicate that.
>  
>  All this means that if you don't know biblical Hebrew (and most of 
>  us don't) the trope symbols are an excellent tool for learning to read 
>  correctly - which syllable to accent, when to pause, when to break.
>  
>  If you are learning to chant, the pauses and breaks come naturally 
>  as part of the cantellation tunes so it is less important to learn 
>  about the breaks.  You will find that you 'know' where they are 
>  without ever really being taught.
>  
I agree with the first of these paragraphs, and disagree with the second.
When I teach, I ask the students to read the text first according to the
phrases as indicated by the trope.  Then, when the Hebrew is fluent 
and they are ready to chant, they already have a feeling for the phrases.
>
>  The trope symbols were invented by the masorites (is that right?) in 
>  the middle ages along with the vowel system.  The vowel system and 
>  trope marks were created to reflect the ancient Hebrew language which 
>  was already out of use.  
>  
Correct.  I will requote a message I just posted yesterday on this aspect:
>
> As I believe was mentioned here earlier, the Masoretes set the trope
> in the 800's along with the vowel system.  There was work going on in
> Babylonia at the same time, but that system was not as clear and thus
> was not accepted.  The Tiberian system was developed by the family of
> Ben Asher, and is the system in general use today.  It is primarily a way
> of indicating punctuation and accentuation, and only secondarily is it a
> system of music (or intonation).  There is a wonderful article on all this
> in the Encyclopedia Judaica, under "Masoretic Accents" in volume 11.
>
What I didn't say here is that there was concern that the oral tradition of
the exacttext was being lost due to the unsettled state of the various
Jewish communities then, so this was a way of setting the received text
as best they understood it.  The trope often support one interpretation
or another, depending on where the pauses were understood and set.
>
>  Now here's where I get a little fuzzy.  I *assume* that the chanting 
>  itself is much older than this.  That it was the mnemonic devise used 
>  by people to remember how to read the text.  This makes logical 
>  sense to me but I really don't know. I'd love to know more about this.  
>  Were texts in ancient times chanted or read?  If they were chanted 
>  was it *anything* like the chanting done today?  Even earlier than 
>  that, when the material was still being passed orally was it transmitted 
>  in spoken or chanted form?
>  
No question, there was an oral tradition of chant for centuries before the 
trope (and vowels) were developed.  Most if not all ancient peoples passed 
down their oral traditions through chant, as far as we know, and some are
still doing so today.  Yes, there is an opinion that the Torah chant which
is in common use today may indeed be the oldest form of the music,
based on similarities to Arabic Makaamat in that ancient mode.  Dr. Eric
Werner showed in "The Sacred Bridge" how our Torah chant developed
into ancient Plain-Song in the early Church, and it has also affected our
Nusach in synagogue liturgical chants.
>
>  Here's more of what I do know.  There are many many trop systems.  
>  I myself have learned two different systems for chanting Torah trope.  
>  I am not talking about the difference between chanting at the major 
>  or minor Holidays or the Haftorah.  Those are all part of the same 
>  system.  Each system is consistent with the major and minor pauses 
>  that the trop marks convey but uses different tunes.  These different 
>  systems exist because different communities developed different 
>  traditions for how to chant.  Since chanting is both a skill and an art 
>  and since it is passed from person to person it can change and grow 
>  and develop.  Think of how a favorite recipe is passed down through a 
>  family.  Each new cook might make tiny changes sometimes without 
>  even knowing they are doing so.
>  
Each world Jewish community has six systems of music for the same 
two dozen trope symbols.  Torah, Haftarah, High Holy Day Torah, Esther,
Lamentations, and one shared by Ruth-Ecclesiastes-Song of Songs.
Thus, there are all these melodies for the same symbols for the Eastern 
European Ashkenazim, Central European Ashkenazim, Iraqis Jews,
Egyptian and Syrian Jews, Moroccan Jews, European Sefardim (from
Spanish Jewry descent), Yemenite Jews, and more groups I'm sure.

The differences among the six versions of the trope are more defined
in the Ashkenazi traditions than the Sefardi, but one problem with the
"oral tradition" transmission is the gradual loss of differentiation among
the trope melodies for Ashkenazim also.  For instance, there are two
separate melodies for Telisha Gedola and Telisha Ketana in all six
systems among Eastern European Ashkenazim, but some people 
now chant them the same.  That is unfortunate, because one is a
disjunctive (separator) and the other is a conjunctive (joiner).
>
>  OK so I just recently learned the trope system taught at the HUC, 
>  (Is it lithuanian?) sometimes called Binder.  (Who's Binder?)  I'd love 
>  to learn more about this system.  Where it came from and why and 
>  how it was chosen by the HUC. (or by Binder)
>  
>  Prior to that I learned a system that has some similarities and some 
>  differences which is published by Chadish Media by Rabbi Yitzchok 
>  Mordechai Rosenberg.  I know even less about this system which is 
>  partly why I wanted to change.
>  
Yes, the music for the trope which is taught at both JTS and HUC is 
Lithuanian, hence "Eastern European Ashkenazi".  It was researched
in Europe and Israel (then Palestine) by Solomon Rosowsky, who made
recordings on his early equipment and wrote a massive book on the
subject.  Rosowsky taught for decades at JTS, which is one reason
his work became so ubiquitous.  

Cantor Abraham Binder took much of Rosowsky's work over to HUC, 
and taught a similar version there for decades also.  What surprises me
is the number of YU grads who also chant using the same music as
the JTS and HUC grads.  That says to me that Rosowsky and Binder
were on the right track musically.  Binder's thin book has been kept in
print, and is available from Philosophical Press last I saw.

The music in Chadesh Media's book and tapes is not all that different.
Since I was taught at JTS, I personally am partial to the music for the
trope which was taught by Rosowsky to my teachers when they were
his students.  Passing on the tradition and all that ... 
>  
>  I would be interested in any information someone could point me to 
>  that discusses the different trope systems - where they are used and 
>  where they originated.  I  have ordered but not yet received the trope 
>  materials just put out by the UAHC.
>  
There is the EJ article in volume 11, two books by Sam Rosenbaum
published by Ktav, a revised book by Pinchas Spiro available from the 
Cantors Assembly, info in "Jewish Music" of A.Z. Idelsohn, and the
book by Binder mentioned above.  Josh Jacobson is working on a 
new book, and there may be others I am not mentioning here.  If there
are any other sources out there, someone please post them so we
can all benefit.  

I did a set of Trope Flashcards with Cantor Alan Sokoloff which are 
available from the Cantors Assembly in both a Student Set (4 x 5) and 
a Teacher's Set (8 x 10) with supporting material included.  They are 
sold in classroom bundles which are very economical, and we are 
reprinting the Student Sets for the third time (almost 2000 sets sold).   
>
>  OK, that's probably enough.
>  
>  I look forward to learning more about this topic and I look forward 
>  to your (gentle) corrections.
>
Hope this all was gentle enough.  Any other ideas out there?

                        Cantor Neil Schwartz

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