[HANASHIR:2122] Re: Sim Shalom canon

[Judah Cohen <jcohen...>]

For whatever it's worth, the Dona Nobis Pacem round is also a mainstay at
the Boston Christmas Revels (a well-known winter solstice revue which also
exists in other cities across the nation), partially because of its
non-"overtly religious" nature (It is subtitled "Round for Peace").  The
whole audience sings it--and it sounds gorgeous.

As to feeling uncomfortable with music that comes from "other cultures,"
well--that will pretty much limit significantly anyone's repertoire.  Would
it be worth "revealing" that the round "Kol Haneshamah / T'Hallel Ya /
Halleluyah" is also "Jubilate Deo"?  Try it out.  (I first realized this
when sitting in on a rehearsal for Harvard's Christian a cappella group,
and they used this as a warmup--there are even rumors that Josef Haydn
"wrote" the music).  We also should not forget the "German drinking song"
which became Ma'oz Tsur and the "Czech folk song" which later became
Hatikvah.  (In this context, the attribution "traditional" may actually
save some songs from intense embarrassment were we to know their "real"
origins.) :)


Significantly, I think what Janet's talking about here seems more based on
the PERSON/COMPOSER/BACKGROUND than on the MUSIC itself.  That is, if
Debbie Friedman had written the Dona Nobis Pacem, chances are a lot of
people would have fewer reservations singing it in a synagogue.  There are
a surprising number of tunes borrowed from other places--folk songs,
childrens' songs, church hymns, arabic songs, drinking songs, etc.--that
have made it into the Jewish liturgical canon.  We don't seem to mind using
them until we are made aware that they have some sort of "unholy"
background which somehow goes against our "Jewish" values.  All of a
sudden, with this knowledge, the music becomes inappropriate for expressing
and praying the words.

This kind of "uncomfortableness" with "revealed" Jewish music can work on a
broader base, too:  the most common argument against songleading I hear,
for example, is that "The music just doesn't express the meaning of the
words," probably because those who dislike it associate it with an attempt
to bring "secular" folk music into a Jewish religious setting (with remarks
like "see, I have nothing against Peter Paul and Mary, but Jewish 'camp
songs' are just bad folk music.").  Likewise, "classical" Jewish music
(with choir and organ) was dismissed by opponents in the 19th century and
is dismissed by many songleaders today as too reminiscent of the high
church.  (Same remarks:  "I love Bach, but. . .") And for what it's worth,
these exact same arguments have been going on in other religions for
hundreds of years.  (I could provide examples, but this message is becoming
too long).

To me, then, a very important question to ask about these rounds (not to
mention the "French childrens' game 'Shehu Noteh Shamayim'") is less *what*
is sung, but rather how that thing which is sung gains an appropriate or
inappropriate MEANING, and how this meaning is turned into practice (or
non-practice) within a Jewish religious setting.

In other words, how do people here come to trust a song enough to introduce
it to a religious service (and what constitutes trust)?  What allows you to
feel that the "music fits the words"?  And how, if ever, has that trust
been broken for you?  I know this involves a lot of individual cases, and a
single person may differ in opinion from instance to instance.
Nonetheless, I'd find that such a discussion (with this kind of detail)
could be very instuctive to me, and perhaps to other people on the list.

Be well.
Judah.

>I have found a version of Sim Shalom done as a 3-part canon which I am
>considering doing with my adult choir.  They are a new choir, so canons are
>a great way to become comfortable with harmony.  I have noticed that the
>melody is identical to a song in Latin called Dona Nobis Pacem.  The meaning
>of the Latin words bears similarity to Sim Shalom.  I am wondering if this
>melody with Latin words might be part of church liturgy.  I would like to
>know more about how it emerged as a Hebrew song before deciding whether to
>use it.  Anyone have any information?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Rachelle Shubert


Judah Cohen
Music Department
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA  02138
jcohen (at) fas(dot)harvard(dot)edu
(617) 628-4783

"...I do not feel that my research suffered unduly from the fact that I
enjoyed it." -- Daniel Miller, "Modernity--an Ethnographic Approach" (p. 6)