New Book in Masoretic Chant

[Oren Mass <rmass...>]

Here is information about a new book published by Rubin Mass Ltd.:
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>
> A NEW RESEARCH BOOK UNCOVERING CANTILLATION 
> TUNES SUNG IN THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM 2000 YEARS AGO !!
>
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>
> Daniel Meir Weil : The Masoretic Chant of the Bible. 397 pp.,
> XXXI pp. (Hebrew summary), Rubin Mass Ltd., Jerusalem, 1995.
> ============================================================
>
> The cantillation signs of the biblical manuscripts transmitted a
> millenium ago by the Masoretes at Tiberias, constitute a central
> riddle in Jewish musicology. What was the original tune of these
> "te'amim" ?  When was it performed, and by whom ?
>
> In the present book, concluding more than a decade of research at
> the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, these questions are addressed
> anew : the laws governing the occurence of the signs along with
> the biblical text (in the 21 "prose" books)  serve as a novel
> starting point; present traditions of cantillation serve as means
> of confirmation.
>
> At the heart of the solution, the author finds a well-defined
> scheme of musical organisation : the "chain-system." It provides
> a coherent musical model for the complex laws of occurence,
> leading to a precise motivic formula for each cantillation
> accent; this system is  also unravelled  in  many present
> traditions, integrating their conspicuous diversity within a
> unifying common "language".
>
> These results enable the author to establish that the
> econstructed Masoretic chant, of exceptional precision,
> sophistication and abstract beauty, was in fact fostered by the
> Levites during the  Temple period. A precious portion of the
> musical heritage of the Jewish people has thus come back to life.
>
> D.M. Weil graduated from the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music,
> majoring in music theory (1975); he has a Ph.D. in musicology
> from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1994),  a Ph.D. in
> physics from Yeshiva University, New York (1978) and  rabbinical
> ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel (1992).
>
>
>
> SOME EXCEPRTS OF REFEREES' EVALUATIONS :
>
> "Interesting and important results, which undoubtedly bring us
> closer to the knowledge of the original performance of the
> biblical cantillation signs ... . Dr. Weil is today one of the
> foremost scholars in the world in the field of musical
> performance practice of the Masoretic accents."
> Prof. Israel Yeivin, Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and
> Humanities.
>
> "Convincing, revolutionary conclusions ... . Will remain in the
> minds of all those involved in this subject as one of the most
> outstanding and brilliant research works".
> Prof. Andre Hajdu, Department of Musicology, Bar-Ilan University.
>
> "It would be very difficult to overestimate the importance of
> this study ... . Dr. Weil's research solves two enigmas at the
> same time:  on the basis of the grammatical rules of the accents,
> he has found their original tune, and having found their original
> tunes, he is able to clarify their grammatical rules".
> Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Breuer, author of "the Masoretic Accents of
> the "Prose" and "Poetic" Biblical Books".
> ============================================================
>TO ORDER THE BOOK, WRITE, FAX OR E-MAIL TO :
>
> RUBIN MASS Ltd., P.O. Box 990, Jerusalem 91009, Israel
> Fax: 972-2-277864 , e-mail: rmass (at) inter(dot)net(dot)il
>
> Price $69 per copy, including postage, surface mail, or $85
> airmail (in Israel 85 N.I.S.).
> Payment by check, invoice (for institutions) or credit card.
> ============================================================
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RUBIN MASS Ltd., Publishers and Booksellers
  (Exporters of all Israli books and Periodicals)
Attn. Mr. Oren Mass
POBox 990
Jerusalem 91009
Israel

Tel:972-2-277863
Fax:972-2-277864
E-Mail: rmass (at) inter(dot)net(dot)il
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