Re: Dating the melodies used in Psalms, cantillation, etc.

[Cantor Neil & Katie Schwartz <schwartz...>]

>
>A correspondent inquired:
>
>>psalms sung in Hebrew as close to how they would/could have
>>been sung in the period when they were written (circa 9th
>>through the 4th centuries BC, if I'm not mistaken)
>
>I have responded that we haven't the faintest idea, (we can't even
>agree on Beethoven metronome marking, for heaven's sake!) but maybe
>this erudite crew can weigh on with more substance.
>

Not to add fuel to a sputtering fire, but I can contribute these
tidbits from our ethnomusicology classes with Dr. Johanna Spector
at the JTS Cantorial School in the 1970's:

1.  The trope signs in the "EMeT" books of Job, Proverbs, and Psalms
   do not match the Tiberian Masorah of the rest of the TaNaCH (Bible).
   According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, if I remember correctly,
   they also did not match in the other two attempts at cantillation
   markings (Babylonian and Palestinian) before the current system
   of the Ben Asher family was accepted as authoritative.

2.  Thus, while we have a tradition in every major Jewish community
   (Eastern Ashkenazi, Western Ashkenazi, Yemenite, Iraqi, Syrian,
    Moroccan, etc.) for six different ways of chanting the Tiberian
   cantillation marks (Torah, HHD Torah, Haftara, Eicha, Esther, and
   Ruth-Kohelet-Shir HaShirim), none of the major communities to my
   knowledge has a clear tradition of how to use the special trope
   of Psalms and Proverbs, or at least it has been lost in time.

3.  Within the Tiberian trope system as used in its six versions by
   each community, there is a relationship between the underlying
   musical scale for some of these versions and the Arabic system
   of Makaamat (plural of Makaam).  We know, for instance, of the
   clear similarity between Makaam "Hejaz" and the Ashenazic Nusach
   (musical prayer mode) "Ahava Rabba"; both are based on the scale
   of the Phrygian mode with a raised third ( 1, flat 2, sharp 3, 4,
   5 ) or ( E F G# A B ).  While neither of these is used for any
   version of trope that I know of, there is a corresponding type
   of similarity in the music of cantillation.  I am going to dig
   in my memory, since all my resources are at the synagogue and I
   am home leaving for vacation, but here goes:  I think an example
   would be Makaam "Rast" corresponds to the "HaShem Malach" mode,
   both of which are based on the Mixolydian scale, and this is used
   for Eastern Ashkenazic (Lithuanian tradition) Torah reading.

4.  The reason "Rast" sticks in my memory (if I am remembering at
   all correctly) is this:  separate from the recent discussion in
   this thread about whether or not the Yemenite tradition is the
   oldest based on their isolation, there is a feeling among some
   Jewish ethnomusicologists that the music of Torah reading among
   the Eastern European Ashkenazim (Lithuanian-Jerusalem tradition
   as studied by Abraham Idelsohn and Solomon Rosowsky) may in fact
   be the oldest Jewish music we have, and thus the closest to what
   was being used in the synagogues which co-existed with the Second
   Temple after the return from the Babylonian Exile.

5.  Notice that I said "in the synagogue", and not "in the Temple"
   itself:  the Levitical choirs were chanting Psalms and other
   texts (some of which are indicated in the Mishna) using all of
   the instruments mentioned in Psalm 150 and elsewhere.  My guess
   is that the sound of the Psalms in those days was based on the
   natural sounds of the instruments used.  For instance, there is
   a "built-in" natural fifth in the average "short" shofar (the
   ones with one sharp curve rather than the long "spiral" ones).

6.  None of my above analysis answers the original question about
   the ancient music of the Psalms, but it does show the asker how
   a certain group of Jewish ethnomusicolgists was thinking in the
   late 1970's about these issues.  All we can say for sure is that
   whatever we know about the trope in the rest of the Hebrew Bible,
   it is different for Psalms-Job-Proverbs.  I will be grateful if
   anyone who is more current than I am about these matters would
   update anything and everything I have shared above (Josh J.?).

7.  Last word for now: again, I am at home and my books are at the
   synagogue, but I have obtained a book by someone who purports to
   have reconstructed the ancient trope melodies more accurately
   than what I described above.  Sorry, I don't remember the name
   of the author, but I actually heard about that book right here
   in a similar InterNet discussion.  Again, this doesn't answer
   the original question on the Psalms per se, but it is a more
   recent resource which has at least some credibility.  When I
   return from vacation, I will have to study it and decide if I
   think he is on the right track or not.  Any opinions?

                                             Cantor Neil Schwartz