Re: A Life Apart

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

You're right, of course, Ari, in the parlance we usually use, but the 
distinction between 'music'
and 'singing' is not uncommon, especially in sacred traditions.  It is one 
Amnon Shiloah
discusses in Jewish Musical Tradition is made (if not characterized) by some 
haredim who forbid
'music' but practice Torah cantillation.  It is a common distinction among 
Muslims who chant the
call to prayer and chant the Koran (which they learn in special schools 
throughout the Islamic
world, according to the appropriate maqam, more or less the equivalent of 
mode), but eschew
'music' for religious reasons.  Even the Taliban had 'songs' which I saw once 
were available at
some ethnomusicologist's website, but couldn't bear to bring myself to hear.  
Certain Protestant
denominations like the Old Line Regular Baptists of Kentucky make this 
distinction as well and do
not use instruments in worship although they permit 'music' in other contexts.  
Of course, lots
of Christian (and Jewish) traditions bar instrumental music from worship, 
although I'm not aware
that they regard singing as a different category from music.

An interesting variation on this theme is the Hmong perspective on music.  
Traditionally, all
their instrumental compositions were composed (or transcribed) based on texts 
of their tonal
language.  They did not regard these as music.  Music was something they 
regarded as having
picked up from American GI's.  Hmong rock and pop bands are a large part of 
Hmong-American
culture.

There are also cultural regions whose languages until recently did not have a 
single term
equivalent to 'music' by which they characterized all their genres of 
forthrightly sonic
discourse.  This was the case in sub-Saharan Africa and among Native Americans, 
although I'd be
surprised if that were still the case.

My apologies if this seems like an attempt to correct.  I just find this an 
interesting topic.
Defining 'music' in a universally acceptable way is probably not possible.  
I've even excluded
certain factors that would make the issue a good deal more complex.

BTW, if anyone can help cantorial student Alyssa Forman with the question in 
her recent posting,
please do.  She originally contacted me and I sent her to the list.  My 
impression is that
there's some very impressive research going on at HUC (look at what  she's 
doing for her
dissertation) and we should support it.  One of their faculty, Marc Kligman, 
had an article in a
recent Ethnomusicology on maqam in Syrian Jewish Shabbat prayer that I found 
fascinating.

Shalom,



Ari Davidow wrote:

> >How much of it is music and how much of it is singing.
>
> Singing isn't music? I think a lot of us would have trouble with that!
>
> Did you mean to ask how much of the Bear Family anthology was instrumental 
> music vs. singing?
>
> ari
>
> Ari Davidow
> ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
> list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> the klezmer shack: http://www.klezmershack.com/
>

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
Head, Division Of Composition and Music Theory
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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