ch. 2: ancient & medieval religious music Flashcards
civilizations
city culture
chant / chanting
used to refer to religious melodies and singing
how does it work? (invoking the spirit of kindness through sound”
p. 39
describe the lifestyle of Tibetan monks
semi-nomadic pastoralists
who is the Dalai Lama?
the political ruler of Tibet; the leader of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism
how does it work? (“quia ergo femina”)
p. 44
choir
a chorus of singers supported by a church, school, or other institution often with a leader/conductor
stepwise motion / conjunct motion
melodies that move thru adjacent pitches of a scale
leapwise motion / disjunct motion
melodies that leap from one pitch to nonadjacent pitches in the scale
syllabic singing
syllables set on just one or two pitches
melismatic singing
syllables set on many pitches
melisma
a syllable set to many pitches
vibrato
a pulsating slight raising and lowering of the pitch of a tone
what does the sound of Christian chant mean for believers?
- the calm, relaxed sound of monophonic chanting echoing thru a large church/cathedral creates a sonic icon of otherworldiness
- the chanting of the monks or nuns is resonating in heaven and God is listening to the praises in the sacred Latin texts
liturgies
the ritual rules and practices for sacred services
what service was “Quia ergo femina” used for?
“Ordinary of the Mass”; chant sung during every Mass, developed for the ceremonial life of monasteries and convents
how does “quia ergo femina” create meaning for feminism?
- a woman composed it, and it’s sung by women -> existing in a strongly patriarchal tradition
- the text juxtaposes and exalts the two most important women in Christianity, Eve and Mary. Praises Mary in terms analogous to the way the Church praises Jesus
- Hildegard’s person and compositions argue for the perfection of women as well as men
lyre
a stringed instrument with a resonating body and a frame holding five or six strings, which are plucked
neumes
the curved lines and dots of early graphic notations which indicate how many syllables are sung to a pitch, hinting at the melodic shape of a melisma
Gregorian chant
- Pope St. Gregory 1’s reforms of chant singing and their preservation in notation; likely were traditional chants with no known authors
- commonly used to encompass all monophonic Christian chanting
modes
heptatonic scales with one pitch defined as the final/most important pitch
scale degree
each pitch in a scale
final
each mode has a final, the pitch on which a chant ends
diatonic scales
modes based on scales consisting of whole steps and half steps. the distances b/w these scales are not equal, as they are in ‘Are’are music.
solmization / solfege
system of note names based on the first syllables of a six-line poem {ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la}, invented by Guido of Arezzo (a Benedictine monk from central Italy)
staff
Guido of Arezzo created the four-line staff, a set of four equally spaced lines
how does it work? (“chanting (tartil) of the qur’an”)
p. 51
when/where is Qur’anic chant performed in Muslim society
throughout
* Friday prayer service throughout the year
* daily prayers during Ramadan
* secular events to celebrate weddings, funerals, etc
* celebrate the opening of a shop/restaurant
* in gatherings of aficionados to listen to a skilled recieter
what language is Qur’anic chant always performed in, regardless of native language?
arabic
hafiz
someone who memorizes the entire Qur’an
why are the words of the Qur’an and the sound of its recitation moving to believers?
together they recreate the moment of God’s revelation to Muhammad. they represent “divine and inimitable beauty”
why is pronunciation so important to Qur’anic chant?
the very sound of the words come from God. rules, called tajwid, govern pronunciation and require lengthy study
what is the significance of the pauses in Qur’anic chant?
they signal the reciter’s understanding of the text and give the listeners time to absorb and reflect on its meaning
maqam
a melodic mode that specifies intervals b/w pitches, characteristic melodic gestures, the addition of chromatic pitches, and typical modulation to other maqamat
how many heptatonic modes does the maqam system have?
over 50
microtone / microtonal interval
smaller than a half step
who performed “Invoking the Spirit of Kindness through Sound”?
8 Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung, once the largest Buddhist monastic university in Tibet
who composed “Quia ergo femina”?
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179); a nun and founder of a convent
Who recited the Qur’anic chant, and where?
- Sheikh Hamza Shakkur (1947-2008)
- the Great Mosque in Damascus, Syria
