The cantillation of the Bible: The Aleppo tradition (Pentateuch).
Item
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Title
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The cantillation of the Bible: The Aleppo tradition (Pentateuch).
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Identifier
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AAI9630523
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identifier
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9630523
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Creator
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Ya'ar, Avishai.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Stephen Blum
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Date
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1996
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music | Religion, Biblical Studies
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Abstract
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The thesis' main goals were: (a) The presentation (and conservation) of the Aleppan cantillation style of the Bible--an ancient Jewish musical practice which has recently disappeared with the take over of a united general "Sephardi" style. (b) The analysis of this musical practice, presenting a clear profile of its musical components.;The research, which offers a detailed presentation of this cantillation in transcriptions and tables, side by side with a long discussion of its linguistic as well as musical essence, has lead us to some conclusions: (a) A direct linkage was established between the T'ameem (the Biblical accents) and their musical execution. (b) The musical formulae attributed to the T'ameem do not constitute exact melodic patterns, but rather a melodic skeleton presenting a general melodic motion involving the main degrees of the maqam in use. (c) The combination of the syntactic form of the Biblical phrase and the general melodic profile of the T'ameem presents a fluctuating melodic line moving from the upper to the lower register and vice versa, while constantly reaching and leaving the finalis/tonic. (d) The tonal structure of the cantillation is based on a seven degree major-like scale (with the general ambitus of nine different tones--fifth degree below the finalis to sixth degree above it). (e) Only few details found in the recorded examples were able to support the informants' (as well as the theoretical) concept of maqam Siga being the only maqam in use for the practice. (f) Many different styles were found comparing the informants' general intonation of the cantillation. Nevertheless, a clear mutual tendency is found regarding the tonal deviation of certain degrees of the scale in most of the recorded examples. The use of lowering/heightening of the scale's degrees provides its tonal structure with a very clear functional framework based on stable/unstable degrees creating a hierarchical order of the maqam's tones.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
