Yale Institute of Sacred Music 409 Prospect St. New Haven, Connecticut 06511 USA The syro-maronite Chant By Prof. Elias Kesrouani Musimedialogist December 4, 2007 THE ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS 2 FIVE ARAMEAN KINGDOMS, FROM THE 5TH CENTURY B C TILL THE 4TH A D. 3 1- ANTIOCH (ANTAKYA) 4 2- EDESSA (URFA) 5 3-AL HADR (HATRA) 6 4- PALMYRA 7 5-PETRA 8 THE MARONITE CHURCH, HISTORICAL VIEW Origins The ethnic origins of the Maronite people lie in a rich formation of several races dating back to the cananeo-phoenecian civilizations of the near east. These races enjoy a clear revealed presence in the Bible. Cradle Its cradle is the monastery, which was sculptured in the fifth century in the rock on the In the .(א flowing into Aphamia (Qal‛at al-Madīq ,א Orontes River Al-Assi honor of Mōrūn (In syriac) , the « Saint prêtre anachorete » a hermit Holy priest according to the terms used by St J Chrysostom in one of his letters in exile. These monks and priests with a handful of people were not contented to be named only after one saint distinguishing themselves of the Syriac Church. 9 The Chalcedonian Council (451) The Maronite vigorously defended the Caledonian doctrine, while the action of the Constantinople council of 536 did retain the signature of the monastery of the blessed Mōrūn within the «grandissim» edifice surrounded by 300 Hermitages that exerted its supremacies over the venerable monasteries of Syria Second, until the tenth century1. The «Maronite» patronym This patronymic name required almost two centuries to be accepted or even assimilated2. Thus, the Jacobites3 expressed well there unhappiness to be called Jacobites and benefited from the discord following the rally of few Syriac to the Catholic Church in 1662 and called themselves Orthodox. The first martyrs Around 350 monks were subjected to martyrdom in that monastery in 517. The spilled blood for the faith blossomed with 800 monks in the 7th century. It became the lance– head of the resistance the region offered facing the anti-Caledonian monophysits. The purity of the musical patrimony Due to there isolation following the conquest of the region in 636 by the Muslim Arabs, the Maronites became strongly attached to the monastical character of their life, and the mode of chanting. This character is apparent in the syro-maronite chant repertory until the present time. The Council of Constantinople The sixth ecumenical council remained ignored by the chalcedonian bishops of Syria who took refuge in Constantinople. In the fifth century, the monks and hermits of about 300 hermitages, disciples of Saint Marun mentioned above, were the first to deserve the denomination of Maronites. This is the reason for which the Maronite church is monastic par excellence. Consequently like an oil spot, the parishes served by these priests spread to form the people known later as the Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch, Which was recognized for the first time as a .(744-748) אא distinct community by the Caliph Marwān 1 Livre de l’avertissement et de la révision, Book of notification and א،אאא ,MAS‛ŪDĪ revision , (translit : Kitāb at-tanbīh wal-išrāf), éd. Goeje, Bibliotheca geographorum arabicorum, t.8, Leyde, 1894. 2 Ces Allusions pourront trouver leur explication, à notre avis, dans les documents annexes du livre de NAAMAN (Paul) Théodoret de Cyr et le monastère de Saint Maron, (Les origines des Maronites), Essai d’histoire et de géographie, Beyrouth, 1971. 3 Les Jacobites abandonnent ce titre relatif à l’Organisateur de l’Eglise syriaque au début du VIe siècle Jacques de Baradée, pour Orthodoxes, suite à l’aliment d’une partie des syriaques avec l’Eglise catholique en 1662. 10 The Maronite of Mount Lebanon The Maronite Church was subjected to several persecutions, by the Jacobites and the Melkites. In addition to the persecutions, they suffered under the Caliph Abbasid al- did compel them to seek refuge in the mountain of (813-833) אא Ma’mūn Lebanon. This action safeguarded the Maronite chant from external influences and allowed it to retain its austere and archaic character4. The Maronite in Cyprus In the 9th century, many Maronites took refuge in Cyprus. In the 10th century, the Maronite was present in Lebanon, the Anti-Lebanon and the Syrian regions of Homs Hama a Ma°arrat an-Nu°ma-n... The Crusaders During the Crusaders period 13th century, the Maronites were in concord with the Latins. 4 Remarque déjà mentionnée plus haut, et reconfirmée ici pour sa grande importance. 11 The Maronite School in Roma (1584) The Maronite Collage founded in Rome by Gregory the 13th, contributed to the amelioration of the intellectual level of the Maronite clergy. At that time, a slogan was circulated in scientific circles referring to men of culture in these terms: Savant comme un Maronite: a Scholar like a Maronite, like Assemani Eccellencis, and Gabriel Sionita who was the special instructor of King Louis the 13th.… The Maronite Synodos. In 1736, the Monastery of Notre-Dame d’Al-Louaïzé hosted the Grand Synod named as the Synod of Lebanon. The residence of the Maronite Patriarch The residence of the Maronite Patriarch was established first in the monastery of Qannūbīn then fixed at Bkerke since the Synod of 1790.5 5 ASSFALG (J), KRUGER (P), Dictionnaire de l’Orient Chrétien, Brepols, Belgique, 1991. 12 THE SYRO-MARONITE CHANT. The Original source of the Syro-Maronite chant The Maronite church like any other ethnic community recognized several schools representing its multiple traditions localized in bishoprics, seminars and large influencing cities. Each school brought to its repertoire a character that differentiates it more or less, from the others. Alepine founders of the Maronite orders From Aleppo the musical city of the near east par excellence, through the centuries and the cultures, a rooted stronghold in the Maronite tradition, four Maronites6, following a pilgrim to the holy land, proceeded toward to the holy valleys of Mount-Lebanon and founded, in1695, the first religious order of this Church: the Aleppine Maronite Order. This Order has been split into two, in 1770: the Aleppine Maronite Order and the Lebanese Maronite Order. Three existing orders presently in the Maronite Church emanated: the Lebanese Maronite Order, the Mariamite Maronite Order (that kept until 1967 the initial name of the founder: the Aleppin Maronite Order and the third, the Antonine Maronite Order, founded in the monastery of Notre-Dame of Tamiche, belonging to the Lebanese Maronite Order in the year 1700. The formation of the first religious chanting community of the Maronites Orders was Aleppine with all what this belonging could mean in the sense of the musical character: the modalities, the style and the melodic expression of the Syro-Maronite chant. These characteristics would form with the melodic local Lebanese acquisition inherited through centuries, a mixture particular to this community 6 Three in the beginning: Abdullah Qara‛ali, Gibra’īl Hawwa, Yūsof al-Bitn.Followed by Gibra’īl Farhāt ; BLAYBEL (Louis), Histoire de l’Ordre Libanais Maronite, Vol. I, Imprimerie Youssef Daoua, Egypte, 1924, pp. 19. 13 The syro-maronite Hymnological repertoire (It is sufficient and adequate to give vocal example of some well known of these forms with out ingoing into historic evolution details). 7 bžáïŞz’ S7h5i;mo , “The ferial office”; the origins of this collection, resend, as it appears, to the end of the 8th century, compiled by Jacques of Edessa8. The content is from Saint Ephrem, Jacques of Saroug, Isaac, Balaï Bishop of Balas 7 and Simon the potter, and perhaps Jacques of Edessa; the S7h5i;mo , is chanted over melodies known as Proper or Common, in the alternate 8 qo,le:, two for each week9. The Maronite Church has lost the ochtoïchos from there repertory. The prayers of the week that do not change according to the alternation of the qo,le., * The Vesters and Complines, Rams8o, and Su,to,ro , of Monday and Tuesday are on the qo,lo, s7ti;to,yo,. * The Matines S5afro , of Monday are on the qo,lo, trayo,no,. * The Matines morning prayer” S5afro, of Tuesday are on the qo,lo, tmi4no,yo,. The Vespers and Complines Rams7o, and Su,to,ro, and the Matines Safro , of Wednesday are on the qo,lo, sbi;°o,yo,. The Vespers and Complines Rams7o, and Su,to,ro , of Thursday are on the qolo, hmi-s7o,yo,. The matine S5afro, of Thursday are on the qo,lo, qadmo,yo,. The Vespers and Complines Rams7o, and Su,to,ro, of Friday and Saturday are on the qo,lo, qadmo,yo,. The Matine S5afro, of Friday is on the qo,lo, s7ti;to,yo,. The Matines S5afro, of Saturday are on the qo,lo, tmi4no,yo,. For the Nocturnes (night prayers), the Third, the Sixth and Ninth prayers we refer to our study of the calendar10. Ôþ@ Qo?lo,? Voice11, tone, canticale12; a poem of one or several verses. The Qo?lo ? gives its incipit as title, its meter and melody to the entire poem as well as to other compositions of which it is the model13. 7 La copie la plus ancienne est celle du VIIIe siècle dont il reste quelques folia à Damas. Une autre version al-mah:ru,ma , est préservée à Alep. Elle appartient à l'Église d'Edesse et fut écrite au XIVe siècle en estringe,lo., Pour l'Église syriaque Orthodoxe il y a eu trois éditions du S3h/i;mo., Une première au couvent de Za°fara,n en1890, une deuxième par Bars/u,m et une troisième à Jérusalem en 1934. 8 Lu’lu’, p. 57, témoigne avoir lu dans un des manuscrits conservés à la Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris que le S3h5i;mo , est réuni selon la tradition de l'Église édesséienne.