CHANTING TiiE HEBREW BffiLE i-·------ ! 3. Music as a Means of Communicating with God Virtually universal is the human urge to communicate with supernatural beings through music.27 In the mythology of many peoples. music is presented as an invention of the gods. Since it was the gods who granted music to humankind, it was natural that music should be the vehicle for communication between the mundane and the heavenly spheres. In many traditions. including the Jewish, the angels and the planets are portrayed as continually praising God through music.' ~his angelic praise then serves as a model for human behaVior. ··--- \:TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THE '.ra'.AMIM The melodic interpretation of the te'amim has been transmitted orally for thousands of years. In any oral tradition, change is the only constant. Not until the melodies are recorded or transcribed into a more exact system of notation is the process of mutation arrested. The first known transcription of the te'amim into Western notation was made in the early sixteenth century by the Christian Bible scholar Caspar Amman (c. 1460-1524).49 [The purpose of the accents is] so that you might know where to suspend the breath, where to distinguish a verse, place a comma. where you ought to put a pause, where a verse ends and begins, what oughtto be pronounced slower and what faster. -Athanasius K.ircherus, 1650 1- THE MASORETIC TEXT By the end of the ninth century c.e .. rabbis of the Ben-Asher school in Tiberias had developed a system for notating vowels, consonant modifiers. and punctuation. These symbols. superimposed over the consonantal text. resolved many ambiguities by clarifying pronunciation, inflection, and interpretation. This new amplified text came to be known as the Masoretic Bible.40 The Ben-Asher system introduced two new sets of symbols. The first set consists of phonetic symbols: 1. vowel symbols kamats, patal,J., l.10Jam, shuruk. kubbuts, segol, tsere, sheva, 1).irik, 1).ataf-patal,J., 1).ataf­ segol, and 1).ataf-kamats. 2. consonant modifiers: • the dagesh kal (which distinguishes between bet and vet, gimel and ghimel, dalet and dhalet, kafand khaf, pey and fey. tav and thav. 41 • the dagesh 1).azak (which doubles the length of a consonant), • the mappik (which turns the letter heh in final position from a silent to an aspirate consonant), • and the dot, which distinguishes shin from sin.42 The second set consists of the so-called "accents," the ta'amey ha-mikra: thirty symbols in the "prose" books of the Bible and twenty-three symbols in the "poetic books." The te'amim serve three functions in relation to the text: ( 1) they indicate the melody to which the words are to be sung, (2) they indicate which syllable is to receive the tonic stress (the accent), and \ l (3) they serve as an elaborate system of punctu~tion. \ As we shall see shortly, all three functions can be encapsulated into one term. "inflection ... \ Inflection ref~rs to the rise and fall of a vocal line. both the subtle pitch variations of speech and the mor: styhzed motion of song. Inflection serves to emphasize or otherwise give special attention l~~rtam syllables within a word and certain words within a sentence. \-\if Hol,Jo.j lor~ T rop (Binder) tummN rnm NrTSJl!I N:J1•n Nrrsrn NJ1•n ,,. : • : •.• .J" \' : • J' : .. jH9~·110 \• : • J' : .. c ' } £] 0 ' j J JJ)~l j Mer-chawlltip- chaw_ ) mu - nach es-nach-taw ___ Mer-chaw tip-chaw_ sof paw- suk --- . NflTil'nN mm N1TSJ1!1 NTI5l'l:I n19~·110 \' : . ' ' •• '"""-f" ~. ~ ,, I I I - I s I JI b j) t_w J1 ] J J 4i!JJ II d rmer- ;;_1 J'-......- ii J Rt J J J...___......._,, J J J II tip. chaw_ mu - nach es-·nach- taw __ tip-chaw_ sof paw-suk -- NflTilnN N1TSJ1!1 NJ1'D AT I - : ••• \'1' c • .I"' : .. ' : "\ " . p~i] ~~m Ntt> tp ~ i(}:;l QQ Nl?1i! c ~j j) J. j {)' j j 42!__J~ II Mer-chaw tip- chaw_ cs-nach- taw __ ;~' j il (!JJ tQ ,j @·t4tJ II kad-maw mah-pach_ pash-taw_ mu - na~h- kaw-ton- Nf!TI JnN N1T5ll!I • : 'I ~ ' ... ,;,:: ,. ' .~ 11~1/ lJ~m N'r?tp~ it~~o::-___ d J' t_J j j f1__J II j) II tip -chaw_ cs-nach-raw __ b' JI QJ)J t@' W·~/tA mah - pach pash - taw mu - nach kaw -Ton-·-- ·' I . "'\ : . - . iH9~ ·110 N}Tl? N[J~t;l ~?T~ J1l!li] ~~m N~tp~ ?V' 1 l@j4fl1' J1 tJ JJ tttP c~ J'D' [email protected] tp. II Mer- chaw tip_ chaw_ mer. chaw sof pall'- suk -·-- pash - taw _ mu - nach _ ka\·; - ton _ . : "'\ n1~~·110 ~?TP. N[J~t;i lll!lj] N~,tp~ 1 o ui J J, u1 J 'J J J J J g;:=u d J1ir J t_J. 11 ~ ~~ '-"J ..__..... .___.. ~ ' ' ' pash - taw _ ka\\" - ton _ tip- chaw_ mer - chaw sof pal\' - suk __ :3 8fi • • !<7 \ '-l ( ,. , 1\ r..,r / I • I Ba B-2 a Jll!>i] l]~ln :ri:i:. 3 w5JJ N~!i?. ' :P_)Hffi t:J I 14] ~ Jl J]/4·3 tJ I kad - maw ge --- rcsh ye- siv - munach- kaw- ton f i•J.n NJ1•n Sb W1.l B! b J•n· ,)• : J• I •• .3 .... lil5 i7 ... .fffl .. !') h I II • '!"' • I .-~----,-J 3 b JJ.:fl 1j J II ' ~@ @11 '-...: b' } .~ mer - c I rnw _ te - v1r ----- g~ - rcsh ye-siv kaw - ton IJ•j1 nnn 1 nnn n'7,1.l Nw·•ni mm - . ' .r J- 9 ' J J73 ' j J J,. II 5. a' J Jj 'I) ga J tJJ118__; ~ J J J j J j j j' mu- t' - Ii- shaw g'do-la;----- mu - nach _ mu - nach _ re vi V\ --- a na~ IJ•j1 nnn - . : J- flJ~i? NQJ"'?T;J l]Jln ,, - ~~~~;-..._,,, b ~ ~ lDz4 J b1i@!FL l II 10 f?J 0£3 ' j j j J .J@ ~J II mu - nach _ re - vi(\,, - a mu - nach t' - Ii-shaw k'ta-naw ------- p ti , r9 rrnn - l ___ j > uy .J- ~ > ff 6. ' OP Jl @§J~J I D~ C!J1J ger-sha-yim ~~~ mu- nach_ paw- zcr . I· ,, 3 ! '2liJ li?r ,, 3 loo. I >_ > A I I I I I I l t I __,_ ~- _31 7 fLJf J J J :tt=n Nift~1 N~1i7 12 w II J II kad- maw vc.:·a: - law_ \ zaw-kef gaw - do! --------- f'\,.) l1 '8 • • 89 13 a ..-::.... ~~J9 ~Jm Ni?1r ~Jm NJTSJU NJ1'J: - ,,... ,.. ,... II ~ J :d Ji VJH iii' ;pfl &§@J J!4J b mu - nach zar- kaw ~ munach. sc-gol ------ JJJ fJft:lJI Mer-chaw tip-chaw------ sof paw-suk __ v $~J9 ~~m Ni?lr NJ1'D NJTSJU \• I • d , V14!ii4-, ,a lh4J @J 11 zar- kaw munach-sc-t.:ol _____ II c' tip- chaw mer. chaw sof paw-suk - c $~JO... iH9~r11u NlJ~'=' ' iJl L~J ., Ji II zar- kaw sc - go! d ' Jl ii@! J ., J J QJ II tip - chaw ----- sof paw - suk --- d $t1g Ni?lr ~~m -J_ r 3 ill' [J J LBJi jjgo., ;/l ®@ Jjf3J II 8. Readings with High Holyday Cantillation mu.nach zar-kaw ~ sc - gol------- According to Orthodox tradition the following Torah readings are read on Rosh Hashannah and Yorn Kippur with the special High Holyday tropes: The First Day of Rosh Hashannah: Genesis: 21 The Second Day of Rosh Hashannah: Genesis: 22 Yorn Kippur Morning: Leviticus: 16 Final cadence for each parasha Minchah-Yorn Kippur: Leviticus: 18 (with Sabbath tropes)1 Reform Practice ,,._ ;@i;' ?1~nio N,H!l N[.!~1? N,Hl.J Rosh Hashannah: Genesis: 22: 1-19 Yorn Kippur Morning: Deut. 29: 19-14; 30: 11-20 ' ~ Yorn Kippur Afternoon: Leviticus: 19 (with Sabbath tropes) 1: ' J J J' · . ij f 'i'J }'] ""f!JJ 11 ~ ~ Mer. chaw tip. chaw mer -chaw - sof paw- suk -- ' l l. At the Minchah Service on Yorn Kippur, the Torah is chanted according to the tropes in Chart I (Sabbath tropes) in order to establish the Sabbath spirit i I and atmosphere. For the Day of Atonement is the "Sabbath of Sabbaths." ! 90 • @ • 91 +~om \3ibl1'ccd (__ ho.",t b'.j A. W. 13/no\er- 5':\c..re.d Mv~1'c. -Pr~$~ J"IS-'1 EX. 1 Trope Hebrew Name T1a11sliteral ion Literal Meaning TROPES 12 _£_ W JJ - geresh = to chase (when milel) see pg. 5~ Lords or Disjunctives Hebrew Name 'Ira11.1lite1 ativ11 Literal Mea11i11g 13 r N! f ~ - azlaw =going on (when milra) see pg. 53 j11 D ~ " 1l U - sof pawsuk = end of sentence 14- ..!!:. n:w1~ - gcrshayim = <louble gcresh NflTI JnN - esnachtaw =to rest " I • I •.· ~ 1•Jn - tevir =broken '5 • I '7,J 0 - segol =cluster of three dots: a)so a vowel sign ., 16 I' , I~ - pawzcr =to scatter 11 '1•.,. W·,: '1 I W- - shalsheles = chain qp 17 n 1 ~ - ·~ l j? - karnc fawraw =horns of a heifer '7 iiJ "') j? ! - zawkef-gawdol = full, upright ( chironomic sign ) 1S J!. il 7~11 N lp, ~ T;J - t'lishaw g' <lo law = big t'lishaw - to draw ou '1 ;?.! or Jll!>ij - zawkcf-koton or koton -- lesser upright 1I) n·n1.l7 TTHIJ - munach lcganne = in<lepcn<lcnt munach ( d1ironornic sign) TJ ... - : - N 1]~\;> - tipchaw = hand-breath ( chironomic sign) .p·~l - revia =four-square Servants and Conjunctives - 20 J TT J1 n - munach = sustained Ni? 1I - zarlcaw =scattered 2: > "if ;J ~ 'Q - mahpach = reversed N ~ ~ !iJ - pashtaw =extending ( chironomic sign) - z s N~TJ -clargaw =stepwise J.•n• -yesiv=staying 'I z .) NJTn - merchaw =to lengthen "' I .