Friday 19 October 2012

Common incipits in the Psalms

I am part way through examining common phrases in the Psalms - here is the music of the first verses of the Psalms with the Do Not Destroy title.
Sing it - the first is in that off-kilter mode with the sharpened atenach. The second is as plain as can be. The third is ornamented. The forth is the only 'psalm' and the only 'song'. The first three are labelled 'miktam'.

For comparison here are the first 11 incipits.
The last on this page is very similar to the first mizmor le-Asaph (Psalm 50). It contains a very common intermediate cadence in the psalms.

I wonder about the why's and wherefore's of these patterns - now audible.



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