Wednesday, 22 January 2014

The Hebrew te'amim expressed in music with an English underlay

I have been thinking about this project for a year and a half. And I have now begun. I have some questions - as I had at the beginning of my last project. Consider the following draft of Psalm 3.  Please help me out with some comments, here or on Facebook or via Tweets.
  1. How should I handle the tetragrammeton?
  2. How will people read this. I note that the 8th notes and quarter notes are not to be sung at their rhythmic value but as plainsong (in this case). There will be some that are set rhythmically, like 114 to the precursor of Tonus Peregrinus. 
  3. I will be working with a composer. He will critique underlay and suggest accompaniment, mode, and other compositional things.
  4. Is punctuation necessary? In my translation, it is very minimal.
  5. Should I completely refrain from comments in the music (there are a couple below - e.g. on the lifting up of the head, and I sleep, I awake).
  6. This song has remarkable form - linking verse 1, the face of Absalom, to the Holy hill - that is remarkable from a theological point of view. Absalom as God's presence! [dependent on which edition or codex you look at - to be further analysed]
  7. Also note how 'arise' is painted, showing that the composer was aware of repeated words.
  8. Would one recommend a pause on the atnah? (As in traditional plainsong.)