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Thursday 6 February 2014

Singing the Scriptures - The Music of Jonah 1:10-12

Being forced to sing this story in smaller segments gives me more time to think about it in both languages. There are so many small details highlighted by the music even over and above considering the repeating words, itself a rewarding study.

Hear how the fear of the mortals - now no longer called seafarers - is on the same note as the hurling of the storm on the sea. When Jonah commands them to hurl him onto the sea (rather than hurling their cargo (verse 5), there are two ornaments reaching up to the same note.  I have occasionally below reversed normal word-order - a Yoda speech style - so you can underlay the notes with English words. It is more important musically sometimes... Imagine the recital accompanied by drum roll, the occasional cymbal, and other instruments. (Yoda by the way seems to derive from the Hebrew for knowing.)

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