Friday 4 December 2015

Joshua 1, verses 2 and 4, to learn the impact of the music

The word of Yahweh to Joshua is surprisingly direct. Probably one could read the first three words and sing the first 5 notes slowly. Then - get on with it.
Joshua 1:2 Music from the accents (automated)
Moses, my servant, has died.
So now, arise, cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.
Note the recurrence of the word 'this' in the chapter. Also interesting is the definition of the land. The 'mid-point' rest of this 18 word chapter is at the 16th word. That's how the music of the accents teaches how to read. (Of course the cantors know this, but following their rote cantillation is not exactly revealing, simply repetitive, because there is no recognition, in traditional cantillation that I have heard, whether well or poorly sung, of the scale and its emotionally directed content.) Contrast verse 4 with verse 2 above. Note where the 'mid-point' rest on the subdominant A is in each.

It's not a matter of length.
From the wilderness to this Lebanon and until the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea, from the going down of the sun,
will be your border.
Joshua 1:4 Music from the accents (automated)
I think I will leave this for a bit. There's enough to hear here. The whole score is in the usual place. If you want it in music XML go here.




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