Monday 14 September 2020

Psalms 65 - comparing musical versions

 לְךָ֤ דֻֽמִיָּ֬ה תְהִלָּ֓ה אֱלֹ֘הִ֥ים בְּצִיּ֑וֹן

what will I do with this music for Psalms 65?

I was looking for a small simple piece. This isn't it.

Psalm 65:1 deciphered by Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura
Compare what I have with what SHV has. She used the Letteris Edition (late 19th century). She lacks the silluq in the Leningrad codex (the short stroke following the three-dots of the qubuts in red above - read right to left). I went to check the Aleppo Codex and it is no longer online. [This site confirms the silluq.] Her first verse shows that Letteris differs from the Leningrad codex in its accents: לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ מִזְמ֗וֹר לְדָוִ֥ד שִֽׁיר

The difference in verse 2 is substantial. SHV has a problem with her interpretation of the accents in the absence of the silluq. She must take the ornament down an octave. The mode she has chosen is difficult to sing. The missing silluq may have affected her decision on mode.

My translation has too few syllables so I repeated the words [in this sketch] to get a different impact from any idea of plainsong. I am finding that recitation is not the only possible outcome of mining the accents for their music using this deciphering key.
Psalms 65:1-2 beginning of a draft rendering.


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