Getting back to the genealogies. The music of Genesis 25 is different from the lists that have gone before.
This is a large chunk of music to work through. Most of the chapter is about
births:
- Qeturah - a host of children and grandchildren but Isaac is isolated.
- Ishmael - a dozen tribes.
- Isaac - Esau and Jacob
A few observations.
- Verses 1 (21 similar verses with this shape) and 5 (4 similar verses) have no rest point.
- The descent to the tonic on הַפִּֽילַגְשִׁים֙ is in the Aleppo codex. The music here is elaborate - a story telling moment.
- There are no refrains in the chapter. The description of death for Abraham (verse 8 bar 60) and Ishmael (verse 17 bar 141) is threefold: expired, died, and was gathered to his people. But there is no significant musical imitation apart from the last 5 notes.
- The somewhat rare ornament tarsin (109 in Genesis) is used 5 times in the chapter verse 6, 9, 16, 26, 34 -- These are all significant turns in the story:
- sending away the children of the courtesans,
- the entombment of Abraham,
- celebrating the children of Ishmael,
- Jacob grasping Esau by the heel,
- and Jacob feeding Esau the lentil stew.
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