This section builds on the earlier introductions to the Hebrew letters and the music of the accents. It introduces a variety of terms that can be used to speak about music.
The opening phrases of the Lamentations of Jeremiah |
1 Ah in such solitude sits the city.
Abundant with people she is as a widow. Abundant from the nations, noble among the provinces, she is into forced service. |
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א איכ֣ה ישב֣ה בד֗ד העיר֙ רב֣תי ע֔ם הית֖ה כאלמנ֑ה רב֣תי בגוי֗ם שר֙תי֙ במדינ֔ות הית֖ה למֽס ס |
18 17 |
a aich iwbh bdd hyir rbti ym hiith
calmnh rbti bgoiim wrti bmdinot hiith lms s |
- the recitation in this example begins on the note e and immediately rises a fifth to the note B and continues on that note for 12 syllables.
- In that second long bar of the score, three ornaments are encountered on the fifth, seventh, and eleventh syllables of the bar. The middle one on the seventh syllable invites a brief pause in agreement with the grammar of the text.
- The recitation continues after the brief pause to the remaining five syllables and descends to g#, where after an additional four syllables, it comes to rest on A.
Of course this is mundane and it leaves out nearly all of the expressivity in the music. If we were to hear also the underlying tonality,
- we would identify the tonic, home base, as e. The low e is comfortable for most voices. It is the default starting point if none other is specified.
- We would also hear the rest point, A, on the 4th degree of the scale, the sub-dominant.
- The majority of this particular recitation is on the dominant, B, the 5th degree of the scale, a natural harmonic for a wind instrument such as the shofar. This tone gives the whole recitation a sense of proclamation.
Hebrew names for the accents can also be used to describe the music. These are the names including the additional two notes not used in this verse, for the remaining degrees of the scale below the tonic e:
All these accents are written below the text. They determine the pitch of the recitation until a new sign is encountered.
Using these terms I could describe the first phrase, bars 1 to 4 of the music, like this:
- the recitation begins on silluq and on the second syllable rises a fifth to munah, continuing on that note for twelve syllables.
- Three accents above the text are encountered above the text, revia on the fifth syllable, pashta on the seventh, and and zaqef-qatan on the eleventh. The pashta invites a brief pause in agreement with the grammar of the text.
- The recitation continues on the remaining five syllables until it descends to tifha, and after four syllables comes to rest on atnah.
When Hebrew students begin to learn cantillation they use what is called a zarqa table to help them hear and memorize the shape and pitch of each accent. A zarqa table is a mapping of the names to notes and shape. We can use such a table. Some modification in thought process is required to apply this concept to the Haïk-Vantoura deciphering key. Accents above the text have melodic shape, but not a fixed pitch. Their pitch is relative to the current recitation pitch.
For the music of the verse we are considering, here is the zarqa table.
Zarqa table for Lamentations 1:1 |
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