Music of the Bible -- the Book of Job -- press release

A presentation of the Hebrew Bible with all its music verse by verse. 

VICTORIA, BC – In a work that bridges antiquity with innovation, Biblical scholar, database programmer, and musician, Bob MacDonald, unveils Music of the Bible: The Book of Job, a first available volume of a complete edition of the Hebrew Bible that restores the music encoded in the Hebrew text. This is Scripture as it was meant to be performed and heard. Transforming the cantillation marks into modern music notation, MacDonald offers readers and singers alike the opportunity to hear the voice of Job, his comforters, and the other notorious actors in the play as preserved in the earliest available Masoretic text. Each verse presents the musical score supported by transliterated lyrics for singers, the diacritics isolated for Hebrew readers, and a transcription for reading Hebrew accurately in our commonly used Roman alphabet. The result is a Hebrew Bible that has never been seen or heard until now. “The tone of voice,” writes MacDonald “has been missing from the written word for centuries. This project aims to restore it. Now we can hear the grief, the joy, the proclamations, the aural interconnections in the text.”

With a translator's precision and a cantor’s sensitivity, the text is brought to life as song. A pioneering blend of language, liturgy, and technology, Music of the Bible: The Book of Job is designed for learning. Anyone who is learning Hebrew will find its multi-part presentation a pleasure to read and sing. Cantors will delight in the music, different from modern tradition but a justified deciphering of the fundamental uses of the cantillation marks. The music reveals both poetic structure and distant musical allusions from one verse to others. The Book of Job begins by mimicking the opening of the book of Genesis. Theologians will find the music revealing. This presentation will stand as a study tool and a devotional companion, revealing Job’s determined patience.

Job is the first available volume of the series. Torah, Prophets, and all the Writings have been analysed, developed, typeset, and considered as a whole. The deciphering of the music has been subjected to stress tests and consistency analysis. All of the music files are available under separate cover for composers and arrangers to use as raw material. This presentation will challenge your understanding, lead you to refreshing questions, and invite you into a restored relationship to the Holy Text.

Availability: Music of the Bible: The Book of Job is available now in EPUB and paperback format. Visit https://bit.ly/3YOZtVG to learn more, full media kit (incl. sample pages), or to request a review.