The Enjoyment of Music: Essential Listening Edition
Explorations
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Chant as Music for Worship
Many cultures employ music for religious rituals. These sacred songs take various forms, including chant, a simple, monophonic melody sung or recited to a text. The practices of the Christian church owe much to Judaism, including the singing of psalms (an Old Testament book consisting of 150 poems). In the Judaic tradition, psalms are sung responsorially, alternating between the cantor (singing leader) and the congregation. The recitation of psalms (a style more like speaking than singing) is central to the early Christian church as well, as is responsorial performance.
In the Islamic world, texts from the Koran (the sacred book of Islam) are also recited rhythmically in a kind of chant. A familiar sound in Islamic cultures is the call to prayer, which is sung publicly five times per day. The Prophet Muhammad is credited with instituting the practice of the call to prayer, sounded from a minaret (tower), then from inside the mosque.
iMusic: Plainchant (Hildegard: Kyrie)
Santería chant (Osain)
Opening Doors to the East
The Middle Ages was an era of religious wars and world exploration, both of which opened doors to the East. Between 1096 and 1221, there were five organized Crusades, military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in an attempt to capture the Holy Land of Palestine from the Muslims. Out of these violent episodes came a significant meeting of cultures. Western culture absorbed the expert military skills and weapons of the Muslim warriors, as well as advanced medical and scientific knowledge of the Arab world.
The Crusaders and their entourage—which included minstrels, both instrumentalists and vocalists—brought back music, theoretical ideas (providing the foundation of our Western modes, or scale types), and musical instruments of all types. Two of the most important instruments that derive from the Arab world were the rebec (illustrated here), a small, violinlike instrument, and the loud double-reed shawm, which originated with a Turkish military instrument and was often used for outdoor events. We can hear the shawm featured in a performance of some Renaissance dances (see p. 103).
iMusic: Middle Eastern music (Avaz of Bayate Esfahan)
Chinese music (In a Mountain Path)
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