World Music Quiz JukeBox Index

INTRODUCTION Musical transmission is dependent on processes of remembering. Song texts and melodies can remind us of people, places, and events. Through repeated performances over time and in different settings, music draws on a partly subconscious bank of memories, sometimes triggering long forgotten recollections and emotions. The physical processes involved in musicmaking calls on what has been termed "habit memory." When we participate in or hear a musical performance, we experience a feeling similar to that in which a memory was first generated. The study of musical transmission requires us to think about the processes of remembering. Musicmaking depends on both individual and shared, or "collective," memories. REMEMBERING THROUGH MUSIC Case Study: The Corrido The Mexican corrido (ballad) displays the ability of music to evoke memories of particular places, people, and events. In the corridor, as in most other ballads, memories are carried primarily in the text. The melody supports that text and helps the singer recall it during a performance. The corrido first emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as a song genre shaped by intercultural conflict. Influenced by conflicts between Mexicans and Americans in the Mexican/US border region Became a medium through which Mexicans and Mexican Americans were able to respond forcefully to American domination Corridos of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries focused on the actions of important individuals recounted in the hero corrido. The corrido Gregorio Cortez is a famous example of this repertory. Portrayal of larger-than-life Mexican figures Important to Texan Mexicans Genre entered a period of decline and transformation in the 1910s and 1920s. The texts about heroes were replaced with what have been termed victim corridos. Emerged in the 1930s just as Mexican American society was becoming part of a more urban, Americanized culture. Used song to inspire their own community to take collective action on the victims' behalf. New revolutionary corrido repertory arose that commented on social and economic hardships. Critiqued the political situation in the 1990s So-called narco-corridos, or "drug ballads," are also popular. Compared to gangsta rap Widely performed by popular groups such as Los Tigres del Norte Intended as constructive criticism, not praise Many of the songs speak of the difficult lives of Mexican immigrants to the United States. COMMEMORATING THROUGH MUSIC Case Study: The Jazz Funeral Marks the death of a musician or, occasionally, some other person of note Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong had two funerals. A conventional ceremony near his home in Queens, New York Old-fashioned jazz funeral in New Orleans Features a jazz band, which improvises on both the melody and accompanying parts of popular songs Features hymns (sacred songs for worship) and dirges (slow instrumental laments) Music played during the return from the cemetery is a fast, lively repertory, in accordance with African American belief that the funeral is not only a farewell, but also a celebration of the person's life and a time for rejoicing. Onlookers join the second line, a crowd that follows behind the band and the mourners as they process through the streets. Once the band is a respectful distance from cemetery, it plays lively marches or popular tunes that contrast with the solemn hymns played on the way to the cemetery. RECONCILING MEMORIES THROUGH MUSIC Case Study: The Syrian Jewish Pizmon Music can sustain memories that seem at odds with the present-day settings within which the music is transmitted. Pizmon literally means "adoration" or "praise." Most of these hymns consist of Hebrew texts set to melodies borrowed from Middle Eastern Arab music. Syrian Jews have continued to sing these hymns and have also composed new pizmonim. The Sound of the pizmon The pizmon tradition had its beginnings in the late Middle Ages. Contrafactum is the use of a preexisting melody with new text. Most pizmonim borrow tunes from Arab songs, and are based on the Arab musical system, maqam The core of Arab music Each maqam is a category of melodies that share pitch, content, range, and characteristic ornament. There are at least a dozen important categories of maqamat, each distinguished by its pitch content and ornaments. Scales based on tetrachords Syrian Jews prescribe one maqam to be emphasized each week. Selected pizmonim and important prayers are sung in the weekly maqam. Maqam nahawand from the late nineteenth century has remained popular into the present time. Sounds similar to the minor scale of Western music Western notation helped standardize maqam Pizmon Attah El Kabbir represents an interesting case study of musical transmission. Pizmon melody maintains a three-part form, the muwashshah Has an improvised layali that establishes the maqam of the subsequent song Maqam ajam is very similar to the Western major scale. Resembles Western melodies Not based on Arab sources The Settings of pizmon performance Most used to celebrate birth, bar mitzvah, wedding, etc. New pizmon composed for birth If a given pizmon became popular, it would be performed at subsequent events and enter chain of musical transmission. Important setting for pizmon transmission is a Sabbath afternoon songfest called the Sebet Plays a major role in Syrian ceremonial and social life Transplanted through migration Includes only unaccompanied pizmonim sung in Hebrew Pizmon are also performed at parties known as haflah that celebrate special occasions such as anniversaries. Songs from which the pizmon melodies have been taken, complete with their Arabic language texts Instrumental accompaniment. Musical sources for diaspora pizmonim Pizmon melodies have been drawn from many sources, including from music traditions Syrian Jews encountered in their new homelands. Mifalot Elohim became a popular pizmon. Based on the Christmas carol O Tannenbaum Rarely sung in Syrian Jewish circles Maqam ajam, even though not an Arab source Continuing Use of Arab Melodies Pizmon depend most heavily on the Arab musical tradition for their inspiration. Pizmon Ramah Evarai was composed for the bar mitzvah. Also used for the dedication of a newly copied Torah scroll Based on the Arab song The Wheat Song Very popular since its composition in 1946 for a movie Composed by Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, who is known as an innovator Contrafactum text in Hebrew has many hidden meanings. CONCLUSION

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