World Music Quiz JukeBox Index

INTRODUCTION Public celebrations of religious belief have provided important settings for musical performance. Rituals may extend well the boundaries of religious belief. Ritual, sacred service, liturgy, and liturgical order are terms used interchangeably to refer to public acts of worship. Rituals tend to share a common structure. Incorporate a symbolic process or change of state Three stages of a cultural ritual: separation, transition, and incorporation Music often provides clear markers of the stages in a rite of passage. A ritual guides its participants through time in special ways. Music and movement can be crucial to expressing what cannot be conveyed through words. The ability of ritual to evoke a strong emotional and physical response is shaped through different means in different soundscapes. There is no single musical pathway to transcendence. The ritual process can also have very different outcomes. THE CENTRALITY OF CHANT Case Study: Tibetan Buddhist Chant Chant may sound simple, but its musical surface can mask extraordinary depths of meaning. Tibetan Buddhist chant provides an example of such complex significance. Performing chant is instrumental in moving the singer through the ritual process to a transformed state. Ritual meditation text (sadhana) evokes the sacred and helps the monk visualize and unite with the deity. The biphonic vocal style of the monks includes a low fundamental in the bass as well as a harmonic high above it. Sound is actually two harmonics, the fifth and the tenth. The fundamental slowly rises and falls throughout the Mahakala ritual. Elaborate ritual comprised of sustained sections of chant (dbyangs) Accompanied by cymbals, drums, and horns "The Tantra voice" referring to its use to sound rituals associated with Tantric belief and philosophy. The rol mo musical repertory has shown that it contains a complex mathematical organization of rhythmic structures. Rhythmic complexities require training and experience to perform and perceive. The rhythms are not metered, cyclical, or irregular. Chant has occasionally been presented in public performance Chant has also been performed in recent years to gain political and financial support for Tibetans exiled from their homeland. It has been used in a range of popular contexts including car commercials on television. THE CHANGING CONTEXTS OF RITUAL PERFORMANCE Case Study: Santerķa Afro-Cuban religion derived from West African beliefs, language, and practices that were transplanted to the Caribbean and combined with some aspects of Catholicism. Large numbers of Africans were imported in a final wave of slavery as late as the mid-ninteenth century. African slaves in Cuba managed to create social institutions that perpetuated and transformed the traditions they had brought with them. Cabildos are organizations established in Cuba by Africans who had shared roots in the same African linguistic and cultural group. They were increasingly regulated by the Cuban government over time. Legal restriction in 1888 Practiced informally and in secret Worshipped orishas or santos which joined African deities with Catholic saints Each was associated with particular herbs and plants, and further associated with its own chants, drum rhythms, and dance movements. Complex rituals sought to help practitioners achieve divination and trance states. The goal of Santería worship is to establish a relationship with the orishas. Animal sacrifices made in hopes of obtaining help from the orishas with the problems of daily life. Worshipers of the orishas came to be called santeros. Within the rituals of Santería, batá drums summon the orishas at certain times. Santero or santera will be possessed or "mounted" by an orisha. Possession is regarded as dangerous for those who are not spiritually developed. Chanting has long been an important part of the Santería rituals. Chants were almost always performed in call-and-response style. A chant is identified with a particular orisha. Chants differ in their content and function. Their power is to communicate with the divinities—to "bring down" the orishas. As the Santería belief system was adopted throughout the diaspora, some of its Catholic practices were abandoned. Emphasis was placed instead on the rituals associated with its African roots. New performance settings arose, with some practitioners taking the controversial step of opening formerly secret rituals to the public. Case Study: Ethiopian Christian Chant The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church One of the oldest Christian denominations in the world Close relations with the Coptic Church of Egypt. Church stood at the center of Ethiopian religious life and the political and cultural life of the people. Overthrow of Haile Selassie diminished the status of the church. Forced millions to leave Ethiopia Ethiopians established diaspora communities Ethiopian chant in its historical homeland Ethiopian Christian chant is called zema. Attributed in traditional Ethiopian sources to the divine inspiration of Saint Yared Transmitted primarily through oral tradition System of musical notation helps sustain musical and liturgical transmission. Elaborate chant performance the ritual called the Hymnary. Performed before the Mass on Sundays and during festivals Includes nearly two dozen types of chants Sound Three categories of melody associated with the Trinity Ge'ez symbolically linked with God the Father The most often performed of all three categories Not associated with any single occasion Araray symbolizes Jesus, the Son. Often used for daily morning services 'Ezl represents the Holy Spirit Used mainly for Holy Week and Easter Yome fesseha kone in Ge'ez mode Sung as part of the Ethiopian ritual for Christmas Involves distinctive vocal slides called rekrekk In the liturgical setting, this chant is preceded by the singing of "hallelujah." Plainchant style antiphonal style This chant can help us understand the extent to which pitch is perceived differently across cultural boundaries. Ethiopian notational sign (melekket) represents a short melody. The melekket is the smallest musical unit transmitted by Ethiopian church musicians. Several melodies linked together constitute a phrase of the chant. Dabtaras do not hear the chant as consisting of a series of individual pitches. Learn entire chant as performed in ritual Practice by repeating short phrases after the teacher Accompanied by sistra, small idiophones Named patterns of three, four and five Repetitions accompanied by kebaro drums Ethiopian chant in its North American diaspora Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church has established itself outside Ethiopia after revolution of the 1970s. Many urban areas support several Ethiopian congregations. Most of these congregations lack their own meeting spaces and depend on the generosity of other Christian denominations. Challenges confront Ethiopians of the diaspora seeking to sustain their religious and musical practice in North America. Ethiopian Americans have established both community organizations and extensive social networks. Difficult to gather the necessary funds to sustain even a modest Ethiopian Christian ritual cycle Severe shortage of qualified clergy Places the Ethiopian church's music traditions at particular risk in the diaspora The impact on liturgical music of changing settings at home and abroad Church music has clearly changed in the diaspora. The regular performance of the Hymnary is mounted only on special occasions. In some instances, Hymnary is not performed during diaspora church services at all. Presented at concerts for the Ethiopian community on holidays These events can attract a sizable audience. Other changes within the rituals have taken place as well. Women began to participate. Youth choirs began to sing hymns before and after Mass. A new style of sacred musical has emerged. Sunday schools opened a pathway for women to become active in Ethiopian Christian worship. New hymns have proven very popular. Sacred music remains a vital part of the life in the Ethiopian diaspora. CONCLUSION

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