Chapter 5The Middle Ages

Global Perspectives:

Sacred Chant

Key Terms

Qur’anic recitation

azan

muezzin

mele pule

mele hula

ho’zho’ni songs

Vocables

Enemy Way ceremony

Global Perspectives

What can world music do for us?Help us see our own traditions more clearly; understand our world more fullyStimulate intellectual curiosityLearn how cultures influence each other

• Western music did not evolve in a vacuum

Gain a sharper understanding of the elements of musicHonor the diverse traditions represented in today’s classrooms

Global Perspectives 1

Sacred ChantFor many ancient cultures, music possessed sacred, even magical power

Chanting sacred texts was and is a nearly universal phenomenon

Still practiced by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists

Used by most other traditional religions, e.g., Hawai’ian or Navajo cultures

Qur’anic Recitation

Islamic practice of reciting holy scriptureThough it possesses musical qualities, it is regarded as “reading,” not “singing”Its goal is to convey texts of the Qur’an in a clearly comprehensible mannerA purely oral tradition, never written downStyle and degree of virtuosity vary with the reciterIt takes years to memorize the Qur’an and learn the rules of recitation

Ya Sin (Surah XXXVI)

• Starts low, gradually rises higher, circling around scale step five

• Irregular phrases ornamented with trills, shakes, etc.

• Based on non-Western scale (Arabic maqam)• Nonmetrical: no fixed rhythm or meter• Speechlike rhythms, free and unpredictable• Unaccompanied, monophonic• Solo male voice, often with nasal quality• No obvious patterns of repetition or return

The Adhan (Azan)

Islamic call to prayerSung five times a day by mu’adhdhin (muezzin)Traditionally sung from minaret (a tower attached to the mosque) and then inside the mosque to begin prayersNow often broadcast over loudspeakersPerhaps best known type of Islamic chantClosely related to Qur’anic recitation, but does not use words from the Qur’an

Hawai’ian Chant

Mele puleMele = song; specifically, poetic texts sung with or without instruments

Mele pule = prayers to gods

Sung prayers seek to bring images of gods to life and invest them with divine powers

Often sung in olioli style: delivered on a sustained pitch with vibrato (i’i)

Mele pule

• Two short prayers: “Aia no ke akua la I uka” and “Ike ia Kaukini e lawai’a manu”

• One primary pitch, barely touches one other pitch

• Heightened speech, with vibrato and glottal stops

• Nonmetrical: no fixed rhythm or meter• Very close to natural speech rhythms• Unaccompanied, monophonic music• Solo female voice• No obvious patterns of repetition and return

Native American Song

Singing closely allied with sacred ritual

Used in healing, hunting, and social rituals

Used in human relations with gods, spirits, and ancestors

Like Hawai’ian, Islamic, or Christian chant, this music is monophonic

Unlike the others, singing is often accompanied by drums or rattles

Navajo Songs

All music is sacred to the Navajo

Ritual music and language have the power to summon deities, to protect, or to restore strength and health

Some songs can be sung by anyone

Other songs are more potent, sung only by expert ritual practitioners (shamans)

Expert practitioners ensure that rituals use proper songs in proper order

Enemy Way Ceremony

Enemy Way CeremonyThree-day healing ceremony

Designed to protect and free warriors from the ghosts of slain enemies

Many songs sung by all participants

The most potent songs sung only by the ritual practitioner

Concluding ritual may include ho’zho’ni (Blessing Way) songs

A Navajo Song

“K’adnikini’ya’”Ho’zho’ni song from Enemy WayUsed to end final night of ceremonyEach phrase begins with vocables, a potent part of Navajo ritual languageThe only translatable words are:

• Ho’zho’ni: “beautiful” or “holy”• K’adnikini’ya’: “I’m leaving”• Title may reflect on time of captivity at Fort

Sumner, where song was composed

“K’adnikini’ya’”

• Organized around a few simple motives• Phrases begin and end on low reciting tone

with upward arch in middle• Uses only four pitches of pentatonic scale• No clear meter, but steady, regular drumbeat• Recurring 4-beat and 7-beat patterns• Monophonic: single melody over drumbeat• Solo male voice, relaxed sound with slight

nasal color and a bit of vibrato• Uses repetition, contrast, and return• Series of parallel phrases, some refrain-like