MUS 250 Final Exam, set 3 (ritual & chant)

a ritual has stages that occur in a set order:

3 stages:

• separation

• transition

• incorportion

4 functions of music in ritual:

• demarcate stages

• express things that can’t be expressed in words

• produce a sense of transcendence

• move participants into a trance

communitas

feelings of social union on togetherness generated by rituals

Tibetan Buddhist Chant

• Believe that performing chant moves the singer through the ritual process into a transformed state

• Public or private, one singer or a group

• Has moved from religious setting to public performance (still meant to be prayerful)

• Symbol of Tibetan independence

Sadhana

ritual meditation text (Tibetan chant)

mantra

ritual phrase or formula (Tibetan chant)

dbyang

biphonic tibetan chant - sustained low notes (fundamentals) & audible harmonics (like khoomi)

dbyangs-yig

a songbook of Tibetan dbyang

rol mo

instrumental ensemble accompanying Tibetan chant

• Complex mathematical organization of rhythmic structures, demarcated by cymbal beats

LG 64: Melody for Mahakala (Tibetan chant, excerpt) - PURPOSE:

• Part of Mahakala ritual, excerpt from a sadhana

• Recitation of buddhist prayer (mantra)

• Move participants into a transformed state (meditation)

biphonic singing

low fundamental in bass + high harmonic above it

Tantra voice

biphonic singing style used in Tibetan chant; colloquially, mdzo voice

Mahakala ritual

ceremony dedicated to the the deity Mahakala

Mandala

diagram used in Hinduism & Buddhism to map levels of reality

brdung

“beat,” but not like Western beats

• Not a single, regular pulse

• Free rhythm, beats are irregular, not cyclic

• brdung are composed of beats & afterbeats (created using special cymbal technique)

LG 64: Melody for Mahakala (Tibetan chant, excerpt) - SOUND:

• Vocal style: khoomi (fundamental + 1 or more overtones)

  • Aka dbyang, “Tantra voice,” mdzo voice

• Instruments: horns (rol mo), cymbals, drums

• Alternating vocal and instrumental sections

• Tempo varies, “free rhythm,” “beat” = stretch of time

• Cymbals produce “beats” with irregular, softer “afterbeats” (brdung)

LG 64: Melody for Mahakala (Tibetan chant, excerpt) - SETTING:

• Chant for ceremony dedicated to Mahakala

• Performers: Gyuto monks of Gyuto Tantric College

LG 64: Melody for Mahakala (Tibetan chant, excerpt) - SIGNIFICANCE:

• Meditation

• Irregular beats stretch time, creating mathematical proportions that are significant within Buddhist beliefs (represent mandalas)

• Significance transcends setting - prayer is maintained wherever chant is performed by monks, even at concerts

Santería

Afro-Cuban religion combining Nigerian practices & beliefs (Yoruba people) with Catholic rituals & beliefs

• Caribbean, mid-1800s (final wave of slavery)

• Brought to US by santeros fleeing the Cuban revolution

• Goal: establish relationship with & obtain help from orishas

• rituals with chant (usually call-and-response), drumming, and dance in order to reach a trance

• Lucumi cult

cabildos

mutual aid societies established by slaves in Cuba that also transmitted Yoruba-derived rituals

• Became increasingly-banned by cuban government, leading to formation of secret Lucumi cult

orishas (santos)

African deities combined with Catholic saints (in order to disguise their practices)

santeros

worshippers of orishas (aka practitioners of Santeria)

bata drums

drums used in Santeria rituals to summon orishas

• Drumhead at each end, hourglass-shaped (one side larger than the other)

• 3 different sizes in the bata ensemble: Iyá, Itótele, Okónkolo

• Produce a “conversation” with the orisha

Iyá

largest bata drum, lowest, leads the ensemble, includes brass bells

Itótele

middle bata drum, plays in conversation with Iya

Okónkolo

smallest bata drum, mainly plays ostinatos

toque

Santeria rhythmic pattern

viro (vuelta)

a “turn,” referring to a change in toque during a Santeria performance

Yoruba practices are increasingly banned by the gov’t, so they practiced as a ______ cult in secret

Lucumi

LG65: Chango (Toque from a Santeria service) - SOUND:

• Call-and-response singing

• accompanied/interspersed by bata drum ensemble

LG65: Chango (Toque from a Santeria service) - SETTING:

• After late 1950: secret ceremonies inside and outside Cuba

• Emigrants spread the religion to US, Mexica, etc.

• Many chants only sung by initiates

LG65: Chango (Toque from a Santeria service) - SIGNIFICANCE:

• Establish communication with orishas

• Enable trance = possession of initiate by orisha

• Build communitas of all participants

• In contrast to Tibetan chant, NOT an inward meditation

function of music in a ritual

• evoke emotions

• sense of transcendence - contact with spiritual realm

• mark different points/transitions during the ritual

• memory aid - melody helps remember the text sung (such as Scripture)

life cycle event

change of status in someone’s life celebrated by their community

Gregorian chant

• since at least 500 AD, main music in Catholic church until 1960s

• oldest surviving Christian musical genre

• monophonic singing of Scripture by priests or monks

heightened neumes

squiggles over the words written for chant - give clearer picture of melodic contour (later placed on a staff)

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

• “Coptic Orthodox Church”

• part of group of “Oriental Orthodox” churches

• developed after conversion of Ethiopian king (before 200 AD)

• central liturgy = Mass

result of Muslim occupation in Ethiopia

• church used own sacred language (Ge’ez)

• built underground churches hewn out of rock

Zema: Ethiopian Orthodox chant

• syllabic style used for Mass

• more elaborate music used for hymnary

• the signs used in the notation stand for melodic fragments, NOT individual pitches

debtaras

specially trained musicians who sing Ethiopian Orthodox chant (are also scribes and healers)

hymnary

ritual prior to Mass

LG66: Excerpt from an Ethiopian Christmas Liturgy (Ritual) - SOUND:

• voices in unison (dabtaras)

• kebaro (drums)

• sistra (clappers)

• ululation from women in the congregation

• melody: melismatic, Ge’ez mode

• form: two chant melodies alternate

LG66: Excerpt from an Ethiopian Christmas Liturgy (Ritual) - TEXTURE, MELODY, FORM:

• monophonic

• melismatic

• two chant melodies alternate, builds to climax (kebaro & sistra increase frequency)

• ends in abrupt silence

changes in Ethiopian Service Music in the US Diaspora (post 1974)

lack of educated musicians —> importation of musicians for special holidays

changes in Ethiopian Service Music in the US Diaspora (1990s, after the end of the revolution):

• Ge’ez only used on high holidays, other services: Amharic and/or English

• women & youth participate in hymn singing

• “Sunday School Songs” (Amharic)

mahlet

ritual: performance of the hymnary on Ethiopian Christian holidays accompanied by instruments & dance

kebaro

drum played in Ethiopian Christian church

• conical

• Large head = “voice,” played with right hand

• Smaller head = “rapper”/“knocker,” played with left hand

• Fixed rhythmic patterns

• accompanies chant that accompanies dance

dewel

resonant stone slabs struck to call Ethiopian Christians to prayer

melekket

the notational signs in Ethiopian Christian Chant, derived from Ge’ez language characters, each representing a short melody; can refer to one sign or the entire system

marigeta

head of the musicians (debtara) in the Ethiopian Christian church

angergari

group of celebratory Ethiopian Christian chants

qum zema

Ethiopian term for monophonic chant or plain chant

rekrek

the vocal slides characteristic of the Ge’ez mode in Ethiopian Christian chant

melisma

vocal embellishment with three or more pitches performed on one textual syllable

antiphonal style

a performance practice that features alternation between two or more groups of singers or players

Sunday School songs

a repertory of Ethiopian Christian hymns first composed in the 1960s with texts in the vernacular language, Amharic, instead of Ge’ez