Music & Ritual - NEED

WOM Exam #2 (MTSU)

What is a chant?

Clarity and precise articulation of second words, highly important

Which one has simplicity as a hallmark for it, especially for its musical clarity

Tibetan Buddhist Chant

Which one’s simplicity masks extraordinary depths of meaning?

Tibetan Buddhist Chant

Which one is believed that it can move the singer through the ritual process of a transformed state?

Tibetan Buddhist Chant

Rol Mo

Brass ritual cymbal

Melody of Mahakala

Ritual meditation text called a sadhana

Evokes the succored and helps the monk visualize and unify w/ deity

Act of chanting includes..?

A recitation of a mantra (ritual phrase or formula), prayers and vocables

The Melody of Mahakala chant shapes..?

The transcendent experience by connecting sound, breathing and mind

Quality of the chant

According to an early musical treatise, be pleasant to hear (syn-pa), w/ structures, a relaxed character, and clarity of enunciation

The chant in LG 64 is part of..?

A ceremony dedicated to the deity of Mahakala

Mahakala

A wrathful force worshipped as a protector

Tibetan Buddhist Chant is accompanied by..?

An instrumental ensamble called a rol-mo

What does the ensemble include?

Horns, cymbals, and drums

Chant melody:

A simple melodic pattern that can be short or long

Which contains a complex organization of rhythmic structures?

Tibetan Buddhist Chant

What differentiates the Tibetan Buddhist chant?

It contains a complex organization of rhythmic structures

What demarcates the beats in TB chant?

Cymbal beats

Sounds during the TB chant symbolically represents..?

The form of the mandala

What can be difficult to trace w/o training in TB?

Rhythmic complexities

What is the focus on in TB chant?

The end of each verse of chant text, marked by melodic cadence or short pause for breath, followed by a short cymbal beats (increases speed)

What is a beat from the Tibetan perspective?

Not a single sound, accelerating equal pulses

Each beat or beat of groupings include “after beats” 

The rhythms of TB chant are best understood as..?

Free rhythmic patterns

The oldest surviving music in the western classical tradition is all..?

Religious, produced for the Catholic church

Secular music existed, rarely preserved

Secular composers:

Troubadours, Trouvères, Minnesinger, laudes

How were secular songs? 

Monophonic and strophic in form

Medieval musical innovations:

Development of melodic composition, harmony, musical staff, and syllable names for notes (Guido Arezzo), and music notation (neumes)

Gregorian Chant:

Monophonic, religious melody or chant song to accompany worship 

Plainchant

Organized into a complete round of ceremonies and rituals called liturgy

Chant song in unison symbolizes..?

Unity and praise and making text moveable

GC reflects..?

Accents, grammar, and syntax but not in meaning of text

Syllabic

One not per syllable of text (used in singing of simple psalms)

Neumatic

two to seven notes on each syllable (accompanys procession)

Melismatic

Many notes on a single syllable (used in musical meditations of a service)

What were important centers of communal amd intellectual activity?

Monasteries and abbeys

Where and what would monks produce?

They would help record the activities, creating books and manuscripts in cathedrals and universities, as well as monasteries and abbeys

Can GC still be heard today?

Yes, thanks to preservation

Who were the composers for GC

Often, it was monks they frequently composed without attribution 

What is the name of a composer we know of?

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

Paris:

Gov. and religious life centered along the Seine River at the île de la Cité

• population 200,000

• Left banl of the Siene resided the “Latin Quarter” - schools, monastaries and student residences (Uni or Paris)

Clergy:

Does regular religious services

Cantor:

Highest official in the musical hierarchy

Choir:

organized group of singers, used on all occasions

How often is Mass included in the church calendar?

For each day of the year

What are the two sections of mass?

Mass Proper and Mass Ordinary

Mass Proper:

Variable portions called by their functions; chants linksthe service to a particular day of each church year

Mass Ordinary:

Invisible portions called by their initial words; chants familiar part of every mass

Beginning of Mass:

Sung by a choir after inotonation of “puer” by cantor, establishing chant and pitch

Structure of Mass:

Cantor’s intonation, choir sings main part, of introit, psalm verse, Doxology, repetition of introit without intonation

Kyrie and Gloria

Part of the Ordinary

The Kyrie, with Greek text, ninefold invocation sung antiphonally

Antiphonal:

Sung by alternating sides of the choir

Gradual & Alleluia

Two most musically elaborate sctions of Mass

Would become excellent places for embellishment

Santeria:

Afro-Cuban religious and musical practice - from Yoruba (West African) beliefs, languages, and practices mixed with Catholicism

Mid 19th Century:

Waves of Africans transported to the Caribbean

Where were slaves brought?

Cuba, social institutions (cabildos) - worship, community, spiritual aid centers

Worship was first allowed, then restricted, when?

By 1888, becomes informal and secret

Goal of Santeria

Establish relationship with Orishas or Santos (African dieties paired with Catholic Saints)

What is the liturgy, in the Santeria, full of?

Tongues, or chants, calling out to Orisha

What is each Orisha associated with?

A certain chant, drum rhythms, dance, and plants

What did they hope the ritual would achieve?

To help those who practice them to reach divinition and trances

How were chants performed A-CSS

In call-response

Differ based on context and function

Rhythms presented by batá drums

Uses a trio of batá drums

Lyá:

Large, lowest pitch (most complex rhythms)

Itóele:

Middle drum, in convorsation with Okónkolo

Okónkolo:

Smallest drum, plays ostinato

Polyrhythms:

Feature of West-African drumming

Features contrasting rhythmic patterns that are performed at the same time

Often, these patterns interlock in a certain way that can produce a “conversation”

Changó is called upon, when?

In the chant/ diety

Changó:

Virtility, strength, sexuality, and thunder

Chant implores Changó to..?

Descend, join the congregation, and possess one og the musicians or dancers

What chant melody does A-CSS make use of?

Pentatonic scale

What may the chant response include?

Harmony

What does chant use a mix of? A-CSS

Yoruba, other African dialects, Spanish words and vocables