Concert Review of Cantigas from the Land of Three Faiths
The Rose Ensemble at Tougaloo College's Woodworth Chapel, Jan 29, 2009
By Glenn A. Gentry
CONTINUO – The online journal of the American Guild of Organists (Jackson,
MS Chapter)
Boundaries of time and space defined the focus of this program - the latest work performed - "Keter yittenu lakh," by Jewish composer Salamone Rossi, working in Italy - came from around 1600. The earliest dated music was "The Praise of Moses", from the 12th century and by Obadiah the Norman Proselyte, but in fact much of the program was simply listed as "traditional". Of those pieces, the Two "simsimiyya" songs (instrumental pieces) had origins in the Sinai Bedouins and probably "contain the most archaic features of Near Eastern folk music to survive" (Dr. Amnon Shiloah, ethnomusicologist). In larger terms, the space was the Mediterranean region, the land(s) of three faiths, and the time when all three faiths - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, had a significant presence. Of the three, only Islam was not represented directly by religious music, but indirectly by music of Muslim peoples. The Muslim call to prayer (as well as the Qu'ran) is chanted; the notes have pitch, duration, dynamics, ornamentation, and a rhythm determined by the text, as is the case with plain chant. While Muslims do not consider the chanting to be music, it fits the western definition and provides the same emotional impact to the text that Christian and Jewish liturgical music does. The call to prayer is sung live several time a day, and broadcast from the tower(s) that are part of each mosque. In many large Muslim cities - Istanbul, for example - one can sometimes hear the call to prayer from several different mosques at the same time - an interesting form of random polyphony. There were echoes of the style of this kind of chanting in several of the pieces in this program. The identified countries included Morocco, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Libya, the Arabian peninsula and the Balkans, and, more remotely, one piece each from Poland and England.
Most of the pieces were sung, a few a capella, but most with instrumental accompaniment, sometimes providing an extended and elaborate introduction. There were several instrumental pieces, two (I think) that began without pause after the previous choral work, which made following the program a little confusing, but this was only a minor distraction. The instruments used included a Rebek (a bowed instrument reminescent of a miniature potato-bug mandolin), a Vielle (also bowed, and resembling a viola, except with a long neck but short fingerboard, an Oud (middle-Eastern ancestor to the lute, oldest known example from 1500 BCE), harps, a Dombec (middle Eastern drum), and a bone finger-percussion instrument. The result was a dazzling aural feast of many wonderful sounds and styles, expertly and passionately performed, which will be remembered with great pleasure by all fortunate enough to have heard and seen it. This is the Rose Ensemble's second appearance in Jackson, and I hope not the last. I thank Rich McGinnis and the Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music for bringing them and Tougaloo College for hosting their program.