Many Jewish musicians were involved with Ottoman court music, and their knowledge of makams influenced their liturgical and para-liturgical Jewish music as well.Ī makam is more than a scale it involves certain guidelines for how the melody ascends and descends, how a musical phrase begins and concludes, and more. Since most of these songs originated in former Ottoman areas inhabited by Sephardim, we can identify modal influences from the makam system of Ottoman classical music. These include “Cuando el Rey Nimrod” (When King Nimrod), “Por Que Llorax,” “Blanca Niña” (Why Are You Crying, Fair Maiden), “Hamisha Asar” (Feast of Fruits), “La Rosa Enflorece” (The Rose Blooms), “Nani, Nani” (Lullaby), “Par’o Era Estrellero” (Pharaoh was a Stargazer), and “Si Verias a la Rana” (If You Could See the Frog). In my work on Sephardic music arranged for choir, I have noticed a large number of arrangements in this mode, though I had previously believed it was specific to Ashkenazi musical traditions. This creates the characteristic interval of the “augmented second.” The Yiddish name for it is Freygish, the Hebrew name is Ahava Rabbah, and Western music theory labels include “Phrygian Dominant,” “Harmonic Minor Mode 5,” and more.Īhava Rabbah shares the most distinguishing feature of the major scale-the interval between the first and third notes of the scale (or the first two notes of Hava Nagila)-but the second note is lower than in major keys (the third note of Hava Nagila). In reality, this scale is common in many musical cultures: in Arabic and Ottoman music, North and South Indian classical music, Iranian music, Spanish music, and more. (A mode is a pattern of steps, like a scale, that informs which notes a song uses and how.) It sounds like this: The first part of Hava Nagila uses a scale sometimes called the “Jewish” mode. Think of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from The Messiah or “If You’re Happy and You Know it.” Those of us raised amidst Western music associate happiness with major keys, or keys that use this set of notes: The words “Let’s rejoice and be happy” (“hava nagila”) are about celebration, but a mainstream European or Christian song with the same text would sound quite different.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |