Reciting the sacred

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Discussion about this topic

Assigned viewings, listenings

Please listen to Surat al-Qadr (Qur'an 97). Click on the Arabic to start the recitation (prefixed by "Bismillahirrahmanirrahim", "in the Name of the Merciful and Compassionate God"). The Sura (chapter) of al-Qadr (Night of Decree) comprises 5 verses (ayas). You will hear the verse recited, while seeing synchronized Arabic script, transliteration, and translation. On Tuesday we will attempt to perform Surat al-Qadr together, so listen to the recitation as often as you can.


Surat al-Qadr

Surty audio material, to accompany your handout on tajwid (rules of Qur'anic recitation)


Here are some other sites containing Qur'an audio: [1]

Assigned readings

Judaism

Please read Jewish synagogue music from Grove Music Online. Focus primarily on the section entitled "Biblical cantillation; read other sections of the broader article, on liturgical and paraliturgical music as you wish.

Islam

Please read The Qur'an in Indonesian Daily Life. Optional readings: try at least to browse The Cantillation of the Qur'an (by Lois Ibsen al-Faruqi), for a more systematic treatment of Qur'anic recitation. If you have time, examine also Sound, Spirit, and Gender in Surat al-Qadr (by Michael Sells), for a deeper understanding of the musicality inherent in the Qur'anic text itself.

Hinduism and Vedas

Please read Mantras and Bird Song, by Frits Staal, director of the film, Altar of Fire that we watched in class. Optionally, read (or at least browse) An Analysis of Rg Vedic Recitation, for a more systematic treatment.

Discussion about assigned readings

Your selected readings

Reciter and Listener: Some Factors Shaping the Mujawwad Style of Qur'anic Reciting, Kristina Nelson This article's interest lies in its focus on the interaction between the reciter and the audience. It investiages both the artist's and the audience's response to each other and well as the audience's perception of the reciter as an artist.--Lpauls 21:28, 24 January 2006 (MST)

The Exclusion of Musical Instruments from the Ancient Synagogue, James W. McKinnon This article discusses the recitation of liturgy in Jewish Synagogue. It also discusses the westernization of services, and how instruments are kept out of the synagogue in order to keep services from deviating from the religion's accepted norms. --Khaver 22:04, 24 January 2006 (MST)

Reciter and Listener: Some Factors Shaping the Mujawwad Style of Qur'anic Reciting I realized as I came here to write this, that Laura found this article first. I hope that's okay. In addition to her summary, Nelson also comments a bit about the line between the art of music and the art of reciting the Qur'an in the Egyptian community. I also found it interesting to look back at te Rasussen and see that she quotes from Nelson, although not from this article. ~Cari (the computers in the lab weren't letting my use my signature)

Religious Chant: A Pan-Asiatic Conception of Music This article was published in the International Folk Music Journal in 1961. The author states that music of Asiatic rituals are associated with exorcism. She continues with a descrption of Gregorian chant where "the singer becomes the messenger of Divinity." The author believes that Shintoist, Buddhist, Brahmin, Islamic, and Hebrew chant have "striking similiarities" to each other. The author attempts to prove her point by finding excerpts of chants from each religion that are very similar to each other to prove her point. In my opinion, this article is biased in its premise, approach, and conclusion. It essentially exoticizes anything that is not Western Christian. --Niyati 12:21, 25 January 2006 (MST)

The Articles of the Creed and the Apostles - Gordon, James D. 1965. This article is about the history of the apostles’ creed. (I chose an article on the apostles’ creed because the it has historically been recited in christian churches and this would make it roughly the equivalent to the recitations from the other religions in the readings for this week.) The thrust of the article is to review various historic ways of dividing the creed into articles. The most popular way to do this is to make it into twelve articles, one for each of the apostles. Gordon reviews the various apostles attributed to the various articles throughout the history of the christian church.--dstark

The Futility of the Anglican Chant This article talks about the evolution of Anglican chant from simply saying the words to monotonic recitation to Gregorian tone to the complex rhthmic and melodic structure it has today. The author has a problem with the structure of the chant because there is a disconnect between the unmetrical prose and the metrical structure of the chant. Originally the recitation served it's purpose but because of the changes its is 'perversive of good effects'. He says that this must be brought to light so that "church musicians will realize how much they have been blinded by tradition". He concludes the article calling for "the complete abolition of an abuse which has disfigured the choral service of the Anglican church for two centuries and more". --Bkey 12:48, 25 January 2006 (MST)

Lois Al Faruki: Qur'an Reciters Competition in Kuala Lumpur This article focuses on Qur’an recitation competitions held during Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. There are other competitions held in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and North America. Aspects of the competition: Origin, Organization, Participants, etc. are discussed. -StellaM