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Ḥasho : Music Modality and the Economy of Emotional Aesthetics

2015; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17411912.2015.1018918

1741-1920

Tala Jarjour,

Music Technology and Sound Studies

AbstractThis article is an ethnomusicological investigation of mode and emotion. It addresses connections between musical modality and emotionality by studying a musical phenomenon in the chant of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The article proposes that a certain construct in Syriac chant, locally known as ḥasho, lies at the intersection of emotionality, spirituality, musicality and knowledge, and mediates multilayered modalities of being and song. Focusing on Passion Week modal practices and on the ethnic overtones of ḥuzn as religious emotion, this article studies the emotional power of music in terms of its aesthetics of affection. In doing so, the article proposes an understanding of music based on an emotionally inscribed economy of aesthetics.Keywords: Syriac ChantModeEmotionMaqāmAestheticsSacred MusicMiddle EastSyriaAleppoUrfa Notes1 One of the ancient eastern churches, the Syrian (sometimes Syriac) Orthodox belongs to the non-Chalcedonian churches that employ Syriac in worship. It has developed in two main branches, east and west (in relation to the Euphrates river), which differ to some degree in their liturgies and dialects.2 I follow in this article conventional transliteration for Arabic, and phonetic transliteration for Syriac.3 I use ‘economy’ here as ‘[t]he way in which something is ordered … The organisation, internal constitution, apportionment of functions, of any complex unity.’ The Oxford English Dictionary online (www.oed.com) (accessed 5 January 2015).4 There are many names by which members of the various types of churches that employ Syriac liturgies are known. I use the Arabic attributive, Suryani, which is the local and most representative designation for the community. Suryanis denotes the collective, and Suryani denotes all things Syriac. Similarly, Urfalli is the attributive to the town Urfa, and those who belong to it are Urfallis.5 According to cantors and clerics with whom I discussed the use of the keyboard, the number of deacons and priests who participate in Mass creates the need for this instrumental sound. The use of the ‘Orgue’, as it is locally called, is an interesting matter in the Suryani church, especially given that, until recently when quartertones were added by Asian manufacturers to accommodate Middle Eastern musics, the machines only offered tones and semitones. The role of the organ in the Suryani church is worthy of independent investigation.6 Shādī Jamīl, for instance, is a famous singer of Aleppine ṭarab who hails from a Greek Orthodox family. He speaks equally proudly of his knowledge of Byzantine and Syriac chant as he does of his training in Quranic recitation. For a comprehensive source on ṭarab, see Racy (Citation2003).7 This paper is based on fieldwork I did in Aleppo between 2000 and 2007. Therefore, it does not account for the unrest that started in 2011, as a result of which large parts of the city have been destroyed and many people have fled.8 Urfalli Suryanis guard a strong sense of ethnic identity; while some pair it with nationalistic ideologies, the majority consider this ethno-religious identity a component of the modern nation-state (see Danforth Citation1995 on ethnic nationalism).9 Accordingly, on the first day of the first week, worship is in the first mode; the fifth mode follows on the second day. This alternation continues throughout the week. The second week starts with the second mode on Sunday, which gives way to the sixth mode on Monday before returning on Tuesday, and so on.10 See Barhebraeus in Bahnam (Citation1967). The four elements are earth, water, air and fire.11 For more on the compounded Urfalli sense of connection to Urfa and Edessa, see Jarjour (Citation2015).12 The Arabic word ‘alḥān—singular laḥn [melody/chant/mode]—may refer to chants in general, a specific corpus of melodies, or what musicologists call in English the church modes.13 This may be owing to the seasonal nature of this practice and its dependence on memory. Discussions on ecclesiastical matters were richer around appropriate seasons. Similar concepts arise in Thomas Turino’s (Citation2008) discourse on memory and Shannon’s (Citation2003) account of Qadri Dalal's musical ‘groove’ gripping the memory.14 Proper books either replace those of the Ordinary or are used in conjunction with them.15 The designation of a particular mode for Holy Week is known in other churches, such as the Ethiopian church (Shelemay and Jeffery Citation1993: 7).16 Other than during ḥasho week, the normal system of modal pairing is disrupted in one other full week, the first week after Easter, in which all of the modes are used, one on each day.17 Ḥasho has a particular relationship with the eight modes, being canonical in the sense that it is a liturgically prescribed mode yet not counting as one of the eight-fold canon.18 Those are some of the stated purposes of ecclesiastical singing in traditional Suryani literature, according to Barhebraeus's Ethicon, Chapter II (Teule Citation1993).19 The musical–theoretical borrowing here is reminiscent of John Baily’s (Citation1981) experience in Afghanistan.20 Qamar's reference was Salah al-Din (1950).21 While he reads Turkish and has relatives in Turkey, Qamar's allegiance is to the pre-Turkish—the early Syriac history and culture.22 A type of Levantine collective line-dance of great local variety.23 A similar example is Danforth’s (Citation1982: 73) analysis of Greek laments, based on Lévi-Strauss's ‘social myth’.24 Taking the cross out onto the street constitutes an unusual addition to liturgical instruction, which traditionalists criticise. However, it is accepted to allow those who were unable to get into the church to touch the cross for blessing while it traverses the crowd.25 Where a musician is available, most churches employ an electric keyboard that doubles the chant melody. A recent addition at St George's (since 1969–70), the keyboard is a contentious matter because of its ubiquity and lack of intervallic synchronicity with the chant. This issue merits a long discussion elsewhere.26 Although most of the congregants do not understand Turkish, they have memorised the words in the same manner as they do Syriac hymns. On the occasion I recorded this service (2006), only one stanza was sung in Syriac.27 The infinitive of ḥassa (see above), ’iḥsās denotes this particular Rahāwī quality.28 Relevant anthropological studies on emotion include Abu-Lughod (Citation1996), Deeb (Citation2006), Hirschkind (Citation2006), Mahmood (Citation2005) and Waugh (Citation1989). Ethnomusicological studies include Bradley and Mackinley (Citation2007), Danielson (Citation1997), Frishkopf (Citation2009), Nelson (Citation2001), Shannon (Citation2003, Citation2006) and Stokes (Citation2010).29 From the congregation's perspective.30 The East symbolises Christ, so church sanctuaries are directed eastward in symbolic anticipation of Christ's second coming (Varghese Citation2004: 109–10). The procession from the southern door of the sanctuary towards the northern one, corresponding respectively to the left and right sides of the sanctuary, is an anomalous inversion of other processions and a poignant representation of the road to death.31 Different crosses and/or crucifixes are used in different parts of the service; clergy told me there is no particular significance to the Bishop's choices, other than variety.32 Translation in poetry from ‘The Order of Prayers for the Friday of Passion, Revision: May 2, 2005’. http://sor.cua.edu/Liturgy/Hasho/GFMal20050502.pdf (accessed 5 January 2015).33 Considered a paramilitary enterprise, the Scouts of Syria (more inspired by than affiliated with the international Scout Association) have been prevented from operating formally since the mid-1980s. Churches were subsequently allowed to maintain brass bands within Sunday school groups and to call them Scouts, but only for liturgical processions.34 By positioning the single use of ḥasho in Passion Week between the seventh ecclesiastical mode on Palm Sunday and the eighth, on the eve of Easter Sunday, Ibrahim and Kiraz (Citation1999) treat ḥasho similarly to the church modes but as one that does not belong to the eight-fold canon.35 I use Arab and Turkish music theory sources because both modal traditions are useful in identifying this maqām. Beside geographic proximity, both traditions have historic and musical relevance to Syriac chant.36 Özkan (Citation1982) associates rahāwī with nahāwand, while Karadeniz (Citation1965) likens it to mâye and müstear.37 In their respective work with the Syrian Jewish community of Aleppo now outside Syria, Shelemay (Citation1998: 247 n.25) and Kligman (Citation2009) observe a maqām by the name rahaw. According to Kligman, it is associated with pizmonim [Hebrew religious poems] that mention jail (the story of Joseph), and may occur in instances with ‘strong affective associations’ (2009: 179).38 Particularly considering that, in the case of Suryani resemblance to rāst, for instance, the intervals (i.e. the distance between pitches and the positioning of the individual pitches) are different from what would be the case in Arab rāst.39 A large degree of tonal flexibility is intentional, particularly when sung by skilled cantors who exercise great care and control in rendering microtonal inflections (see Marcus Citation1993). Moreover, such detail may also be considered integral to the melodic structure of a chant. I observed this in the attention given to intricate detail during choir rehearsals. The small details are eventually adjusted in group singing, which partly explains the lack of tonal unison as it is perceived and performed in western art song.40 This is a reflection of the theoretical problem of intonation, which Iskandar treats in Syriac music (Ibrahim Citation2003), and Scott Marcus (Citation1993) in the context of Arab music. Both conclude that much of the apparent indeterminacy in terms of pitch accuracy is a question of performance practice: Iskandar focuses on regional variation, and Marcus on performers’ preferences and personal style.41 The manipulation of microtonal detail, such as the type discussed in Qamar's rendition above, is an example of personal choice in aesthetical considerations.