tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215116066445385512.post3886390625092765426..comments2023-07-13T05:20:07.334-04:00Comments on Reflections from Broadneck Baptist: In the Meantime: Songs and SpringsAbbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04823753643734462481noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215116066445385512.post-27508584590894574162011-09-22T10:08:24.628-04:002011-09-22T10:08:24.628-04:00Ah, yes...should have known better than to write a...Ah, yes...should have known better than to write about the origins of music in the presence of my ethnomusicologist friend:)<br /><br />I guess I should have been more specific in specifying that this is the first BIBLICAL account of singing we have--I definitely think music was made before this time, but it is the first time singing gets recorded as part of the <i>biblical</i> narrative (though instrumental music is referenced obliquely by Laban in the story of Jacob). Thanks for calling that out, Jeremy! <br /><br />And I love the thought that it was only melody...that it was singing in unison. There's something lovely about that, proven or not.Abbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04823753643734462481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215116066445385512.post-15236315170328940952011-09-22T09:19:19.119-04:002011-09-22T09:19:19.119-04:00Just a few comments first on the music:
1) It is...Just a few comments first on the music: <br /><br />1) It is incredibly likely that the Israelites sang before this - there are quite a few ethnomusicologists who posit (with enough evidence to make it plausible) that singing preceded speech (such as Josef Jordania, for one). <br /><br />2) Also found in the "Probably-but-not-Certainly" file is the well-heeled theory that the cultures of this area used strictly monodic music (i.e. no harmony, only melody). There's a fair amount of extrapolated and circumstantial evidence for this assertion, but again, it's one of those things that is largely unknownable for sure.<br /><br />3) There are other records of singing before this, but these accounts are not really widely known in the "Western" world.<br /><br /><br />This still doesn't lessen the overall message of bursting into song in elation, praise, and relief at God's power made manifest to the Hebrew people. Even the women (!!) get some time here.<br /><br /><br />As for the quick turnaround from praising to complaining, I keep coming back to Stephen's comment from our Manna and Mercy discussion group. These people are still bound and hurt in ways that they can't escape/change quickly, and they have lived in a system where they had no voice and plenty of oppression. As incredible as it may seem given what they've experienced so far on their journey, they can't let go of their past hurts. Living hand to mouth under slavery was what they knew down to their bones.<br /><br />In other words, they are only human. <br /><br />Plus, I'm thinking that the world in general must have seemed pretty mystical to them at that time! Pharoh and his tech of the time might as well been a god (or at least god-like), even if he was ultimately overcome by Yahweh.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03507874062503931824noreply@blogger.com