Ugarit, Syria is the birthplace of alphabet and music notation. The interpretation of the music notation of Ugarit is a challenge and several reconstructions have been published. The evidence that both the 7-note diatonic scale as well as harmony existed 3400 years ago flies in the face of most musicologists views that ancient harmony was virtually non-existent or even impossible. This has revolutionized the whole concept of the origin of Western music. This work is founded on the oldest music notation in the world discovered in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. The clay tablets contain a hymn to the moon gods wife, Nikkal. Although hundreds of such tablets were discovered over the years, these very tablets contain words and notation of a song all composed in the same maqam or mode (called nîd qabli). Further, they contained instructions for a singer accompanied by musicians, as well as instructions on tuning the strings of the instrument. This Ugaritic hymns was arranged into a melancholic piano work preserving its rhythmic structure and building a musical bridge to the past. The song of this womans marriage was filled with pain at not having children for her husband and her family. Apparently, the song is a lament, the plaintive cry of an infertile woman seeking the answer to her barrenness from the moon goddess. https://youtube/watch?v=Gi-nM7j6XUE
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 12:00:09 +0000
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