Qambel Maran: Syriac Chants from South India (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Qambel Maran: Syriac Chants from South India Zoe Sherinian (bio) Qambel Maran: Syriac Chants from South India. Pan Records Ethnic Series, Leiden, Netherlands. One CD, divided into five sections. Liner notes and photography by Joseph J. Palackal. Contact information: Paradox@dataweb.nl. Ethnomusicologist Joseph Palackal's unique recording of Syrian Christian chants from Southern and Central Kerala in Southwest India reflects a growing interest in the music of India's religious minorities. Cassettes of Christian music, particularly of the evangelical variety, are widely available in India. One can also find a few recordings of karnatak-style Tamil Christian music. However, none of these recordings has the extensive ethnomusicological treatment found here, or the valuable historical account of the development of a liturgical practice. Kerala has one of the highest populations of Christians in India at 19 percent, while nationally Christians make up 2.5 percent of the Indian population. Kerala is also home to the oldest community of Indian Christians. Liturgical evidence presented in this recording supports the claim that Christians migrated from Syria to Kerala by the fourth century CE. Folklore, however, still contends that St. Thomas the Apostle established Christian communities in South India as early as 52 CE. While there are over six major Christian sects in Kerala, Palackal focuses on the Chaldean liturgical chant tradition, also known as the East Syriac tradition of the Syro-Malabar Church. The bulk of these chants were recorded at a monastery chapel, while a few were recorded in a studio in Ernakulam. The monastery recordings, in particular, have a beautiful natural resonance. Overall, the quality of sound is very clear, while the inconsistent quality of the religious practitioner's voices lends a "field recording" quality to the collection. Palackal's accompanying notes exemplify thorough historical and contextual ethnomusicological writing. He includes valuable information on the Syrian Christian community, the performers, the text, musical elements, musical instruments, the repertoire, and notes on each piece. He also includes photographs of the musicians, icons, a monastery, and individuals with significant importance to the practice. While there are no translations or transcriptions in the CD notes, one can obtain them by writing to PAN Records. [End Page 158] In his notes, Palackal includes a discussion of the history of Syriac, the language of the majority of these chants. Syriac is a form of Aramaic and a part of the Semitic language family. It was a language of commerce during Ashoka's reign in India (273–32 BCE) and was related to the colloquial language of the Jews and Jesus. Palackal draws the listener to focus on the sound of East Syriac: a fusion of Syriac words with inflections and pronunciation from Malayalam, the language of Kerala. Palackal's discussion of linguistic fusion begs the listener to ask to what degree local musical elements have been fused with these Syriac melodies. Indeed, the whole collection represents musically the culture contact between Malayali, Roman, Syrian, and British Christians over at least the last 1,600 years. However, while Palackal discusses linguistic fusions at length, his discussion of musical fusions is less developed. The strongest influence of the Portuguese and the British appears in the instrumental performance practice heard in this recording. Instrumental accompaniment includes a snare drum-shaped tambor that functions as a bass drum, a tiriyankol, (a Malayalam adoption of the Portuguese triangulo), and the violin, also called rebec. This name, along with iconographic evidence, points to its probable pre-sixteenth century presence in India. Palackal also references the use of an organ as early as 1505. The recording is divided into five sections based on liturgical context: (1) chants from the Liturgy of Hours; (2) chants from the Raza (Eucharistic Orders); (3) Chants from the Service of the Dead; (4) Syriac translation of Latin chants for paraliturgical services; and (5) chants for special occasions. The first section of liturgical chants represents the monastic tradition of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. It also reflects the mixture of cultural sources in the music. The instrumental accompaniment on the first chant includes a bhajan-style harmonium timbre mixed with melodic gestures of Orthodox Christian chants and chordal patterns of Protestant Indian Christian hymnody usually played...