Singing The Songs of Ancient Israel: tacame ´emet and Oral Models as Criteria for Layers Of Time In Jewish Psalmody

Abstract

The musical performance of the psalms in present-day Jewish traditions ranges between two opposing practices: on the one hand, singing to oral melody models, and on the other, singing according to the accents that are transmitted together with the text. The former is found in the service of the synagogue; the latter is restricted to the realm of private functions. Numerous approaches from different perspectives have been developed around the apparent paradox between the undisputedly binding character of the accentuation and the different interpretations accents are given in actual practice––a subject that does not cease to give rise to controversial discussions, particularly when the age of the transmitted melodies is under consideration. This article frames the hypothesis that the practice of performing the psalms according to the accents represents a stratum of Jewish musical practice that was shaped by Judaism’s later orientation toward the text, whereas the psalms based on oral melody models belong to an older layer of transmission originating from the house-piety (Hausfrömmigkeit) of Ancient Israel. Four complementary considerations—the analysis of the musical material, the historical development of the religion in Ancient Israel, the conceptual differences between the two media of orality and literacy, and the cultic practice of early Judaism—form the basis for a reflection on possible developments and age strata in the rendering of Jewish psalms.