East Syriac Liturgical Tradition in India
It is most likely that East Syriac chant predates both West Syriac chant and other forms of Syriac music. East Syriac is also known as Chaldean Syriac. Chaldean Syriac was popular in the regions of Assyria and Babylon where Edessa was the cradle of both the language and music. The use of the Syriac language spread due to die success of Syriac merchants in international trade along land and sea routes. In India, the churches that still use East Syriac liturgy and music are:
- Assyrians(Chaldeans)
- Knanaya Catholic
- Syro Malabar Catholics.
Characteristics:
A significant feature of East Syriac liturgy is the use of what is known as resh qala (model melody), which literally means “head melody” or “head song”. The word resh means “head” and qala meaning “stanza, melody or tune.” The style is melismatic and reveals the eastern spirit viz. the freedom to improvise with quarter tones. Melisma is a Greek word that denotes “a song” and the plural is Melismata. The term is used for passages in plain song, or other ecclesiastical chants in which one-syllable flowers out into a passage of several notes. The Gregorian chant and some Greek chants like “Znameny (Slavonic Znameny Raspev)” are composed in the melismatic form. Itis a style that possesses less words and Mare music. East Syriac music, however, is unique in its usage of the quarter tone. Both Western and West Syriac music deal with only semitones. The melismatic style thus represents a truly unique characteristic of East Syriac music. Quarter tones are difficult for most to use and equally difficult to notate. In the first half of the 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church attempted to make the chanting easier for the congregation to sing freely. The first attempt to notate East Syriac chant according to Western musical notation was made by Fr. Aiden Kulathinal in 1948. This valuable venture, however, was never fully completed.
West Syriac Liturgical Tradition in India
West Syriac music is from the same root as East Syriac music and is unique in the richness of both its literature and music. The soul of West Syriac liturgy is its melodious music. The Syriac Churches of Malankara have adopted the West Syriac tradition and music as their own liturgy for common worship. However, a number of divisions has led to the formation of various West Syriac influenced denominations, which still identify themselves as ‘Syriac’ Churches. The Indian Christians of the West Syriac tradition include:
- The Malankara Orthodox
- Jacobite Syrian
- Mar Thoma Syrian
- Syro-Malankara
- Thozhiyoor Independent Church
- Knanaya Syrian Church
Characteristics:
West Syriac music is melodious and Mare suitable for congregational singing than East Syriac. Syriac poetry was attributed to eminent Church Fathers such as Mar Ephrem, Mar Jacob, and Mar Ba‘lai. The exact authorship of these chants is not clear because most monks who wrote these chants throughout the centuries attributed them to these much Mare famous Syrian fathers.
There are also doubts as to whether the melodies being used today are the same as the original melodies. The variations of musical notes over time can result in a change of melody. For example, take the Major scale and Minor scale in Western music. The difference between the Major and Minor Chords depends on semitones viz. C- D-E-F-G. Here C-E-G is a Major Chord. If we lower the E by a semitone, i.e. E becomes a Minor scale e.g. C-D-E-F-G Here C-E-G is a Minor Chord. It is a semitone that makes the difference between two major divisions in Western Music, i.e E to E.
The oral method of transmission of liturgical music from one generation to the next, as opposed to an exact and scientific method of musical notation, is also a significant factor in the variation of notes and changes in melodies over time.
