Скачать или смотреть Aramaic Project-245: ലിസം "Lisam" / Lesson. Syriac East Meets Latin West. Intercultural Music,Kerala

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Syriac East meets Latin West in Kerala. Part 3.
Lisam [leson/listen]: Secular music in Sacred Space in the Syro Malabar Church. An intercultural, interreligious musical phenomenon in Kerala.

Notes:
This video shows an interesting musical phenomenon from the Syriac period in the Syro Malabar Church. During the solemn celebration of Qurbana, church musicians played incidental music on the violin or harmonium to fill in silent periods during the liturgy. The melodies were not from the Syriac tradition. The violin player chose tunes from varied sources such as South Indian classical music, film music, popular devotional songs, and even practice lessons intended for violin students. Thus, the 'lisam' melodies represented Eastern and Western cultural traditions and were truly intercultural music.
In Malayalam, the tunes were referred to as 'lisam', which may have derived from two English words: "listen" and "lesson." The performance context of the melodies ranged from an overture-like introduction before the Qurbana to the distribution of communion or any period of silence that extended more than a few minutes.
Generally, the melodies had a fast tempo in contrast to the medium and slow tempo of the Syriac melodies. Each performer had his repertory of tunes that he cherished as his private property and would teach only to his favorite students.
Violin used to be the favored solo instrument for 'lisam'. This video shows one example of a melody played on the harmonium.

We do not know if any other Christian community played an overture before the Eucharistic celebration. In retrospect, it is difficult to believe that the community allowed the musicians to erase the boundaries between the sacred and the secular, prayer and performance during Eucharistic liturgy.
We have no records of clergy or the laity objecting to this practice. On the contrary, a musician's fame depended on the number of lisam-s that he could perform.

We hope this video will inspire a conversation among sociologists and musicologists, especially prospective Indian Christian musicologists.

Joseph J. Palackal, CMI
New York
11 August 2021
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JESUS AND INDIA: A CONNECTION THROUGH THE ARAMAIC LANGUAGE AND MUSIC.
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Please acknowledge TheCMSIndia.org and/or Joseph J. Palackal (https://christianmusicologicalsociety...) when this video is used for academic or other purposes.
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