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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: [email protected].
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.
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...