(Author: Alan Jacobs, Vol. 65, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2010)
Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem in about 950 BCE. During his reign, there is no mention of any innovations in the sphere of music. Rather, he adhered to the established order to the temple service as arranged by his father, King David.
And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also
with instruments of the Lord, which David the
king had made to praise the Lord: and the priests sounded
Trumpets before them and all Israel
(II Chronicles, 7, 6)
And he appointed according to the order of David his father, the course of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of everyday required:
(II Chronicles, 8,14)
It was recorded that Solomon was the first to import costly almugwood, for the making of Kinnorot and Nevalim, harps: “And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house harps also (I Kings 10,12).
The Temple services were designed as the expression of the belief in one God. The ritual consisted of regular morning and afternoon sacrifices, together with the festivals of the religious year. At the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, 120 priests blew trumpets and 248 Levites sang and sounded their instruments. Cymbals were also used:
Also the Levites which were the singers—— having cymbals and harps, ——. And with them 120 priests sounding with trumpets:”
(II Chronicles 5,12)
Some of the arrangements of the religious orchestra used in Egypt were accepted into the Temple service. The first Temple orchestra consisted of the Nevel (big harp), Kinnor (little lyre, harp or cithara), Shofar (ram’s horn), Chatzotrot (trumpets) and Paamonim (little bells).
Both the Nevel and Kinnor were string instruments; as the Talmud explains, their difference lay in the number of strings and size. We have no definite information as to the number of strings. The tone of the Kinnor is described in the Bible as ‘sweet’, but the tone of the Nevel was stronger. According to Josephus, the Nevel had twelve and the Kinnor ten strings. On the Nevel, the musicians used their fingers, whereas for the Kinnor, a plectrum (implement for plucking strings) was used.
The Shofar cannot produce a melody, but was used for announcements and signals for religious and secular ceremonies. The Mishna required one Shofar for the New Year and two for the Day of Atonement. The Chatzotzrot were made out of silver and were used for signaling, but by only the priests. The Mishna required only two trumpets. The Paamonim were used for signaling, and were attached to the skirts of the robe of the High Priest: “And the sound thereof shall be heard when he goeth into the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not” (Exodus 28, 35).
The First Temple was destroyed by the Assyrian, king Nebuchadnezzar. Large numbers of Jews were exiled to Babylonia from 586 – 538 BC. After the exile, many Jews returned to Israel, bringing back their household singers, both male and female. However, the participation of women in the Temple choir is not traceable anywhere.
The second Temple was completed in 515 BCE, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Sheshbazaar and Jeshua. Now the Chalil – big pipe – was added to the Temple orchestra.
It was used only on twelve festival days during the year, to “increase joy”. Playing the Chalil on the Sabbath was prohibited, since it was not held to be a sacred instrument. Its tone was sharp and penetrating, like that of an oboe.
The only percussive instrument permanently in the Temple orchestra was the Metziltayim, a Cymbal. Made of copper, it had a very strong sound. The chief musician of King David, Asaph, was a Cymbal player: “Asaph made a sound with cymbals” (I Chronicles 16, 5).
The Mishna gives the number of the instruments employed in the Second Temple as follows: Nevel (minimum two, maximum six), Kinnor (minimum nine, maximum limitless), Metziltayim (one) and Chalil (minimum two, maximum twelve).
According to the Mishnaic source, the chorus had to consist of a minimum of twelve adult male singers, while the maximum had no limit. The singer was admitted to the choir at the age of thirty and served up to fifty. Before admittance, he had to have had five years training. Boys of the Levites were permitted to participate in the choir in order to add “Sweetness to the Song”. Later, the tendency toward the superiority of the vocal was pronounce by the regulation that Non-Levites were permitted to play the instruments, whereas for singers, only Levites were admitted. It is recorded that a certain virtuoso singer named Agades, by applying some brilliant tricks, would produce tremolos in the oriental manner which would fascinate the people.
There are no descriptions of the tunes, scales and rhythm employed in the Temple services. Scant though the information at hand is, we can nevertheless visualize a musical performance at the Temple Service as is depicted in the Mishna. After the priest on duty had recited a benediction, the Ten Commandments, the Shema, the priestly benediction (Numbers 5, 2226) and three other benedictions, the priests proceeded to the Act of the offerings. After this, one of them sounded the Magrepha, pipe organ. This was the signal for the priests to enter the Temple to prostrate themselves, whereas for the Levites, it marked the beginning of the musical performance. Two priests proceeded to the altar immediately and started to blow the trumpets, tekia – terua – tekia . After this, they stood beside the Levite cymbal player. At a given flag signal, the Levite sounded his cymbal and all the Levites began to sing a part of the daily psalm. Whenever they finished a part they stopped, the priests repeated their blowing of the trumpets and the people prostrated themselves. The texts sung by the Levites were not the Psalms alone, but also portions of the Pentateuch.
Instrumental music was prominent in the Temple service generally, but especially in rendering the Psalms as the following references show: “Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him … on instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise” (Psalm 33, 2, 3); “My heart is fixed, oh God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory; awake psaltery and harp” (Psalm 57,7,8).
The second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Shortly after this catastrophe, the entire art of the Levites fell into oblivion. The vocal music and intonations from the Psalms and Pentateuch, as well as the recitation of prayers, was most likely retained and transplanted into the Synagogue, an institution established long before the Second Temple’s destruction.
The vocal song of the Temple drew its sap from folksong. Those Temple Songs – folk tunes modified and sanctified – were copied by the ‘representative’ of the people, the Anshe Maamad from all parts of the country who used to be present at the Temple Service.
The forms in which Psalms and Prayers were rendered were explained by sages who lived in the First Century CE. Of these, Rabbi Akiva had witnessed the service in the Temple. From them we learn that three forms of public singing were used, based on responses.
In form A, the leader intoned the first half verse, whereupon the congregation repeated it. Then the leader sang each succeeding half-line, the congregation always repeating the same first half-line, which became a refrain throughout the entire song. This was the form in which adults sang the Hallel (Psalms 113 – 118) and, according to Rabbi Akiva, this form was also employed for the “Song of the Sea” (Exodus, chapter 15). In Form B, the leader sang a half-line at a time, and the congregation repeated what he had last sung. This, Rabbi Eleazar said, was the form in which the children used to be instructed at school. Form C was responsive. The leader would sing the whole first-line, whereupon the congregation would respond with the second line of the verse. This was the form, as Rabbi Nehemia explained, in which the Shema was recited in public, and it was still used by Babylonian Jews for chanting Hallel on Passover.
Besides the responsive form, the Unison and Solo forms were used. To antiphonal singing, i.e. to the alternate singing of balanced groups, we have a few references in the Bible (Deuteronomy, 27, 2126) and it is also described by the Mishna. The theory of Hebrew music was not written, however, there is one authentic source preserved, and this is the Oral Tradition.
Long before the destruction of the national sanctuary in Jerusalem, large Jewish settlements were established throughout the ancient world, from Persia to northwest Africa, and from Arabia to Rome, settlements that cultivated spiritual values.
After the complete ruin of the national centre in Israel, the remnants of Judah were scattered, but their spiritual values embodied in tradition became their only treasure. From that tradition, we justly draw our information as to the nature of Jewish music and its history
Alan Jacobs, a frequent contributor to Jewish Affairs, is a clarinettist who performs regularly in concerts and recitals in Cape Town.
