Resh Qale (ܪܹܫ ܩܵܠܹ̈ܐ) in the Malabar East Syriac Tradition
Head melodies in the Malabar East Syriac tradition
·Binu George
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Work in progress - this article is incomplete and may change significantly.
This article is dedicated to the memory of the Very Rev. Malpan Koonammakkal Thoma Kathanar, without whose work in preserving them, many of these melodies of the Malabar tradition would have been lost forever.
Introduction
The Resh Qale (ܪܹܫ ܩܵܠܹ̈ܐ, literally “head melodies”) are the canonical modal archetypes of East Syriac liturgical chant. Each resh qala is a named melody that serves as the template for an entire family of hymns sung to the same tune. Knowing the resh qale is therefore prerequisite to learning the broader repertoire of East Syriac liturgical music.
The tradition recognises more than a hundred resh qale, many of which have been lost to history. In the Malabar tradition these melodies have been handed down orally across the centuries, preserved in the liturgical practice of the Syro-Malabar Church.
The Malabar pronunciation of Syriac will be used throughout this article.
Resh Qale d'Onyatha ܪܹܫ ܩܵܠܹ̈ܐ ܕܥܘܿܢܝܵܬ݂ܵܐ
Onyatha (ܥܘܿܢܝܵܬ݂ܵܐ, sing. onitha - “antiphon”) are sung during all liturgical services, most prominently in the Liturgy of the Hours. Each onitha is preceded by a psalm verse called a shuraya (ܫܘܼܪܵܝܵܐ, lit. “beginning”). The liturgical text will usually indicate which resh qala each onitha is to be sung to. The melody of the resh qala typically also prescribes a distinct way of singing the shuraya that precedes it.
Hymns are known by the opening words of the onitha itself, not by those of the preceding shuraya. This is because different onyatha may share the same psalm verse, each sung to a different tune - so the shuraya alone does not uniquely identify a hymn.
This article will only deal with Resh Qale d'Onyatha, and not with those of Madrashe, Sogyatha etc.
Resh Qale in the Malabar Tradition
The Malabar transmission of the resh qale reflects both the shared textual heritage of the Church of the East and the particular developments that took place in the Indian context over more than fifteen centuries. This section will examine each melody as it is preserved and sung in the Syro-Malabar Church today.
Strikingly, almost all of these melodies differ from those currently in use in the East Syriac churches of the Middle East. This divergence points to an independent musical tradition rooted in the ancient monastic (dayra) culture of Malabar - a strong local community of learning and liturgical practice that shaped these melodies into a distinctly Indian expression of the East Syriac heritage.
A few melodies, however, were possibly adopted from the practice of the Chaldean Church by Fr. Emmanuel Thelly CMI in the second half of the twentieth century; these will be mentioned below.
When Fr. Abel Periyappuram CMI translated the Canonical Hours into Malayalam, only those resh qale with a regular, metered rhythm were retained, since the more freely flowing melodies do not lend themselves well to Malayalam text.
Some of these qale might have two (or more) variants. According to Jarly Mathew Thalikasthanam, they represent the difference between the Cathedral system and the monastic system - the melodies used in the Liturgy of the Hours primarily being those of the monastic system, and the ones from the Qurbana being those of the cathedral system.
All those from the beginning and unto the end.Lord of all, they give You praise,
Blest women who loved Your name.
You chose Maryam from their line,
Made Your myst-ry dwell in her.
By the Ruha He shone forth:
Mshiha Saviour of the world.
See the holy Church rejoice,
On the Virgin's holy feast.
Blessed are you of MarYahBlessed Sahde,
As a mighty profit,
They considered death,
And like honours and a gift,
They received the stripes and pain,
And now even after death,
To the world they share good things,
And great treasures abounding with help.
Malayalam name:ബ്രീകീത്തോൻ / സഹദേ ബ്രീകേ - from the opening words of its shuraya.
Structure: Through-composed; the lines do not have a fixed syllable count, but the melody has well-defined cadential stops.
And all of you are sons of the Most High.Sahde of the Holy Son,
Crowned by running the good race,
In the preaching of the truth,
And with angels in heaven,
Joyfully praise Alaha,
Made intercessors for us.
In You, MarYah, I have put my hope; may I never be ashamed.Not ashamed, Isho, of your cross
For your great power hides within
Though the pagans and the Jews
Scoff at it in your preaching,
Yet to bring it unto nought
Truth they never are able.
For see, both of them alike
Cry out for your victory.
Behold, the Jews were scattered,
Gentile teaching is rejected.
See, they testify as one
Great is your power, MarYah.
Also known as:Dawresh Kthawe ; Kthawa Rambaܟܬ݂ܵܒ݂ܵܐ ܪܲܒܵܐ
O you righteous, praise MarYah!O you Sahde, merchants wise,
With your treasures stored on high,
You have bought the precious pearl
With the blood poured from your necks.
And to the upright, praise is fitting!Sahde who arose and reached
The heavenly Ore'shlem,
By the blood poured from their necks,
Bought the home they waited for.
Structure: Four lines in each stanza; seven syllables per line.
The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.Estappanos paved the way,
Sahde followed in his steps;
With the Bridegroom they rejoice
In the endless realm of light.
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.As Estappanos was stoned,
He beheld his Lord on high;
And Ruha d'Qudsha wove
Crowns to grace the faithful head.
Structure: Four lines in a stanza; seven syllables per line.
He searches the heart and the reins.He knows all the thoughts of all sons of men.
And searches secrets within human hearts.
You yourself know our weakness.
Have mercy on us.
I will praise You, my Lord the King.Malka Mshiha our Saviour,
On your coming, revive me,
And raise me at your right hand,
On the day your greatness dawns.
O my Alaha, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed.Lord, we worship your Sliwa,
In it we rise and revive,
And in it our dead awake,
And their bodies wear glory.
He who is from before the ages.God, who by His will,
Fashioned all creatures,
Preserved our nature.
Your image you named,
In your likeness shaped,
In mercy, spare him.
Malayalam name:ഹാവ് ദീസാവ് / ഇസ്യാ ദവ്റെംസേ
Structure: Two stanzas of three lines each; five syllables per line.
Therefore now I leave you, my brethren, pray for me.Farewell to thee,
Abode of time,
Which cannot save
Those who own it.
That I go see
The place of light,
Wherein abide
The just who toiled.
Structure: Four lines in a stanza; eight syllables per line.
O Alaha, save me from the hand of the wicked.MarYah, foe took
Me from Your flock
Made me his own.
Through the weakness of my thoughts.
Oppressed, I drew near unto You.
When You saved me, I returned to my past sins.
Now tormented
By my evils
Great is my qnoma's ruin.
Your strict justice answers not.
For I scorned all Your commands
Good One who formed me from dust
Place a salve for my sickness.
Lest I fall in evil hands.
Save the richness of my thoughts
O Maran, spare me.
Where can I go from Your Ruha?Where, Maran, shall I flee from You?
In what place can I hide from Your presence?
Heaven Your throne, earth Your footstool.
Sea Your way, in Sheol Your might.
If, my Lord, the world's end has now arrived,
In Your mercy let the end be.
Give joy to your servant's soul.With all of your holy saints:
Give rest, O Malka Mshiha:
To your servant's spirit in peace;
Where pain and anguish reign not:
And neither distress nor grief:
But the promised life forevermore.
Open to me the gates of righteousness.O Merciful, whose door is open wide
To penitents, and calls the sinners near,
Open to us the door of mercy, Lord,
To enter, singing glory night and day.
Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death.Light and Son of Light,
Dwells in light and lives in light,
Make me worth that light,
Darkness cannot comprehend.
Come and hear, I speak unto you.Spring of life without an ending,
Was the teaching of Mshiha Maran in all the world.
Just like the spring,
Of Paradise split in four;
And each one of them was sent,
To a parched land.
Mathai, Pishon to Hebrews,
Flowing with unending true life.
Markos, Deqlath to Romans,
Made them rich with his flowing words.
Luqa, Gihon to Egypt,
Urging them all to yield good fruit.
Yohannan the river Prath,
To Ephesians he was sent forth.
He taught and preached,
Of the Father's Word,
Shown in human form,
To Him be praise!
Structure: Opens with a free-verse section, followed by any number of metered lines of eight syllables each, and closes with a fixed concluding statement.
Through all the earth their message went forth.Sahde, holy ones, clothed in bright light:
To the corners of the earth they went out to proclaim.
The glorious Trinity:
Father, Son, and Ruhqudsha.
He executes justice for the oppressed.Your holy labours are not lost, O Sahde,
Mshiha the King you loved will not pass by;
For in the earth your triumphant bones rest,
And in life's book your names, friends of the Son.
I will bless MarYah at all times.Blest, hidden power,
Dwelling in the Sahdes' bones, laid to rest within their graves, driving demons from the world.
Through their teaching they stopped all the error carved in stone; unseen, they visit all the earth, teaching all to worship You:
For You Alone are MarYah.
He who speaks peace to His people and to His righteous ones.Peace to Sahde,
And unto their bones honour,
Glory to their Lord,
And to us help through their prayers.
And in Your light we see light.Sahde in light,
And Shlihe in light's chamber,
And they sing His praise,
To the One in splendid light.
Note: This tune is special - it's basically a repeating set of verse pairs, with a concluding statement, so different examples might have different number of verses. The simplest version with two verse pairs and one concluding statement (the resh qala) can also be sung to the tune of Mannu Sapeq.
Conclusion
The lists above catalogue the tunes of the resh qale of the Malabar tradition that have been identified to date. It is hoped that further research will continue, and that more melodies will yet be brought to light.
But you may ask - where is Thuyay? Where is Brikh Hannana? Why are they not present in these lists? Those melodies, though part of the Malabar repertoire, are melodies of Teshbhatha (sing. teshbohta - “praise”), and not onyatha; they will be dealt with separately in another article.
The survival of most of these tunes owes a great debt to recordings left behind by Fr. Emmanuel Thelly CMI, Fr. Alexander Kattakayam CMI, and Fr. Abel Periyappuram CMI. Much is likewise owed to Fr. Thomas Koonammakkal and Fr. Joseph Palackal CMI, through whose efforts those recordings have been preserved.
The recordings linked in this article were made possible by Beth Aprem Nasrani Dayra, which provided access to the audio library assembled by Fr. Thomas Koonammakkal.
ܫܠܡ
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