Songs from the Dead Sea Scrolls- Series B - The Psalms by Wilbur Skeels
Background Notes
About the text:
The original lyrics by Wilbur Skeels of these four songs are based on selected passages from the Qumran papyrus
11Q5 as translated by Martin Abegg, Jr., in The Dead Sea Scrolls (Harper, San Francisco: 1996, edd.
Michael Wise, Martin Abegg, Jr., and Edward Cook). The specific passages are: Psalm 151, 11Q5 Col 28
(p.448); Psalm 152, 11Q5 Col 19 (p.450); Psalm 153, 11Q5 Col 26 (p.450); Psalm 154,
11Q5 Col 24 (p.449). The Psalm numbers are supplied by the author and are not in the original. Psalm 151
has its parallel, nevertheless, in the 151st Psalm of the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek version of the Psalter.
Psalm 152 is found only in the Qumran scrolls. Psalm 153 is from an acrostic poem in the style of
Isaiah 54:1-8. Psalm 154 is also unique to the papyri. A previous series of four songs by the same
composer, based on the Qumran Thanksgiving Scroll, was published by Cantus Quercus Press in 2001
(CQ2103, revised 2005).
About the music:
The composer has in his library an Arabic hymnal published in 1913, that contains not only Western-style hymns
in four-part harmony but also, for some of the hymns, an alternate melody (unharmonized) with distinctive
non-Western features. Many of the modal intervals are similar to those found in harmonic minor scales,
although in practice Arabic singers would probably use quarter tones and ‘blue’ notes in key places.
The Arabic phrasing and cadences also contrast with conventional Western style. A number of these melodies
have been utilized in the present work. Three different melodies have been blended in Psalm 151; with the
other three songs, a single melody has been adapted for each one from the hymnal. The combination of Arab
Christian melodies with ancient Jewish texts and a modicum of Western harmonization is offered in an ecumenical
spirit. Psalm 151 calls for a cantor (bass or baritone solo), while Psalm 154 includes an alto
(or other medium voice) solo. As a child with his missionary parents in Egypt, the composer heard some of these
Arabic hymns tunes being sung, and they have remained in memory as a reminder that the great religions are
trans-cultural.
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