The Gospel Anthem in Four Part Harmony
At least four different voices can be heard in the Gospel anthems. These works are richly orchestrated masterpieces! Their interwoven lyrics and melodies, sung in/by many voices, each with its own unique cadence, form gloriously polyphonic anthems. Our Gospels are multi-layered; they beg to be “turned and turned, for everything is contained therein”. Most of us are familiar with the overall ‘plain text’; but if we stop there, we will be unable to appreciate the distinctive melody lines of the voices that make up the whole... I therefore invite you to start listening for the sounds of the following voices in the Gospel anthems. Shema… Hear… The first voice is the voice of the rabbi. The Gospels were first preserved by means of the Hebrew oral tradition. A rabbi’s talmidim committed his words to memory… And the words of any rabbi were always deeply anchored in the Torah and Hebraic tradition. His teachings were always rooted, in the Semitic fashion, in familiar Hebraic symbols,...