The following "Researcher Reflection" from Dr. Eve Sada is part of an ongoing series where we spotlight CSWR scholars and their research.
I am a choral conductor of Assyrian origin from Iraq. I am passionate about preserving our unique music tradition, which could rapidly be altered and could soon be forgotten if not properly documented. When talented Assyrian chanters from elder generations are not recorded, content is lost forever. I believe Assyrian communities and churches should be spaces to experience traditional music. Assyrian music should also be available to musicians and conductors worldwide who seek diverse and meaningful content for performance.
Assyrians’ native land is the northern region of Iraq and parts of present-day Turkey, Syria, and Iran. Ethnic and religious genocides after WWI forced Assyrians to start immigrating to Western countries. Over the past four decades, migration has increased as the result of regional wars, instability, and violence against indigenous Assyrians. Assyrians are a minority in their homeland now, and their largest concentration worldwide is in the United States. Our melodies undergo adaptation, incorporating elements and styles from nations where Assyrians have resettled, and such evolution is expected across diverse musical traditions. But I have observed changes to the melodies before the initial documentation process of the traditional ones has begun, making documentation even more urgent.
Assyrian folk chants such as Rawe transmit narratives sharing the memories of our culture enduring countless storms, carrying our resilience and survival, connecting us to our ancestors and ancient past. Our church chants, practiced within Church of the East tradition, are among the oldest in Christian history.
Theologians and poets composed chants across genres starting in the fourth century but stretching back into ancient ages. A unique chant genre called the Disputation Poems was first found in the hymns of Saint Ephrem or Mar Aprem’s Soghyathat and later by Mar Narsai and others. This poetic genre has its origin in the Mesopotamian writing style preserved in Akkadian language around 700 BCE on cuneiform tablets that were found in the mid-nineteenth century during the excavation in Nineveh, Iraq, at the Assurbanipal Library of Assyria. In western music, each generation of musicians is inspired to innovate by experiencing traditional performances; unless traditions are well documented, future generations will not be inspired by what inspired their fore-bearers.
The Church of the East chanting tradition practiced today by the Ancient Church of the East and the Assyrian Church of the East is an oral tradition. The chants are memorized and recited in the Assyrian Aramaic language, known in western scholarship as Syriac, straight from the official liturgical book called Khudra/Hudra. No music notations are included with the chant text. They are performed unaccompanied by instruments in a responsorial manner by the priest and multiple clergy, choir, and congregation. In contrast, digital oriental keyboards and certain string instruments are today commonly found in Assyrian churches.
Assyrian music is widely disseminated through the internet, especially on YouTube. While the performed chant texts may be liturgically accurate, many of their tunes incorporate foreign or newly composed melodies outside the Church tradition. This can mislead choirs and scholars seeking traditional performances of Assyrian chants. It is exceedingly hard, especially in the West, to find Assyrian singers who are not influenced by the Western tuning system, who can sing oriental musical modes in tune. Due to the global pandemic in 2020, my plans to travel to record performances of clergy and choir members in the homeland and worldwide were canceled. Adapting to the circumstances, I collected and recorded chants through video calls and audio recording applications.
This alternative approach, despite its challenges, allowed me to start my research remotely until I could record in person with the high recording quality required for preservation purposes. Due to the vulnerability of oral traditions as intangible cultural heritage, there is risk of loss without proper documentation. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), oral traditions face increasing danger from urbanization, migration, and modern media. Documenting Assyrian musical heritage is urgent. Documentation and performing what is documented preserves and promotes diversity, introducing Assyrian culture to a global audience and safeguarding it for Assyrians worldwide.
At the CSWR, I am creating a digital chant database, informed by critically examining different preservation methods and past experiences documenting similar music traditions. I recognize this project is a collaborative journey involving different organizations, the Church, and the Assyrian community, but it is a project valuable to everyone.
—by Dr. Eve Sada, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for the Study of World Religions