Did Ancient Music Utilize Harmony? Part 6

Did Ancient Music Utilize Harmony? Part 6

The possibility that Bible accompaniments were improvised does not lessen their musical and artistic value. There is the possibility that not only one instrument improvised an accompaniment based on a written Bible melody, but there is also the possibility that several instruments improvised at the same time.  Why would one dream up such an exotic hypothesis?  Just what did all these instrumental players mentioned in 1Chronicles 23:5 do? “Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.”  It seems doubtful that they played in unison all the time.  Although they, no doubt, did not know of harmony or counterpoint like that of the occident, one should not conclude that they were not capable of creating of vertical or even horizontal harmonies in keeping with the artistic taste and knowledge of antiquity. Perhaps the reason is that harmony happened as a result of natural music making and not as a result or rules and regulations.  ”Harmony” was not discussed in Scripture or the dead Sea Scroll Commentary on the psalms or in the Talmud for that matter. 

Modern writers are admitting that other cultures that surrounded ancient Israel utilized both melody and harmony.  Hershel Shanks, speaking of the Ugaritic music deciphered by Dr. Kilmer, stated, “This Hurrian music does not indicate rhythm, tempo, or musical ornamentation.  But it does indicate both melody and harmony.  The upper note of the interval represents the melody and the lower note contains the harmony.  In other words, we have both melody and accompaniment written simultaneously, an advancement previously thought to have not been accomplished no earlier than the European Middle Ages.”  Biblical Archaeology Review, Hershel Shanks Ed. [Ann Kilmer, collaborator], Vol. 6, No. 5, Sept-Oct., 1980, pp. 14-25.  Carl Engel also wrote, “Respecting the instrumental accompaniment employed by the Assyrians, it may be concluded that it was certainly not always in unison with the voice, but frequently in harmony.”  The Music of the Most Ancient Nations by Carl Engel, p. 116.