Evidence that Demands Our Attention part 1

Evidence that Demands Our Attention part 1

            As we discussed yesterday, by the time Stolba’s book was published the evidence was overwhelming that, based on current knowledge of Ugaritic and Hebrew music notation, Western music did not start in the West, but rather in the Near East.  If they had listened to Plato, music historians could possibly have avoided much of this misconception.  Most certainly a careful study of the te’amim (musical notation of the O. T. Scriptures)  and the Ugaritic notation would have proven precise written music notations long before the existing Greek fragments.,

            So, after much confusion, musicologists are now face to face with the fact that the notation of Bible music is authentic and that it is very ancient.  Music historians now realize that the Ugaritic notation is 1400 to 1500 years older than the Greek musically notated fragments found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt and that Bible music notation is at least 3000 years old. Depending on when the te’amim were developed, written Bible music may be much older than the 3000 years date given by Stolba. (See The Development of Western Music, K. Marie Stolba p. 5)