Hong Kong Christian Songwriters’ Dilemma: Juggling Sacred Music, Tonal Language, and Christian Faith
Hong Kong composers face a unique challenge when composing songs in Cantonese, as every syllable comes with a set pitch inflection — a “word tone.” Imposing tunes to texts without considering “word tones” either renders the words unrecognizable or changes their meanings entirely. In the 1970s, the p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Analytical Approaches to World Music
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Analytical Approaches to World Music |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.iftawm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kan_AAWM_Vol_11_1.pdf |
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| Summary: | Hong Kong composers face a unique challenge when composing songs in Cantonese, as every syllable comes with a set pitch inflection — a “word tone.” Imposing tunes to texts without considering “word tones” either renders the words unrecognizable or changes their meanings entirely. In the 1970s, the pursuit of coherent verbal expression for reverent worship compelled Cantonese-speaking Christians to compose congregational ngaamjam songs (啱音歌). Literally translating to “tone-matching songs,” these pieces feature matching melodic pitch and linguistic tone contours that enable their performers to sing every word without distorting its meaning and pronunciation. However, the nine “word tones” of Cantonese cannot cover all twelve steps of the chromatic scale. When transliterated into Cantonese, common polysyllabic Christian terms like “Jehovah” gain inherent “word tone” sequences that songwriters must follow. Some local Christian songwriters sacrifice mainstream Western musical aesthetics to preserve literary excellence and theological accuracy. Others strive to compose songs with conventional tunes at the expense of poetry and grammar. These complications result in the divide between ngaamjam songs written text-first and ngaamjam songs composed tune-first. My study compares a song written text-first with one written tune-first. Musical and literary analyses identify unique formal, rhythmic, and syntaxial characteristics in each category. A new method of graphic representation helps illustrate different strategies used to reconcile linguistic tones with song melodies. Research on local church history and ethnographic interviews with composers reveal historical, aesthetical, theological, and social concerns that produced such diverging trends in Cantonese Christian worship songs. |
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| ISSN: | 2158-5296 |