{"id":65,"date":"2022-11-08T22:01:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T22:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/chapter\/andrea-clearfield\/"},"modified":"2023-02-26T16:25:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-26T16:25:24","slug":"andrea-clearfield","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/chapter\/andrea-clearfield\/","title":{"raw":"Andrea Clearfield","rendered":"Andrea Clearfield"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"andrea-clearfield\">\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">In this chapter you will<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>learn how one contemporary composer draws on a range of historical and contemporary sources in producing her own unique creation<\/li>\r\n \t<li>have the opportunity to reflect on music as biblical interpretation and how music can help highlight neglected aspects of biblical stories about women<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nWe mentioned Andrea Clearfield\u2019s <em>Women of Valor<\/em> suite and her \u201cHagar\u201d in chapter 9 about Isaac and his family. More needs to be said about the former work. In the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">program notes<\/a> to accompany performances of the piece, Clearfield writes,\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\nThe musical material for <em>Women of Valor<\/em> incorporates ancient Hebrew synagogue chants as well as other traditional melodies which are sung to the <em>Eishet Hayil<\/em> text. These melodies are woven through the piece like a tapestry, connecting threads between the old and the new. A Renaissance technique, <em>soggetto cavato dalle vocali,<\/em> was employed where a theme is carved out from the vowels of a phrase. Thus, the theme for the oratorio was created from the vowels of \u201cWomen of Valor\u201d where o-e-o-a-o becomes do-re-do-fa-sol. Likewise, the longer version of the theme, do-re-do-fa-sol-sol-la-ti, is derived from the vowels of the words \u201cWomen of Valor, Who Can Find?\u201d and rises like this question from the opening of Proverbs 31. Heard in a multiplicity of forms, this theme pervades the work. Another structural element is shaped by the acrostic nature of Proverbs 31, which uses each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. <em>Women of Valor<\/em> employs a 22-note scale which was devised from three synagogue prayer modes, providing a musical representation of the literary acrostic. Each line of the biblical text is sung on a consecutive degree of the scale, preceded by a chime tone.\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">While not an authentic representation of any traditional ritual, prayer or musical style, <em>Women of Valor<\/em> is influenced by cantorial ornamentation, biblical instruments, Jewish dance forms and Middle-Eastern and Sephardic music so that these elements became resources for color, melody, rhythm, phrasing and orchestration. Mixed meters, syncopated rhythms, traditional scales and percussion instruments such as the dumbek, rik (small tambourine), finger cymbals and sistrem add a Middle-Eastern ambience to the composition. Portions of ancient melodic patterns, called tropes, sung to the Torah, can be heard in the Sarah, Miriam, Hannah and Ruth arias as well as in fragments and layers in the orchestral prelude and other interludes. The centerpiece of the work, \u201cMiriam\u2019s Dance,\u201d was inspired by the biblical heroine, Miriam, who led the women in song and dance after the crossing of the Red Sea. Among the tropes woven through the dance is the particular melodic pattern that is chanted to Miriam\u2019s \u201cSong of the Sea\u201d in the Book of Exodus.[footnote]Andrea Clearfield, <em>Women of Valor<\/em> program notes, August 2009, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe entirety of those <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">program notes<\/a>, as well as the additional information found on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/works\/vocal\/women-of-valor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">composer\u2019s website<\/a>, are all worth exploring in full detail. The excerpt above provides insight not only into the process of setting a biblical text to music but into approaches to composition more generally. The composer has found ways of embedding aspects of a text, right down to its structure and\/or its vowel sounds, into the music. The work thus not only explores the biblical text but weaves in historical elements and instrumentation that connect this contemporary music with the historic musical traditions that have explored the same stories down through the ages.\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">You can hear more from the <em>Women of Valor<\/em> suite (whether in the full orchestral version or in a chamber arrangement) on the author\u2019s website and on the YouTube channels of some whose performances of the work have been recorded. The LA Jewish Symphony has shared several of the movements of the full orchestral version.<\/p>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2XlVpEEPsXk[\/embed]\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">Soprano Anne Slovin has several performances of the chamber arrangement on YouTube.[footnote]Anne Slovin, soprano, and Michael Gaertner, piano, perform Clearfield\u2019s <em>Women of Valor<\/em> on April 14, 2018, in the Auer Hall at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/youtu.be\/zF7KCVkUzYE[\/embed]\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">Listening to the same movement or work in more than one arrangement can also help listeners appreciate aspects of the work in new ways. On Clearfield\u2019s own YouTube channel, you will also find another work of hers that sets biblical text in the form of one word: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/works\/choral\/alleluia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cAlleluia.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m0UWIZEuqTU[\/embed]\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">If you haven\u2019t already done so, now might be a good time to read <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/chapter\/alleluias-and-allusions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chapter 20 on alleluias and the nature of biblical allusions<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"andrea-clearfield\">\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">In this chapter you will<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ul>\n<li>learn how one contemporary composer draws on a range of historical and contemporary sources in producing her own unique creation<\/li>\n<li>have the opportunity to reflect on music as biblical interpretation and how music can help highlight neglected aspects of biblical stories about women<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>We mentioned Andrea Clearfield\u2019s <em>Women of Valor<\/em> suite and her \u201cHagar\u201d in chapter 9 about Isaac and his family. More needs to be said about the former work. In the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">program notes<\/a> to accompany performances of the piece, Clearfield writes,<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p>The musical material for <em>Women of Valor<\/em> incorporates ancient Hebrew synagogue chants as well as other traditional melodies which are sung to the <em>Eishet Hayil<\/em> text. These melodies are woven through the piece like a tapestry, connecting threads between the old and the new. A Renaissance technique, <em>soggetto cavato dalle vocali,<\/em> was employed where a theme is carved out from the vowels of a phrase. Thus, the theme for the oratorio was created from the vowels of \u201cWomen of Valor\u201d where o-e-o-a-o becomes do-re-do-fa-sol. Likewise, the longer version of the theme, do-re-do-fa-sol-sol-la-ti, is derived from the vowels of the words \u201cWomen of Valor, Who Can Find?\u201d and rises like this question from the opening of Proverbs 31. Heard in a multiplicity of forms, this theme pervades the work. Another structural element is shaped by the acrostic nature of Proverbs 31, which uses each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. <em>Women of Valor<\/em> employs a 22-note scale which was devised from three synagogue prayer modes, providing a musical representation of the literary acrostic. Each line of the biblical text is sung on a consecutive degree of the scale, preceded by a chime tone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">While not an authentic representation of any traditional ritual, prayer or musical style, <em>Women of Valor<\/em> is influenced by cantorial ornamentation, biblical instruments, Jewish dance forms and Middle-Eastern and Sephardic music so that these elements became resources for color, melody, rhythm, phrasing and orchestration. Mixed meters, syncopated rhythms, traditional scales and percussion instruments such as the dumbek, rik (small tambourine), finger cymbals and sistrem add a Middle-Eastern ambience to the composition. Portions of ancient melodic patterns, called tropes, sung to the Torah, can be heard in the Sarah, Miriam, Hannah and Ruth arias as well as in fragments and layers in the orchestral prelude and other interludes. The centerpiece of the work, \u201cMiriam\u2019s Dance,\u201d was inspired by the biblical heroine, Miriam, who led the women in song and dance after the crossing of the Red Sea. Among the tropes woven through the dance is the particular melodic pattern that is chanted to Miriam\u2019s \u201cSong of the Sea\u201d in the Book of Exodus.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Andrea Clearfield, Women of Valor program notes, August 2009, http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf.\" id=\"return-footnote-65-1\" href=\"#footnote-65-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The entirety of those <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">program notes<\/a>, as well as the additional information found on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/works\/vocal\/women-of-valor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">composer\u2019s website<\/a>, are all worth exploring in full detail. The excerpt above provides insight not only into the process of setting a biblical text to music but into approaches to composition more generally. The composer has found ways of embedding aspects of a text, right down to its structure and\/or its vowel sounds, into the music. The work thus not only explores the biblical text but weaves in historical elements and instrumentation that connect this contemporary music with the historic musical traditions that have explored the same stories down through the ages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">You can hear more from the <em>Women of Valor<\/em> suite (whether in the full orchestral version or in a chamber arrangement) on the author\u2019s website and on the YouTube channels of some whose performances of the work have been recorded. The LA Jewish Symphony has shared several of the movements of the full orchestral version.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"LAJS performs &quot;Miriam&quot; from Andrea Clearfield\u2019s oratorio Women of Valor, ft  Hila Plitmann\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2XlVpEEPsXk?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">Soprano Anne Slovin has several performances of the chamber arrangement on YouTube.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Anne Slovin, soprano, and Michael Gaertner, piano, perform Clearfield\u2019s Women of Valor on April 14, 2018, in the Auer Hall at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.\" id=\"return-footnote-65-2\" href=\"#footnote-65-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"oembed-2\" title=\"Women of Valor: Ruth\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zF7KCVkUzYE?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">Listening to the same movement or work in more than one arrangement can also help listeners appreciate aspects of the work in new ways. On Clearfield\u2019s own YouTube channel, you will also find another work of hers that sets biblical text in the form of one word: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/works\/choral\/alleluia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cAlleluia.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"oembed-3\" title=\"Andrea Clearfield - Alleluia\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m0UWIZEuqTU?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt\">If you haven\u2019t already done so, now might be a good time to read <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/chapter\/alleluias-and-allusions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chapter 20 on alleluias and the nature of biblical allusions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-65-1\">Andrea Clearfield, <em>Women of Valor<\/em> program notes, August 2009, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.andreaclearfield.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Women-of-Valor-UPDATED-NOTES1.pdf<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-65-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-65-2\">Anne Slovin, soprano, and Michael Gaertner, piano, perform Clearfield\u2019s <em>Women of Valor<\/em> on April 14, 2018, in the Auer Hall at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. <a href=\"#return-footnote-65-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":127,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/65"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/65\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":967,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/65\/revisions\/967"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/127"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/65\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/thebibleandmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}