Notes

A Golden treasure from Fr. George Plathottam: Syriac chants from the Office .

This recording is a precious gift that Fr. George Plathottam (1933-2016), a saintly priest and zealous singer of Syriac chants, has bequeathed to the Syro Malabar Church and the intangible cultural heritage of the world. Fr. Plathottam knew that in the not-so-distant future, the clergy in the Syro Malabar Church would not be able to sing the liturgical chants in the original language, Syriac. He thought to himself that someone among the clergy would be curious to know how these chants sounded in Syriac. With that goal in view, Fr. Plathottam trained two of his disciples who were seminarians at that time, Cyril Thayil and Joseph Kizhakkekkutt, to sing Syriac chants along with him. This recording (2007) is the result of that prophetic move. Fr. Cyril Thayyil was kind enough to share this recording for the benefit of the Aramaic Project enthusiasts. There are two parts in this recording. Part I (00:01 to 16:48) consists of the original Syriac chant texts and melodies from the funeral services of laymen. They are useful for general listeners to feel the sound of the words that the previous generations listened frequently. For scholars, these texts are helpful for a comparative study of the Syriac and current Malayalam versions (the melodies of both versions are the same). Part II (17:00 to 59:33) opens with the concluding prayers (Huthamma) of the requiem Qurbana and continues with the Malayalam version of the Syriac chants from the funeral services for priests in the Syro Malabar Church . It is an honor for the Christian Musicological Society of India to preserve the singing voice of a saintly son of the Syro Malabar Church for future generations to listen, pray, learn, and enjoy. I regret that I did not videotape an interview him. We did, however, document Fr. Plathottam's solemn celebration of Syriac Qurbana in 2006 (see Aramaic Project-70) May Fr. Plathottam’s soul rest in peace, knowing that we are eternally grateful to him.

Joseph J. Palackal, CMI
New York
15 July 2019

Video Segment(s)

• AP 140a - Text and Melody of Ermarmmak (Fr. George Plathottam)
• AP 140b - Chanting style of Slotha (Fr. George Plathottam)
• AP 140c - Melody of Qambel Maran (Fr. George Plathottam)
• AP 140d - Psalms (Fr. George Plathottam) from the Office for the dead
• AP 140e - Chanting style of Slotha (oration) in Syriac
• AP 140f - Puqdankon (requiem melody)
• AP 140g - Slotha (oration). Fr. George Plathottam
• AP 140h - Huthama (Concluding prayers) from Requiem Qurbana. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140i - Nrupanaam Misiha. From the funeral service. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140j - Walsala Janame. From funeral service for priests. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140k - Unnatha Wanitame. Funeral service. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140l - "Mruthiyute nadam." Funeral service for priests. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140m - Anthimayaathra' funeral services for priests. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140n - Witawangunnen." Funeral services for priests. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140o - "Witawangunnen naswaramulakil." funeral precession. Fr. Plathottam
• AP 140p - "Anayunniso." Funeral services. Syro Malabar. Fr. George Plathottam
• AP 140q - "Parishudhanmar." Funeral services. Fr. George Plathottam
• AP 140r - "Nadhananjitumanthima Nalil." Funeral services. Fr. Plathottam

• AP 70 - Fr. George Plathottam. Solemn sung Qurbana in Syriac.
• AP 81 - "Etha Pus lek" from funeral services for priests in the Syro Malabar Church.
• AP 81a - "Witawangunnen." Funeral services for priests in the Syro Malabar Church.
• AP 245 - ലിസം - Syriac East Meets Latin West. Intercultural Music during Syriac Qurbana.
• AP 328 - Fr. CYRIL THAYYIL and Malpan GEORGE PLATHOTTAM