Sights and Sounds of the Song of Songs
The Hebrew Bible contains a particularly puzzling little book known as
the Song of Songs. It is also known as the Song of Solomon or as
Canticles. The book appears to be a collection of poetry on the theme of
human love. It is often frankly erotic. The poems typically presuppose
two primary figures: a male lover and a female lover. Like much poetry,
its polysemy makes it both evocative and enigmatic. At some early point
before our first explicit citation of it, it was seen as an allegory for
God's love. It was "the most frequently interpreted book of medieval
Christianity" (Ann Matter)
and it inspired a great many medieval Jewish commentaries
as well. The Song of Songs has played a fascinating role in Western
culture. It has been a test case and a workshop for allegorical method.
It has been a mainstay of asceticism and an impetus for mysticism.
This page presents a sampling of sights and sounds from the Song of Songs.
Sights and Sounds of Song of Songs
Historiated Initial from Song of Songs manuscript
Rubrics in Song of Songs in
Codex Sinaiticus
Chanting in the Ashkenazi Tradition
Chanting in the Sephardic Tradition
Chanting in the Yemenite Tradition
The
complete Hebrew text in mp3 format, via
Mechon Mamre
(The Song of Songs is chanted in Sephardic manner)
Discography of Song of Songs Music in Late Medieval and
Early Modern Europe
Song 2:16 ("I am my beloved's and he is mine")
Material Related to Song of Songs
Lost Keys:
Text and Interpretation in Old Greek Song of Songs
and its Earliest Manuscript Witnesses (my dissertation)
Song of
Songs Interpretation Samples (Alan Humm)
RSV translation
KJV translation
Parallel Aligned Hebrew and Greek Text
The Aramaic Targum of Song of Songs (in English translation)
Bibliography of English Translations and Commentaries
Garden Enclosed (Judith Ernst)
1599 Geneva Bible Notes
Exposition by Matthew Henry
(1662-1714)
Interpreting the Song of Songs:
The Paradox of Spiritual and Sensual Love by Carl W. Ernst
Jay Treat