Bob MacDonald is launching a project<\/a> to turn the melodies that emerge from the text of the Hebrew Bible when one uses\u00a0Ha\u00efk-Vantoura\u2019s approach to interpreting the cantillation marks, into English language settings appropriate for liturgical use in churches. He isn\u2019t considering this a formal composition contest, but he does have plans for selected compositions to be performed, published, and\/or recorded. The compositions will not simply be arrangements of existing text and melody: there is room both for melodic adaptation and variation based on the\u00a0Ha\u00efk-Vantoura interpretation of the ancient melodies, and for lyrical adaptation as English words are crafted and adapted to that melodic exploration.<\/p>\n It is exciting to see\u00a0Ha\u00efk-Vantoura\u2019s work\u2013as well as Bob\u2019s work\u2013made the focus of a musical project in this way. On Bob\u2019s YouTube channel, linked from many of the posts about this on his blog<\/a>, you can find some digital renderings of his efforts to turn the cantillation markings into full-fledged works of music. The results are genuinely impressive, and themselves speak to the likelihood that the interpretation of those markings that\u00a0Ha\u00efk-Vantoura proposed was indeed correct. Click through to his post inviting compositions<\/a> and find out more! I also recommend exploring other posts on his blog about the Bible and music, which touches on topics such as how an acrostic Psalm that skips a letter suggests a verse has gone missing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Let me also take this opportunity to highlight Bob\u2019s daughter Sarah MacDonald\u2019s lecture \u201cSilent in the Churches\u201d<\/a> that seeks to highlight the work of female composers in the domain of liturgical music. The lecture is illustrated by musical examples, the playlist for which is online!<\/p>\n