- Joseph J. Palackal
Joseph J. Palackal (b. at Pallippuram, near
Cherthala in Alappuzha,Kerala ) is an Indicmusicologist ,singer andcomposer , with special interests in the musical traditions of the Indian Christians. He is also the Founder-President of the Christian Musicological Society of India [http://www.thecmsindia.org] .Joseph Palackal wrote a doctoral thesis in
ethnomusicology at the Graduate Center of theCity University of New York in 2005 onSyriac (Aramaic ) chant traditions inSouth India , studying on the one hand the contemporary practice of model melodies of the East-Syriac/Chaldean rite of theSyro-Malabar Church , and, on the other hand, theoktoechos of theWest-Syriac/Antiochene rite of the Oriental Orthodox Churches of South India [http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/3170204] [http://thecmsindia.org/syriac_chants.txt] .As part of this doctoral work, Palackal brought out a
CD , "Qambel Maran" [http://thecmsindia.org/releases.html#qambel_maran] , a collection of Syriac chants in the Chaldean tradition of the Syro-Malabar Church; it includes the hymn "Awun d’wasmayya", i.e., the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, arguably in the same words which were used by Jesus when he taught the "Pater Noster", compositions by St. Ephrem the Syrian (notably theacrostic hymn "Iso maaran m’siha" on the name "Iso M'siha", i.e., Jesus the Messiah), and the Syriac translation "Sabbah lesan" of theLatin hymn "Pange Lingua " bySt. Thomas Aquinas ; these chants had up to then been preserved in the main only inoral tradition ; among the singers isFr. Abel Periyappuram , the founder of theKalabhavan and the key in the transition of the Syro-Malabar liturgy from Syriac (Aramaic) toMalayalam .Earlier, Palackal wrote a Master's thesis at
Hunter College in 1995 on the various styles of singing the "Puthenpaana" [New Song] , theMalayalam poem composed by the grammarian and lexicographerJohann Ernst Hanxleden ("Arnos Paathiri"), analysing the several cultural influences [http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/1384737] [http://thecmsindia.org/puthenpaana.txt] .Palackal published several research papers on music in English and Malayalam [http://www.thecmsindia.org/research.html] . As a consequence, he was invited to write articles on Indian Christian music in the
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and in theGarland Encyclopedia of World Music ; neither encyclopaedia had dealt with the topic before.Palackal is the lead vocalist for about 30 works in Malayalam,
Hindi ,Sanskrit , English, and Aramaic (Syriac) [http://thecmsindia.org/releases.html] .He brought out in 1979 anLP record , "Christian Bhajans", as part of an experiment under the aegis ofMar Joseph Cardinal Parecattil to devise aliturgy founded on the Indian musical tradition [http://thecmsindia.org/bhajans_liner.txt] . Another work is a semi-classical rendering of the Sanskrit poem "Kristhusahasranaamam" [The Thousand Names of Christ] [http://thecmsindia.org/releases.html#sahasranaamam] [http://thecmsindia.org/releases.html#sahasranaamam1] by the engineer and philologist Chevalier I. C. Chacko. He made his New York debut in 1990 with a guest appearance singing a Christian devotional song in Hindi in theoff-Broadway show "Nunsense"; later performance venues includeLincoln Center for the Performing Arts andPrinceton University .As composer, Palackal and George Thaila, commissioned by the Syro-Malabar Church, created music for the English Solemn High Mass in the Chaldean rite.
In an attempt to illumine the heritage of the Indian Christians, Palackal conceived and produced the documentary film "Kerala: the Cradle of Chrisitanity in South Asia" [http://thecmsindia.org/releases.html#cradle] . He also published illustrations [http://www.thecmsindia.org/art.html] of various facets of their music, culture, and history; these includethe picture of an angel playing a five-stringed violin as carved on the wooden altar of St. Mary's Forane Church, Pallippuram, the iconic portrait of Christ the Guru [http://thecmsindia.org/art.html#christ_guru] drawn by Joy Elamkunnapuzha, and the picture of the granite Cross [http://thecmsindia.org/art.html#persian_cross] (c. 700 A. D.) at
St. Thomas Mount ,Chennai , the earliest available material evidence for a flourishing Christian community in India.Palackal studied
Hindustani classical music (vocal) underN. V. Patwardhan , graduating from theMaharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda ; he holds degrees inChristian theology andpsychology , the latter with a Gold medal from the Faculty of Arts of M. S. University, and held a National Merit Scholarship. He was, for a time, Dean of Studies at the Kalabhavan under Fr. Abel. He also founded Nadopasana (1986), a society for the promotion of Indian classical and choral music, at Upasana Centre,Thodupuzha .Palackal hails from the family of
Palackal Thoma Malpan , the senior founder of theCarmelites of Mary Immaculate , a monastic order which has served as a vessel to preserve many of the musical traditions of Indian Christianity, and grew up in the musical traditions of the Syro-Malabar Church. He lives inNew York City .Further reading
* [http://www.thecmsindia.org Home page of the Christian Musicological Society of India]
* [http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2006110300450200.htm&date=2006/11/03/&prd=fr& V. Kaladharan: "Demystifying a musical tradition"]
* [http://thecmsindia.org/kochappilly.txt Paulachan Kochappilly: "Review of Qambel Maran"]
* [http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Palackal_Joseph_861018065.aspx Joseph J. Palackal's lecture at the 37th National Catholic Development Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, October 2005]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.