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Fr. Varghese (Saji) Mattathil sings "Walalam Almeen."

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AP 71a - Fr. Varghese (Saji) Mattathil sings Walalam Almeen.
Call Number

AP 71A
Part Number Part I - Syro Malabar Church
Title Fr. Varghese (Saji) Mattathil sings Walalam Almeen.
Duration 8:32
Place of Recording St. John Damasceno College, Via Boccea, Rome.
Date of Recording 19 Mach 2017
Youtube URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDtNGthNUqw
Video Segment (s)

 
Notes

Fr. Varghese (Saji) Mattathil sings Walalam Almeen. Recorded at St. John Damasceno College, Via Boccea, Rome. 19 Mach 2017. Chant from Raza. during the prostration.
This is a rare chant only occasionally heard during the celebration of the solemn form of the Syro Malabar Qurbana.
The melody, as is presented by Fr. Saji Mattathil, has an Arabic flavor. The melody and the vocal inflection stand out among the diverse Christian music repertories in Kerala, and is a topic for further research.

User Comments

  • Dear loving Palackal Acha,

    Wish you a warm greetings of Christmas and New Year.

    Hope you are fine. I watched Achan's interview with BinuDeepa , with great joy and happiness. It is really wonderful! Super! Highly informative and vibrant . Worth witnessing and deeply convincing. Inspiring and thought provoking. Simple and attractive. I believe that it is just "God's Plan and His Intervention".

    Acha it is very interesting to say that your special talent, or I would rather say "a gift of observation" and a very natural way of asking an apt questions to the right person, as you did in all the previous interviews, played a very important role here also.

    Yes, altogether it is really fascinating and fantastic! May Good God make your efforts fruitful, fulfilling your dreams and visions, in and through the future generations. I talked with Sajiachan yesterday. He is also very happy about it. I'm planning to visit him during Christmas holidays. (I would like to say a humble suggestion acha. If possible, it would be better if you could add the KNDISHA CD cover also to it, anywhere in the interview-the one I gave you when we met in Germany.

    It contains all the Hymns of Syiac Rasa Qurban fully and completely. The Malayalam transcript also is inserted. I think, it can be added, for example, as an additional contextual information, when they speak of the Sunday school competitions. And the CD is available in Sandesa Nilayam office, Changanacherry.) I am fine here.

    Besides the regular classes in the university I learn piano and a Stimmbildungkurs' (voice training course) which helps a singer to produce voice scientifically, and sing using the staff notation. And also I am trying to notate the Hymns and Chants of the Syriac Qurbana with the help of a great musician here.

    As you know it is not an easy task. Time consuming and difficult, but not discouraging. As a matter of fact- 'miles to go before I sleep'!
    I do pray, may Good God bless us all.
    Wish you once more the peace and joy of Christmas to all your family members also.

    lovingly

    Fr. Joseph Patthil - December 23, 2017

  • Hi all, let me introduce myself, I am a dentist from Kottayam Dr Savant Sebastian, MDS; endodontist.. I am the young man Binu Chettan so kindly mentions in this video, who wanted Cyriac mass for his wedding.. I have hardly any knowledge in the language itself.. It’s the music and the feeling it evoked that got me fascinated years back when I first attended holy kurbana in Syriac language at Athirampuzha church.. The powerful, yet tender voice of the priest (Fr Joseph Pathil) and the passion with which he celebrated the mass was so moving that it stirred such deep emotions in me.. I was keen not to miss a single Syriac mass at Athirampuzha, ever since.. I believe that’s what every celebration of holy Eucharist should be like; the priest and the community as a whole trying to be one with Him..! Sad to say, despite the feeble attempts by the archdiocese of Changanacherry, the celebration of holy communion in Syro Malabar rite has dwindled away to mere music concerts; priests and the choir both trying to impress the community with ear deafening beats and voice modulations.. We attend countless holy Eucharists with the air of grim reality show judges with our arms folded across our chests..! At the end we leave, busily discussing among us: this priest was good; the communion song was a classic; the sermon was delivered well; the male voice was not that great, and so on..! If only the few hours we spend weekly in a church wouldn’t end up as such meaningless facades..! When will our kurbanas become something with deeper meanings, that touches our insides in a way only He can? I have always envied jacobites and those of Syro Malabar rite.. The whole community is the choir there.. the priest does not recite prayers, he sings his heart out, to lift the hearts of the community and together they become one in god..! That is what fr Saji mattathil, fr Joseph Pathil, fr Jose palackal, Binu chettan, Deepa Chechi and all these Syriac lovers are trying to say.. the music composition is amazing, powerful enough to move our stone hearts.. Slowly our eyes begin to well up, and our hearts fill with a myriad of emotions, a spectrum ranging from deep sorrow to pure joy...! The prayers and hymns are in perfect harmony, in a continuum, that our attention does not waver even for a second.. It’s like the whole world comes to a standstill..! An amazing journey in a short time that keeps reverberating in our hearts..! It changes us from within and that’s what I think the whole point is..! As the soft spoken friar, Fr bobby Jose says, ഇത് ആരുടെ മിഴികളെയാണ് ഈറനണിയിക്കാത്തത്..! - Savant Sebastian

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