Kay Kaufman Shelemay's Music, Ritual, and Falasha History, published by Michigan State University Press in 1986, presents the first systematic recording, transcription and analysis of the liturgical music of the Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewish community sometimes historically called Falasha, based on fieldwork Shelemay conducted in Ethiopia in the 1970s before large-scale emigration transformed the community. Shelemay is an ethnomusicologist specializing in Jewish and Ethiopian musical traditions. Its strength is that it preserved a documented record of liturgical practice as it existed in Ethiopia itself, work that could not be repeated in the same form once most of the community relocated to Israel. Its limit is that it documents one period's practice in one setting, so a claim about how Beta Israel liturgical life has since changed in Israel needs a later source addressing that transition.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Published by Michigan State University Press as Kay Kaufman Shelemay's fieldwork based scholarly study by an ethnomusicologist specializing in Jewish and Ethiopian musical traditions, treated at the top tier. NotesThe first systematic recording, transcription and analysis of the Beta Israel liturgy, from fieldwork in Ethiopia in the 1970s.
Citation
AuthorKay Kaufman Shelemay
PublisherMichigan State University Press
Publication Year1986
Source TypeEthnography
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Beta Israel directly: "of the liturgical music of the Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewish community sometimes historically called Falasha, based on fieldwork Shelemay conducted in Ethiopia in the 1970s before large-scale..."
This source names Israel directly: "of the liturgical music of the Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewish community sometimes historically called Falasha, based on fieldwork Shelemay conducted in Ethiopia in the 1970s before large-scale..."
Claims Backed By This Source (26 claims)
This source backs 26 claims across the atlas. As facts: 16 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 5 holds, 1 connected. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 9 claims: 7 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Articles, 7 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.
- Sacred Sound, 7 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 2 holds, 1 general references.
- Denominations, 3 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
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