By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 10/7/04)

With instruments created from the metalwork and ceramics of ancient Israel and Palestine, Savae’s unique blend of Latin and Middle Eastern music will fill the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington on Oct. 10. Savae will open a new season of the Cathedral Concert Serires.

"The concert will be a quick survey of a wide swatch of ancient Latin America and the Middle East," said Covita Scelsa Moroney, manager.

The cathedral concert will include two types of music from two different geographical regions and time periods. Similar spiritual threads link together the music from colonial Latin American and music from the time of Christ. To create these different sounds, Savae has an intriguing array of instruments: several varieties of flutes, harps and drums made from clay and goat hide.

Moroney founded the group in 1989 to work with colonial Latin American music, and after 10 years, Savae expanded its repertoire with music of ancient Israel and Palestine. Their newest CD, "Ancient Echoes" is a compilation of their work in the ancient Middle East.

Moroney did extensive research by reading works from archaeologists and musicologists. She relied heavily upon the work of Abraham Idelson, a musicologist who worked in the pre-World War II era. Idelson, now considered by many to be the father of modern musicology, would sit at the train station and listen to Jews returning to the Middle East from places like Spain or Iraq. He found that these Jews sang the same melodies — indicating that the songs were probably passed on from before the time of Christ.

Moroney also researched how to pronounce words from the ancient Hebrew and Aramaic languages. Savae includes songs based on both the Old and New Testaments. Songs of Jewish priestly blessings are placed beside songs with the Lord’s Prayer or the beatitudes.

At the time of Jesus, there were many Judeans living in ancient Israel and Palestine who intimately knew the Old Testament, or Torah.

"And out of that, a sect started to form around one man, Jesus," Moroney said. Jesus’ teachings were harmoniously grounded in the Judean tradition. So after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is safe to assume that there were new songs written about Jesus in addition to the ancient Jewish collection, Moroney said.

Savae’s songs include the formal Hebrew music from the Temple, as well as the rustic, Aramaic folk music that Jesus and his apostles may have sung around a fire, Moroney said.

The concert will be a wild ride through time, Moroney said. With singing in five different languages, the concert will keep the audience on the "edge of their seats."

The Savae concert will be held at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington on Sun., Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. For more information call the music office at 703/524-2815.