Have you heard Quran recitation?

[Verisica]

I have followed this website for quite a while and finally decided to register   My intent of this thread is not to force my beliefs upon anyone, but just to have some opinions I'd like to know what you think of Quran recitation as almost all of you here are spiritual. Here's a sample of a verse from Quran called Verse of Light being recited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aaf2bPpXdJA

Another chapter being recited here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zbp-rpJKvE

Do you feel relaxed, stressed, or thoughtful hearing it? I believe (and I strongly do) that the Quran is the only text that could create this majestic, spiritual, melodious feeling without the aid of music, just by a human's voice.
Please no hateful replies. I'm looking for an educated conversation
Thanks

[ZiggyMike]

Indeed I have, its almost like it carries you away on a journey I guess, that's if you allow it though. It soothing and realaxing and awe inspiring.

[Stookie_]

I believe (and I strongly do) that the Quran is the only text that could create this majestic, spiritual, melodious feeling without the aid of music, just by a human's voice.

I agree that it can be beautiful, but I wouldn't go as far and say "the only text" that it can happen with. There are no absolutes when it comes to man's creativity and everyone has a different opinion on what is beautiful and what they find relaxing or thoughtful. Whatever uplifts you, use it.

[Verisica]

Thanks for your replies
Stookie: I agree issues like these are sometimes subjective, but you will find almost all Arabs who understand Arabic approve of the unique beautifulness of Quran recitation. In fact, it was narrated that when the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the unbelievers made sure their followers did not listen to it being recited lest their hearts would be affected and believe it is God's words. At that time Arabic poetry was at its peak, yet no one was able to produce anything similar to it. God even challenges people to write anything like it when he says in 2:23 [And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant (Prophet Muhammad), then produce a Sura (which means a chapter) like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true]. Unbelievers even called Prophet Muhammad a magician, a sorcerer, and a madman when they listened to it, all because they didn't want to admit it was from God.
I just wanted to comment on your statement when you said "There are no absolutes when it comes to man's creativity.." You may be right, but we have yet to find someone who could write a whole book of guidance using a language in its finest poetic style that permits the reader to recite it without music yet energize the heart with spirituality and relaxation

[Rudolph]

Do you feel relaxed, stressed, or thoughtful hearing it? I believe (and I strongly do) that the Quran is the only text that could create this majestic, spiritual, melodious feeling without the aid of music, just by a human's voice.

Whaa?? Are you kidding? I mean... that was nice and all, but...

I agree with Stookie.

I much prefer Christian polyphony, Sequentia, etc. for sheer beauty to peaceful serenity...
I think it beats every other form of inspirational and majestic spiritual sound, hands down. No other form comes close.
From this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSHUwpTezK0
and this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Sj3blczB8&feature=related
to this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE   <-- must see!


And this has a similar sound to your piece, only much better;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HswNka-jXU8&feature=related

But to me, the most beautiful, most sublime choral voice sound ever is without doubt;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh6s71MicgY&feature=related
(breathtaking)

Of course it started by building on the beautiful foundation of Hebrew chant, with the Christian sound gaining a Greek & Roman overlay and the Muslim tradition built on those;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36_gFK3mHyc&feature=related


Here is an old Greek chant sung in what is termed the "Old Roman" style dated to about 100 years before Mohammed was born. It was popular all over the Mediterranean and the Islamic Quranic recitations clearly build on this style and method.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDJtBh3LGJg&feature=related

[Volgerle]

This one is from Christian folk artist and he really always gives me the ultimate goosebumps whenever I listen to him, especially this (master)piece of music, called 'Consecration', check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrA4f_9yq0U



Usually, of spiritual music (including recitations), I also love some of the (renovated, "neo") Pagan/Medieval and also some of the Christian medieval stuff. It should be based on folk or medieval though, and it always lifts me up. Folk is (for me) the 'real' Soul Music.

I also listen to Arabic-influenced folk tunes (called "World music" in Europe). I love the harmonies and instrumentation, but I do not know always if the lyrics are about spiritual things though.

Ok, guys, just another one, I am sure this won't be everyones cup of tea, but since it's spiritual too, here's 'Prayer' by Huun Hur Tu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuqiOMdoP2c

[ZiggyMike]

Whatever floats your boat use it, after all, we are in the situations and religions we are to better understand ourselves and the divine. I still believe anyone can make beautiful awe inspiring music as long as the person is attuned to the right "waves"
Whatever floats your boat use it.... One man's meat.....

[Rudolph]

Whatever floats your boat use it, after all, we are in the situations and religions we are to better understand ourselves and the divine. I still believe anyone can make beautiful awe inspiring music as long as the person is attuned to the right "waves"
Whatever floats your boat use it.... One man's meat.....

Some music floats the boat better than others in a semi-universal fashion.

When I read posts about problems with negs and dark, sinister environments while OBE, nightmares, etc.  I wonder what sort of music they listen to. What TV do they watch, or movies. People focus their Awareness on the Darkside and stuff their consciousness with negativity and then they wonder why they have bad dreams and dark OBEs.

About a year ago there was a discussion on negs and such and someone said "everyone has nightmares".
Not true.

[ZiggyMike]

Quite right, the kind of emotions you exude shows the kind of emotions you receive, like they say, garbage in garbage out, in the astral, I don't ever have problems negs or darkness. Once I was walking down an alley and noticed a neg I guess trying to attack me from behind, I just turned to t and said, you know you can't handle what will be the outcome when do that and walked away, it sulked and walked away. I guess what you expect from something becomes a reality. Especially in the astral! Can't wait for 5d!

[Rudolph]

Quite right, the kind of emotions you exude shows the kind of emotions you receive, like they say, garbage in garbage out, in the astral, I don't ever have problems negs or darkness.

Heh, "exude", what a great word.

My outer studies do color the entire inner realms that I explore to a large degree. When I was with a Rosicrucian group - during one exercise I came upon a creature straight out of the The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King -- only different (it wasn't in there).

[manwesulimo2004]

This thread helped me find some amazing music. Thanks guys.

[Rudolph]

Please no hateful replies. I'm looking for an educated conversation

So... does the conversation so far seem educated enough for you ? Verisica?... or what?
I think it is a great topic you started here. But you have not replied.

[Verisica]

So... does the conversation so far seem educated enough for you ? Verisica?... or what?
I think it is a great topic you started here. But you have not replied.

I'm sorry I was very busy due to midterm exams, but now I finally got my vacation. Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate them.
Now Rudolph I may be wrong about the Quran being the only text that could be recited melodiously, but I have noticed that almost all the videos you posted were sung by a chorus, aided by music, or a woman repeating four syllables (similar to mantra). Just to be fair comparing anything with the Quran, I would like to hear a man reciting something alone, without a chorus or music (I hope I don't sound overly restrictive, but that's how the Quran goes), and see how that feels

Thanks

[Rudolph]

Oh good, glad you're back. 

but I have noticed that almost all the videos you posted were sung by a chorus, aided by music...

NOT true!!!

I think, on the contrary, nearly all of the examples I linked to were without musical accompaniment. Voice only. ??

In the case of the food court flashmob Halleluiah Chorus the organ was barely audible 90% of the time and is really superfluous (it could be left out completely with zero loss in the sound and inspiration).
The 4 syllable mantra was the Hebrew chant? that I gave merely as an example of the historical base that these ancient sounds grew from.

My point was in showing that the Christian Polyphonia is the hands down winner in voice only inspirational recitation.

The first example was plain chant, voice only and had no musical accompaniment.
(type "plain chant" in the search at Youtube and get tons more like it)

The second example was voice only had no musical accompaniment

The third was the Halleluiah Chorus with barely audible organ most of the time.

The fourth example of Old Roman chant was voice only.

The fifth example, Misereri Mei Deus was voice only
(as well as the single most beautiful and sublime music ever sung by humans;)

The sixth and last example was Greek chant in Old Roman style and was  voice only

{whoa! - I just noticed your bolded requirements... "man" only, single voice only... hmmm odd restrictions but okay... I have to think about that. Culturally that will be rare in the Western styles since they are more inclusive by nature... I do not think I can even search "male voice only" and expect the search engine to have a clue about what it is that I am after}

[manwesulimo2004]

Just to be fair comparing anything with the Quran, I would like to hear a man reciting something alone, without a chorus or music (I hope I don't sound overly restrictive, but that's how the Quran goes), and see how that feels

I'm not Catholic so not sure about this but I think this is usually part of traditional Catholic Mass. I came across this video in a quick search which has some Latin recitation. After flicking through it I found a part that starts around 12:50. The language is supposed to be Latin but the Man reciting seems to be French so it sounds... wrong.

[Verisica]

{whoa! - I just noticed your bolded requirements... "man" only, single voice only... hmmm odd restrictions but okay... I have to think about that. Culturally that will be rare in the Western styles since they are more inclusive by nature... I do not think I can even search "male voice only" and expect the search engine to have a clue about what it is that I am after}

I do understand most of them were 'voice only'. But you see, I would be interested in hearing this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSHUwpTezK0) being sung by a man [we all know women have a magical voice even when speaking naturally ). Or this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HswNka-jXU8&feature=related) being sung by a single man himself, and not by a choir. The beauty of Quran is that it can be recited by a single man with a harsh voice and still sound solemn and relaxing. Maybe that's only my opinion

I'm not Catholic so not sure about this but I think this is usually part of traditional Catholic Mass. I came across this video in a quick search which has some Latin recitation. After flicking through it I found a part that starts around 12:50. The language is supposed to be Latin but the Man reciting seems to be French so it sounds... wrong.

Not to sound rude, but the man singing at 12:50 doesn't even come close to Quran or to the other videos posted here. You can say he was merely reading 

[Rudolph]

Okay, your first post said only "just by a human's voice" and my suggestions met the criteria.

But single male voice only...

I had to think a minute but then the Irish came to mind;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJVE4MzXbE&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Tt9HgPXDo&feature=fvwrel


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVwIZUSbKP4&feature=related


That was just a quick search. The land where a man often could only sing for his supper produced some masterpieces that easily stand toe to toe with Quranic recitation.

[Verisica]

Okay I'm not the kind of person who's stubborn ^^ I'll admit there are relaxing pieces sung by men and alone without a choir. I still however didn't hear anything that could make my heart tremble as much as the Quran does. It's maybe because I do understand Arabic which adds to the spiritual experience, I don't know. My intent of this thread was to know what people feel upon hearing the Quran even without understanding it 
Thanks for not turning this thread into a flaming war

[Rudolph]

I'm not Catholic so not sure about this but I think this is usually part of traditional Catholic Mass. I came across this video in a quick search which has some Latin recitation. After flicking through it I found a part that starts around 12:50. The language is supposed to be Latin but the Man reciting seems to be French so it sounds... wrong.

Oh YEAH! That's the stuff...

Father Frenchy gargles his R's a little there (ok - maybe a LOT) but other than that his Latin pronunciation is Primo.

me rikey!

Pick it up again at 23 minutes in... awesome.

Thanks Manwesulimo. Good find.

[Volgerle]

I still however didn't hear anything that could make my heart tremble as much as the Quran does.

What it all boils down to is that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. To put it more simple: It's all a matter of taste. Some cultural pre-conditioning might play a role though, as always with what we are raised and what forms our enviroment in our formative years leaves its imprint somehow and also influences 'taste'.

I believe we should not do such thing as a 'beauty competition' between religions or whatever ideological-philosophical systems. We can find beauty in a lot of things, especially if we remember (next to the influence of sheer personal taste) the very beauty of diversity in expressional possiblities, be it in arts, music, architecture or any other cultural achievement. There is no 'master standard' to adhere to as creativity is boundless, so is beauty. If we apply certain categories of 'beautiness' to beautiful expression, and thereby actually falling prey to excessive "comparaddiction", then we already diminish it.

[ZiggyMike]

I think what the author meant was... How do you feel when you hear a quaran recitation? Is it as soothing for you as it was for me? For me it really was, I had this consciousness elevation and goose pimples when I heard it.

[Rudolph]

I think what the author meant was... How do you feel when you hear a quaran recitation? Is it as soothing for you as it was for me? For me it really was, I had this consciousness elevation and goose pimples when I heard it.

The first one was more soothing than the second link that Verisica gave. The second one had a reader who did not sing as well and it had the translation, which had parts about evil coming to those who don't respect Allah properly and that was not very relaxing or inspiring at all. This runs counter to Verisica's guess that maybe understanding the Arabic helps in generating that soothing feeling.

Some cultural pre-conditioning might play a role though, as always with what we are raised and what forms our enviroment in our formative years leaves its imprint somehow and also influences 'taste'.
I believe we should not do such thing as a 'beauty competition' between religions or whatever ideological-philosophical systems.

Yes, "cultural pre-conditioning" is most likely at the root of it. Maybe even a certain amount of indoctrination as well.

I do not have a problem with a "beauty contest" - I think the comparisons are a worthy study.
There is research showing that people hooked up to EEGs and other equipment have the same physiological response to music regardless of the culture they were raised in. From Mongolian and Siberian peasants, to Africans to Native Americans to Europeans... all had nearly identical physiological responses to different types of music.

[Rudolph]

I do understand most of them were 'voice only'. But you see, I would be interested in hearing this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSHUwpTezK0) being sung by a man [we all know women have a magical voice even when speaking naturally ). Or this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HswNka-jXU8&feature=related) being sung by a single man himself, and not by a choir. The beauty of Quran is that it can be recited by a single man with a harsh voice and still sound solemn and relaxing. Maybe that's only my opinion
Not to sound rude, but the man singing at 12:50 doesn't even come close to Quran or to the other videos posted here. You can say he was merely reading 

It does not sound "rude" so much as it sounds ridiculously biased.
"Merely reading"?! gimmee a break!

It is an ancient ritual sung in an ancient language based on even more ancient tradition of worship sung in an even more ancient and holy language. It is an awesome sound that inspires millions. It is the solo male voice that you requested and it easily comes at least close to the Koran recitation examples you gave, if not surpassing it. I think it wayyy surpasses the koran reading, imho.

Also note that the old Greek and Roman chants usually begin with the solo male voice you require and that section has a very similar sound to the Koran recitation (because the latter is obviously based on those traditions).

It is not reasonable to heap praise on a rare style that is particular to one culture and eliminate other styles based on such a tightly defined and contrived criteria. 99.99% of the scriptural compositions and readings in other traditions are not naturally constrained in that way so it doesn't make sense to point out the singular qualities of a particular highly constrained style.
Especially when there are plenty of examples (albeit much shorter duration) of nearly identical sound in other traditions and scriptural sources.

[Verisica]

The first one was more soothing than the second link that Verisica gave. The second one had a reader who did not sing as well and it had the translation, which had parts about evil coming to those who don't respect Allah properly and that was not very relaxing or inspiring at all. This runs counter to Verisica's guess that maybe understanding the Arabic helps in generating that soothing feeling.

I didn't say it helps generating the soothing feelings, I meant that it helps in appreciating the spiritual meaning behind the Quran with its exquisite Arabic form which no one up till now has been successful in surpassing it. An Arabic speaker would understand what I'm saying clearly.

Yes, "cultural pre-conditioning" is most likely at the root of it. Maybe even a certain amount of indoctrination as well.

I do not have a problem with a "beauty contest" - I think the comparisons are a worthy study.
There is research showing that people hooked up to EEGs and other equipment have the same physiological response to music regardless of the culture they were raised in. From Mongolian and Siberian peasants, to Africans to Native Americans to Europeans... all had nearly identical physiological responses to different types of music.

I don't believe cultural pre-conditioning is required to live the spiritual feeling of the Quran.
And I can't see why you're insisting on the Quran building up its recitation form from previous cultures. There are endless ways to recite the Quran and this is just one, and I can't see the similarity between the Quran and the videos you posted.

[Rudolph]

I didn't say it helps generating the soothing feelings, I meant that it helps in appreciating the spiritual meaning behind the Quran with its exquisite Arabic form which no one up till now has been successful in surpassing it. An Arabic speaker would understand what I'm saying clearly.

Actually, that's not what you said.
From your OP; "I believe (and I strongly do) that the Quran is the only text that could create this majestic, spiritual, melodious feeling without the aid of music, just by a human's voice."
But yes, an Arabic speaker would likely have been indoctrinated in similar fashion.

I replied that it is NOT the "only" text and/or recitation style that elicits that sort of response... Christian scripture sung in the Old Roman and Greek chant style is nearly indistinguishable from the examples you gave. The most apparent distinguishing element is the difference in language - Arabic sounds a little different.

I don't believe cultural pre-conditioning is required to live the spiritual feeling of the Quran.

No one said it did.

And I can't see why you're insisting on the Quran building up its recitation form from previous cultures. There are endless ways to recite the Quran and this is just one, and I can't see the similarity between the Quran and the videos you posted.

The Koran recitations you linked to were obviously a simple variation of the more ancient Greek and Old Roman chant style. Any objective listener can hear it. Those who express the inability to detect the obvious similarity is either tone deaf or in deep denial, imo.