This article examines the Babylonian Jews’ religious music repertory (liturgical and paraliturgical) in the port city of Bombay (now Mumbai) in western India, based mostly on information gathered from informants in the mid-1980s in Bombay and the United Kingdom. 1 Six pieces from the repertory for religio-social occasions in the annual and life cycles – prayer chants for the Holy Days, songs for Sabbaths and festivals, and a song for the birth of a male child – are performed by community specialists. As the tradition spread from Baghdad to Bombay, it developed aspects of both continuity and change. It then spread to other places, where it thrives today. The examination of religious musical traditions and repertoire begins with an overview of the historical and social context, as well as a look at the surrounding soundscape in the twentieth century.
Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17411910410001092292
