jewish music
What is Jewish music?
Jewish music can be studied from many diversified points of view. Among them the historical, liturgical and non-liturgical music of the Hebrews dating from pre-biblical times (Pharaonic Egypt); religious music in the first and second temples of Solomon; musical activities immediately after the Exodus; religious musical activities apparently impoverished during the High Middle Ages; the emergence of the concept of Jewish Music in the mid-19th century; its nation-oriented meaning as coined by the historical book Jewish music in its historical development (1929) by AZ Idelsohn (1882-1938) and finally as the art and popular music of Israel.
The first appearances of Jewish musical themes and of what might be called “the idea of being Jewish” in European music can first be seen in the works of Salamone Rossi (1570-1630). Below are somewhat shaded in the works of the grandson of the well-known Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786): Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
Opera by Fromental Halevy (1799-1862) The Jewish and his occasional use of some Jewish themes belies the lack of “something Jewish” in his near-contemporary composer colleague Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), who was actually Jewish and grew up in the purely Jewish tradition.
Interestingly, the Saint Petersburg Jewish Music Society headed by composer and critic Joel Engel (1868-1927) reports on how they discovered their Jewish roots. Inspired by the nationalist movement in Russian music epitomized by Rimsky-Korsakov, Cesar Cui, and others, they record how they exposed the Shtetls and meticulously recorded and transcribed thousands of popular Yiddish songs.
Ernst Bloch (1880-1959) esquelomo for cello and orchestra and especially the sacred service for orchestra, chorus and soloists are attempts to create a “Jewish Requiem”.
The Sephardic upbringing of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) and its influences on his music as they appear in his Second violin concerto and in many of his songs and choral works; cantatas Naomi and Ruth, queen of shiba and in the oratory Jonah’s book among others are worth mentioning as well.
Many scholars did not miss the synagogue motifs and melodies borrowed from George Gershwin in his Porgy and Bess. Gershwin biographer Edward Jablonski has claimed that the tune of “It’s not necessarily so“It was taken from the blessing of the Haftarah and others have attributed it to the blessing of the Torah.
In Gershwin’s 800 or so songs, other observers have also detected allusions to Jewish music. A musicologist detected “an uncanny resemblance” between the popular tune “Havenu Shalom Aleichem“and the spiritual”It takes a long pull to get there“.
The most outstanding contemporary Israeli composers are Chaya Czernowin, Betty Olivera, Tsippi Fleisher, Mark Kopytman, Yitzhak Yedid.
There are also very important works by non-Jewish composers in Jewish music. Maurice Ravel with his kaddish for violin and piano based on a traditional liturgical melody and Max Bruch’s famous arrangement of the Yom Kippur prayer kol nidrei for cello and orchestra are among the best known.
by Sergei Prokofieff Overture to Jewish themes for string quartet, piano and clarinet clearly shows its sources of inspiration in non-religious Jewish music. The melodic, modal, rhythmic materials and the use of the clarinet as the main melodic instrument is a very typical sound in popular and non-religious Jewish music.
Dmitri Shostakovich was also deeply influenced by Jewish music. This can be seen in many of his compositions, especially the song cycle. From Jewish folk poetryand in the second piano trio. But his most outstanding contribution to Jewish culture is undoubtedly the 13 Symphony “Babi Yar“.
How many Jewish songs?
The worldwide dispersal of the Jews after the Exodus and their three main communities create the basic kayout of world Jewish music. Those communities in their geographical dispersion covering all continents and their unique relationships with local communities have given birth to various types of music, as well as languages and customs.
After the exile, according to the geographical settlements, the Jews formed three main branches: Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi.
They are roughly located as follows: Ashkenazi in Eastern and Western Europe, the Balkans (to a lesser extent) in Turkey and Greece; Sephardim in Spain, Morocco, North Africa and later in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey); Mizrahi in Lebanon, Syria, East Asia, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt.
The music of those communities naturally came into contact with local traditions and evolved accordingly.
Ashkenazi and the Klezmer
“Ashkenazi” refers to the Jews who began to settle on the banks of the Rhine in the 9th century.
Today the term “Ashkenazi” designates the majority of European and Western Jews.
In addition to Hebrew, Yiddish is commonly used in speech and song.
Traditional Ashkenazi music, originating in Eastern Europe, moved in all directions from there and created the main branch of Jewish music in North America. Includes famous Klezmer music. Klezmer means “singing instruments”, from the Hebrew word klei zemer. The word comes to designate the musician himself and is somewhat analogous to the European troubadour.
Klezmer is a very popular genre that can be seen in Hasidic and Ashkenazi Judaism, however it is deeply connected to the Ashkenazi tradition.
Around the 15th century, musicians called kleyzmorim or kleyzmerim developed a tradition of secular Jewish music. They draw on devotional traditions dating back to Biblical times, and their klezmer musical legacy continues to evolve today. The repertoire is largely dance songs for weddings and other celebrations. Due to the Ashkenazi lineage of this music, the lyrics, terminology, and song titles are often in Yiddish.
Originally naming the musicians themselves in the mid-20th century, the word began to identify a genre of music, sometimes also referred to as “Yiddish” music.
Sephardic
“Sephardic” literally means Spanish, and designates Jews primarily from Spain but also from North Africa, Greece, and Egypt.
After the expulsion of all non-Christians, forced to convert to Christianity or into exile in 1492, the extremely rich, cultivated and fertile Jewish culture existing in Spain has massively emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, forming the main branch of Jews currently living in Turkey. .
Their language besides Hebrew is called Ladino. Ladino is a 15. century Spanish. Much of his musical repertoire is in that language. Sephardic music mixes many elements from the traditional Arabic, North African and Turkish languages.
In medieval Spain, the songs performed in the royal courts formed the basis of Sephardic music.
Spiritual, ceremonial and entertainment songs coexist in Sephardic music. The lyrics are generally Hebrew for religious songs and Ladino for others.
The genre in its expansion through North Africa, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Egypt assimilated many musical elements. Including the long, high-pitched howls of North Africa; Balkan rhythms, for example in 9/8 time; and the Turkish maqam modes.
The female voice is often preferred, while instruments include the “oud” and “qanun”, which are not traditionally Jewish instruments.
Some Sephardic popular music has been released as commercial recordings in the early 20th century. Among the first popular singers of the genre were men and included the Turks Jack Mayesh, Haim Efendi and Yitzhak Algazi. Subsequently, a new generation of singers arose, many of whom were not Sephardim. Gloria Levy, Sephardic Pasharos and Flory Jagoda.
Mizrahi
“Mizrahi” means eastern and refers to the Jews of the eastern Mediterranean and further east.
The music also mixes local traditions. Actually a very “oriental flavor” musical tradition spanning Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and as far east as India.
Middle Eastern percussion instruments share an important role with the violin in typical Mizrahi songs. The music is usually high pitched in general.
In Israel today Mizrahi music is very popular.
A “Muzika Mizrahit” movement emerged in the 1950s. Mostly with artists from Israel’s ethnic neighborhoods: Tel Aviv’s “Kerem HaTemanim” Yemeni neighborhood, Moroccan, Iranian and Iraqi immigrants, who played at weddings and other events .
The songs were performed in Hebrew but with a clear Arabic style on traditional Arabic instruments: the “Oud”, the “Kanun” and the “darbuka”.
Classical Hebrew literature, including liturgical texts and poems by medieval Hebrew poets, constituted the main source of lyrics.
Music in the Jewish liturgy
There is a wide collection of writings, sometimes contradictory, on all aspects of the use of music in Judaic liturgy. The most agreed facts are that the voice of the woman must be excluded from the religious ceremony and the use of musical instruments must be prohibited in the service of the Synagogue.
However, some rabbinical authorities soften these straight positions but not in terms of the exclusion of the female voice. At weddings, for example, the Talmudic statement “to bring joy to the bride and groom with music” can be seen as allowing the creation of non-religious, instrumental music at weddings, but this was probably done outside of the synagogue.
The highly influential writings of the Spanish rabbi, also a physician and philosopher, Maimonides (1135-1204) on the one hand strongly opposed all forms of music that were not totally at the service of religious worship and on the other hand recommended instrumental music for healing . powers.
The healing powers and mysterious formula hidden within musical scores were commonly sought after in musical scores during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and pre-Baroque eras. Interestingly, in a recently published fictional novel “ImprimaturBy musicologist Rita Monaldi and co-author Francesco Solti, the entire plot revolves around a composition by Salomone Rossi (1570-1630), an important Jewish composer.
Jewish mystical treatises, such as the Kabbalah, particularly from the 13th century often deal with the ethical, magical, and therapeutic powers of music. The enhancement of the religious experience with music, particularly with singing, is expressed in many places.
Although there is no unified position regarding music in Jewish thought, a common central idea seems to emerge: that music is the authentic expression of human feelings in religious and secular life.