Jewish Music

What Is Jewish Music?				Klezmer is a very popular genre which can be
Jewish music can be studied from many				seen in Hasidic and Ashkenazic Judaism, it is
diversified points of view. Among them historical,				however deeply connected with the Ashkenazi
liturgical and non-liturgical music of the Hebrews				tradition.
dating from the pre-Biblical times (Pharaonic				Around the 15th century, a tradition of secular
Egypt); religious music at the first and second				Jewish music was developed by musicians called
Solomon's Temples; musical activities immediately				kleyzmorim or kleyzmerim. They draw on
following the Exodus; the seemingly impoverished				devotional traditions extending back into Biblical
religious musical activities during the early middle				times, and their musical legacy of klezmer
ages; the emergence of the concept of Jewish				continues to evolve today. The repertoire is
Music in the mid-19th century; its nation-oriented				largely dance songs for weddings and other
sense as coined by the landmark book Jewish				celebrations. Due to the Ashkenazi lineage of this
Music in its Historical Development (1929) by A. Z.				music, the lyrics, terminology and song titles are
Idelsohn (1882-1938) and finally as the art and				typically in Yiddish.
popular music of Israel.				Originally naming the musicians themselves in
Early emergences of Jewish musical themes and				mid-20th Century the word started to identify a
of what may be called "the idea of being Jew" in				musical genre, it is also sometimes referred to as
European music can be first seen in the works of				"Yiddish" music.
Salamone Rossi (1570-1630). Following that they				Sephardi
appear somewhat shaded in the works of the				"Sephardi" literally means Spanish, and designate
grandson of the well known Jewish philosopher				Jews from mainly Spain but also North Africa,
Moses Mendelssohn(1729-1786): Felix Mendelssohn				Greece and Egypt.
(1809-1847).				Following the expulsion of all non-Christians, forced
Fromental Halevy's (1799-1862) opera La Juive				to convert to Christianism or to the exile in 1492,
and its occasional use of some Jewish themes is				the very rich, cultivated and fruitful Jewish culture
opposed to the lack of "anything Jew" in his				existing in Spain has migrated massively into the
almost contemporary fellow composer Jacques				Ottoman Empire formed the main brach of Jews
Offenbach (1819-1880) who was actually Jew and				living currently in Turkey.
grew up in straight Jewish tradition.				Their language besides the Hebrew is called Ladino.
Interestingly the St. Petersburg Society for Jewish				Ladino is a 15th. century of Spanish. Much of their
Music led by the composer-critic Joel Engel				musical repertoire is in that language. The Sephardi
(1868-1927) reports on how they discovered their				music mixes many elements from traditional
Jewish roots. They were inspired by the				Arab, North African, Turkish idioms.
Nationalistic movement in the Russian Music				In medieval Spain, "canciones" being performed at
personified by Rimsky-Korsakov, Cesar Cui and				the royal courts constitued the basis of the
others, and records how set out to the Shtetls				Sephardic music.
and meticulously recorded and transcribed				Spiritual, ceremonial and entertainment songs all
thousands of Yiddish folksongs.				coexists in Sephardic music. Lyrics are generally
Ernst Bloch's (1880-1959) Schelomo for cello and				Hebrew for religious songs and Ladino for others.
orchestra and specially the Sacred Service for				The genre in its spread to North Africa, Turkey,
orchestra, choir and soloists are attempts to				Greece, the Balkans and Egypt assimilated many
create a "Jewish Requiem".				musical elements. Including the North African
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)'s				high-pitched, extended ululations; Balkan rhythms,
Sephardic upbringings and their influences on his				for instance in 9/8 time; and the Turkish maqam
music as they appear in his Second Violin				modes.
Concerto and in many of his songs and choral				Woman voice is often preferred while the
works; cantatas Naomi and Ruth, Queen of Shiba				instruments included the "oud" and "qanun" which
and in the oratorio The Book of Jonah among				are not traditionally Jewish instruments.
others are worth noting as well.				Some popular Sephardic music has been released
Many scholars did not missed the Synagogue				as commercial recordings in the early 20th
motives and melodies borrowed by George				Century. Among the first popular singers of the
Gershwin in his Porgy and Bess. Gershwin				genre were men and included the Turks Jack
biographer Edward Jablonski has claimed that the				Mayesh, Haim Efendi and Yitzhak Algazi. Later, a
melody to "It Ain't Necessarily So" was taken				new generation of singers arose, many of whom
from the Haftarah blessing and others have				were not themselves Sephardic. Gloria Levy,
attributed it to the Torah blessing.				Pasharos Sefardíes and Flory Jagoda.
In Gershwin's some 800 songs, allusions to Jewish				Mizrahi
music have been detected by other observers as				"Mizrahi" means Eastern and refers to Jews of
well. One musicologist detected "an uncanny				Eastern Mediterranean and further to the East.
resemblance" between the folk tune "Havenu				The music also mixes local traditions. Actually a
Shalom Aleichem" and the spiritual "It Take a Long				very "eastern flavored" musical tradition which
Pull to Get There".				encompasses Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq
Most notcied contemporary Israeli composers are				and as east as India.
Chaya Czernowin, Betty Olivera, Tsippi Fleisher,				Middle Eastern percussion instruments share an
Mark Kopytman, Yitzhak Yedid.				important part with the violin in typical Mizrahi
There are also very important works by non-Jew				songs. The music is usually high pitched in general.
composers in the Jewish music. Maurice Ravel				In Israel today Mizrahi music is very popular.
with his Kaddish for violin and piano based on a				A "Muzika Mizrahit" movement emerged in the
traditional liturgical melody and Max Bruch's				1950s. Mostly with with performers from the
famous arrangement of the Yom Kippur prayer				ethnic neighborhoods of Israel: the Yemenite
Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra are among the				"Kerem HaTemanim" neighborhood of Tel Aviv,
best known.				Moroccan, Iranian and Iraqi immigrants - who
Sergei Prokofieff's Overture sur des Themes				played at weddings and other events.
Juives for string quartet, piano and clarinet clearly				Songs were performed in Hebrew but with a
displays its inspirational sources in non-religious				clear Arabic style on traditional Arabic instruments:
Jewish music. The melodic, modal, rhythmical				the "Oud", the "Kanun", and the "darbuka".
materials and the use of the clarinet as a leading				Classic Hebrew literature, including liturgical texts
melodic instrument is a very typical sound in folk				and poems by medieval Hebrew poets constitued
and non-religious Jewish music.				the main source of lyrics.
Dmitri Shostakovich was deeply influenced by				Music in Jewish Liturgy
Jewish music as well. This can be seen in many of				There are a wide collection of, sometimes
his compositions, most notably in the song cycle				conflicting, writings on all aspects of using music in
From Jewish Folk Poetry, and in the Second Piano				the Judaic liturgy. The most agreed-upon facts
Trio. However his most outstanding contribution to				are that the women voice should be excluded
the Jewish culture is without doubt the 13th.				from religious ceremony and the usage of musical
Symphony "Babi Yar".				instruments should be banned in Synagogue
How Many Jewish Musics?				service.
The world-wide dispersion of the Jews following				However some Rabbinical authorities soften those
the Exodus and its three main communities create				straight positions but not regarding the exclusion
the basic kayout of the world-wide Jewish music.				of the female voice. In weddings, for instance, the
Those communities in their geographical dispersion				Talmudic statement "to gladden the groom and
covering all continents and their unique relations				bride with music" can be seen as a way to allow
with local communities have given birth to various				making instrumental and non-religious music at the
kinds of music as well as languages and customs.				weddings but this was probably to be done
Following the exile, according to geographical				outside the Synagogue.
settlements, Jews formed three main branches:				The very influential writings of the Spanish Rabbi,
Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi.				also a physician and philosopher, Maimonides
Roughly they are located as follows: Ashkenazi in				(1135-1204) on one hand opposed harshly against
Eastern and Western Europe, the Balkans, (to a				all form of music not totally at the service of
lesser extend) in Turkey and Greece; Sephardi in				religious worship and on the other hand
Spain, Maroc, North Africa and later in the				recommended instrumental music for its healing
Ottoman Empire (Turkey); Mizrahi in Lebanon,				powers.
Syria, East Asia, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt.				Healing powers and mysterious formul hidden
The music of those communities naturally entered				inside musical scores was commonly sought after
into contact with local traditions and evolved				in music scores during middle-ages, renaissance
accordingly.				and pre-Baroque epochs. Interestingly, in a
Ashkenazi and the Klezmer				recently published fiction novel "Imprimatur" by
"Ashkenazi" refers to Jews who in the 9.th				the musicologist Rita Monaldi and co-author
century started to settle on the banks of the				Francesco Solti the whole plot is built-up around a
Rhine.				composition of Salomone Rossi (1570-1630), an
Today the term "Ashkenazi" designate most of				important Jewish composer.
the European and Western Jews.				Jewish mystical treatises, like the Kabbala,
Besides the Hebrew, Yiddish is commonly used in				particularly since the 13th. century often deal with
speech and songs.				ethical, magical and therapeutic powers of music.
The traditional Ashkenazi music, originated in				The enhancement of the religious experience with
Eastern Europe, moved to all directions from				music, particularly with singing is expressed in
there and created the main branch of Jewish				many places.
Music in North America. It includes the famous				Even though there is no unified position concerning
Klezmer music. Klezmer means "instruments of				music in the Jewish thought a common main ideas
song", from the Hebrew word klei zemer. The				seems to emerge: that the music is the authentic
word come to designate the musician himself and				expression of human feelings in religious and
it is somehow analogous to the European				secular life.
troubadour.

Judaica

Jewish Music