What is Jewish music?
Jewish music can be studied from many different 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 temple of Solomon; musical activities immediately after the Exodus; the apparently impoverished religious musical activities during the early Middle Ages; the appearance of the concept of Jewish music in the middle of the XIX century; their sense of national orientation 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 be seen for the first time in the works of Salamone Rossi (1570-1630). Below, they appear somewhat shaded in the works of the grandson of the well-known Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786): Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
Fromental Halevy’s Opera (1799-1862) The Jewish and his occasional use of some Jewish themes runs counter to the lack of “nothing Jewish” in his fellow near-contemporary composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), who was actually Jewish and grew up in the pure Jewish tradition.
Interestingly, the St. Petersburg Jewish Music Society led by composer and critic Joel Engel (1868-1927) reports on how they discovered their Jewish roots. They were inspired by the nationalist movement in Russian music personified by Rimsky-Korsakov, Cesar Cui and others, and it records how they settled in the Shtetls and meticulously recorded and transcribed thousands of Yiddish folk songs.
Ernst Bloch (1880-1959) Schelomo for cello and orchestra and especially the Sacred service for orchestra, choir and soloists they are attempts to create a “Jewish Requiem”.
The Sephardic education of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) and his 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, Shiba queen and in the oratory The Book of Jonah among others, they are also noteworthy.
Many scholars did not overlook the synagogue motifs and melodies lent by George Gershwin in his Porgy and Bess. Gershwin’s biographer Edward Jablonski has claimed that the melody of “Not necessarily so“It was taken from the blessing of the Haftara and others have attributed it to the blessing of the Torah.
In Gershwin’s 800 songs, other observers have also detected allusions to Jewish music. A musicologist detected “an uncanny resemblance” between the popular melody “Havenu Shalom Aleichem“and the spiritual”It takes a long pull to get there“.
The best known 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 Kadish 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.
Sergei Prokofieff’s Overture on Jewish Subjects for string quartet, piano and clarinet clearly shows his 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 of Jewish folk music and not religious.
Dmitri Shostakovich was also deeply influenced by Jewish music. This can be seen in many of his compositions, especially in the song cycle. From Jewish popular poetry, and in the Second piano trio. However, his most outstanding contribution to Jewish culture is undoubtedly the 13. Symphony “Babi Yar“.
How many Jewish musics?
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 geographic dispersion that cover all continents and their unique relationships with local communities have given rise 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, Sephardic and Mizrahi.
They are roughly located as follows: Ashkenazi in Eastern and Western Europe, the Balkans (to a lesser extent) in Turkey and Greece; Sephardic in Spain, Morocco, North Africa and later in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey); Mizrahi in Lebanon, Syria, East Asia, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt.
The music of these 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.
Besides Hebrew, Yiddish is commonly used in speeches and songs.
Traditional Ashkenazi music, originating in Eastern Europe, spread 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 in some way is analogous to the European troubadour.
Klezmer is a very popular genre that can be seen in Hasidic and Ashkenazi Judaism, yet 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 are based 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 musical genre, sometimes also referred to as “Yiddish” music.
Sephardic
“Sephardic” literally means Spanish and designates Jews mainly from Spain, but also from North Africa, Greece and Egypt.
After the expulsion of all non-Christians, forced to convert to Christianity or exile in 1492, the very rich, cultivated and fruitful Jewish culture existing in Spain has massively emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, forming the main branch of Jews currently living in Turkey. .
Their language in addition to Hebrew is called Ladino. Ladino is a fifteenth. century of Spanish. Much of his musical repertoire is in that language. Sephardic music mixes many elements of traditional Arabic, North African and Turkish idioms.
In medieval Spain, the “songs” that were performed in the royal courts formed the basis of Sephardic music.
Spiritual, ceremonial and entertaining songs coexist in Sephardic music. The lyrics are generally Hebrew for religious songs and Ladino for others.
The genre in its diffusion through North Africa, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Egypt assimilated many musical elements. Including the prolonged and high-pitched howlers of North Africa; Balkan rhythms, for example in time of 9/8; and the Turkish maqam modes.
The female voice is often preferred, while the instruments included the “oud” and “qanun”, which are not traditionally Jewish instruments.
Some popular Sephardic music was released as commercial recordings in the early 20th century. Among the early folk singers of the genre were men and included Turks Jack Mayesh, Haim Efendi, and Yitzhak Algazi. Later, a new generation of singers emerged, many of whom were not Sephardic. Gloria Levy, Sephardic Pasharos and Flory Jagoda.
Mizrahi
“Mizrahi” means oriental 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 that spans Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and as far east as India.
The percussion instruments of the Middle East share an important part with the violin in typical Mizrahi songs. The music is usually high pitched in general.
In Israel today Mizrahi music is very popular.
In the 1950s a “Muzika Mizrahit” movement emerged. Especially with artists from the ethnic neighborhoods of Israel: the Yemeni neighborhood “Kerem HaTemanim” of Tel Aviv, 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, was the main source of letters.
Music in the Jewish liturgy
There is a vast collection of writings, sometimes contradictory, on all aspects of the use of music in the Jewish liturgy. The most widely agreed facts are that the voice of women should be excluded from the religious ceremony and the use of musical instruments should be prohibited in the synagogue service.
However, some rabbinical authorities soften these upright positions, but not with respect to the exclusion of the female voice. At weddings, for example, the Talmudic statement “to cheer the bride and groom with music” can be seen as a way of allowing instrumental and non-religious music to be made at weddings, but this would probably be done outside the synagogue.
The very influential writings of the Spanish rabbi, also a doctor and philosopher, Maimonides (1135-1204), on the one hand, were strongly opposed to any form of music that was not totally at the service of religious worship and, on the other hand, they recommended the instrumental music for your healing. powers.
The healing powers and mysterious formulas hidden within musical scores were commonly sought after in scores during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and pre-Baroque times. Interestingly, in a recently published fiction novel “Imprimatur“By 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 since the 13th. The century often deals with the ethical, magical, and therapeutic powers of music. The enhancement of religious experience with music, particularly with song, is expressed in many places.
Although there is no unified position on music in Jewish thought, a common main idea seems to emerge: that music is the authentic expression of human sentiments in religious and secular life.