Abraham Caceres

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Abraham de Caceres or Casseres ( bl. 1718–1738) was a Dutch Jewish composer of the late Baroque .

life and work

Interior view of the Portuguese-Israelite Synagogue in Amsterdam, Caceres' place of work. Painting by Emanuel de Witte , circa 1680, from the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Almost nothing is known about Abraham Caceres' life. He probably comes from a Sephardic family, which is believed to have its roots in Cáceres , Spain . A Mose de Caceres, who was one of the founders of the Portuguese community in Amsterdam in the 17th century, may have been his ancestor.

Caceres first appeared in 1718 as the composer of the music for the annual celebration of the Amsterdam Talmudic Brotherhood. He is mainly known as the composer of the Amsterdam Portuguese - Sephardic community between 1720 and 1738. In this role he was the predecessor of the non-Jewish composer Christian Joseph Lidarti , who composed the oratorio Esther in Hebrew as a commissioned work . In 1726 Caceres composed the music for the inauguration of the Honen Dal Synagogue in The Hague . His cantata Le-El Elim for Simchat Torah 1738 is preserved in a posthumous manuscript from the second half of the 18th century. His name appears for the last time in 1743 in a manuscript on the occasion of the replacement of the Chasan post in the synagogue. However, since this is merely the underlay of a new text for part of his cantata from 1738, it is unclear whether this arrangement was made by Caceres himself or was made by a third party.

He set poems by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto to music . He also composed two melodies for the cabbalistic work Hon Ashir , which Rabbi Immanuel Hai Ricchi wrote in 1730–31.

Caceres' compositions reveal influences of Protestant chant as well as contemporary works such as Pergolesi's Stabat mater .

Works and editions of works

Some of his works are kept in the Ets Haim library in Amsterdam.

Modern sheet music editions:

  • Israel Adler (ed.): Ḥishki ḥizki. From the repertoire of the Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam. Text: Isaac Aboab da Fonseca . Israeli Music Publications, Tel Aviv 1968, OCLC 827840680 .
  • Israel Adler (ed.): Le-El Elîm. Cantata by Abraham Casseres (Caceres). From the repertoire of the Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam. Israel Music Publications, Tel Aviv 1974, OCLC 958064594 .

Discography

  • מוסיקה לבית הכנסת בתקופת הברוק/ Synagogal music in the Baroque: Italy, Amsterdam, southern France (= Anthology of music traditions in Israel ) (Jerusalem:מרכז לחקר המוסיקה היהודית, האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים/ Jewish Music Research Center, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1991. Jewish Music Research Center AMTI CD 9101). Contains two works by Caceres performed by The Cameran Singers and an ad hoc instrumental ensemble conducted by Avner Itai : Ḥishḳi ḥizḳi (or Hishqî hizqî ), and Hamasiaḥ ilemim (as ha-Mesiaḥ ilmim or Ham-mesîah illemîm ).
  • מוסיקה לבית הכנסת בתקופת הבארוק. יונה בין חגוי סלע/ Synagogal music in the Baroque: Dove in the clefts of the rock (= Anthology of music traditions in Israel 8) ([Yerushalayim]:האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים, המרכז לחקר המוסיקה היהודית/ ha-Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim, ha-Merkaz le-ḥeḳer ha-musiḳah ha-Yehudit, 1994). Contains two works by Caceres performed by various soloists, an ad hoc instrumental ensemble, The Israel National Choir Rinat , and The Keshet Baroque Orchestra , conducted by Avner Itai: Ḥishḳi ḥizḳi ( Ḥishqi ḥizqi ) and Le-El elim .
  • Music of European Jews, 1550-1800 ([Grinnell, Iowa?]: [Grinnell Collegium?], [2003]). Contains two works by Caceres performed by the Grinnell Collegium , directed by Oleg Timofeyev : Le-El elim (as Le-el elim ), and Ḥishḳi ḥizḳi (as Hishki hizki ).
  • Jewish baroque music (Musicmedia, © 2008. Concerto CD 2009. EAN 8012665200918. UPC 898428002221). Contains three works by Caceres performed by the Ensemble Salomone Rossi : Ḥishḳi ḥizḳi (as Hiski Hizki ), Hamesiaḥ ilemim (as Hamesiah ), and Le-El elim (as Le El Elim ).
  • Musiques juives baroques: Venise, Mantoue, Amsterdam (1623–1774): hommage à Israel Adler (= Collection Patrimoines musicaux des juifs de France 10) (Paris, France: Fondation du Judaïsme Français, [2011]. Buda Musique 860212. EAN 3341348602127 ). Includes two works by Caceres performed by Ensemble Texto , conducted by David Klein: Le-El elim (as Le'el elim ), and Ḥishḳi ḥizḳi (as Ḥishki ḥizki ).

literature

Web links

Audio samples:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Joseph Jacobs, George Alexander Kohut, Gotthard Deutsch, A. Rhine:  Caceres. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Volume 3, Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906, pp.  480-482 .
  2. ↑ David Nuñes Torres, [Meyer] Kayserling: On the literature of the Spanish-Portuguese Jews. In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism . 13, 1864, H. 8, pp. 317-320 ( JSTOR 44383498 ).
  3. ↑ a b c d Caceres (Casseres), Abraham , Encyclopaedia Judaica , online at jewishvirtuallibrary.org, accessed June 17, 2020.
  4. ^ JCH Blom, RG Fuks-Mansfeld, Ivo Schöffer: The history of the Jews in the Netherlands. The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2002 ( limited preview in Google book search; "In the first half of the eighteenth century Abraham Caceres stood out as the most important composer of the community").
  5. ^ Alfred Sendrey: The music of the Jews in the Diaspora (up to 1800). T. Yoseloff, 1971, p. 483 ( limited preview in the Google book search; "Singing and music were essential parts of this celebration, and with the years, the musical part of the feast assumed such ... The two regular composers- in-residence of the Amsterdam Sephardim were Abraham Caceres, who was Jewish, and Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti, who was a Gentile ").
  6. ^ Israel Adler: Musical life and traditions of the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam in the 18th century. Magnes Press, Jerusalem 1974, p. 44 u. 80.
  7. ^ Israel Adler: A Competition for the Office of Hazzan in the "Great" Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam in the 18th Century. In: Journal of Synagoge Music. Volume 38, Fall 2013, ISSN  0449-5128 , pp. 30–33 ( online ; PDF; 5.7 MB).
  8. ^ Alfred Sendrey: The music of the Jews in the Diaspora (up to 1800). T. Yoseloff, 1971, p. 388 ("... Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, who lived in Amsterdam from 1736 to 1743, wrote the poems and Abraham Caceres the music.").
  9. ^ Israel Adler: Musical life and traditions of the Portuguese jewish community of Amsterdam in the XVIIIth century. In: Journal of synagogue music: 5 - 3 Cantors Assembly of America - 1974, pp. 32–59, here pp. 40–46 ( digitizedhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3DCantorsAssemblyJournalOfSynagogueMusic_698%2Fv5n3~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3Dn31~ double-sided%3D~LT%3D~PUR%3D ; "In the texts of poems composed for this occasion by the Amsterdam rabbis Isaac Aboab da Fonseca see note ... later set to music by Abraham Caceres, also appears in this important musical manuscript, on fol. 15b-16a, ... ").
  10. ^ Anton Molenaar: The Music of the Amsterdam Sephardim: A Musicological Survey. In: Shofar. Vol. 18, 2000, No. 4, Special Issue: Jewish Music (SUMMER 2000), pp. 26-47, JSTOR 42943106 .
  11. ^ Peter Gradenwitz: literature and music in a sociable circle. 1991, p. 284 ("The Etz-Chajim Library keeps a number of compositions that were performed in church services and at festivals of the Jewish year as well as at family celebrations, including music by Abraham Casseres (Caceres),").
  12. ↑ Ariel Toaff, Simon Schwarzfuchs, Elliott S. Horowitz: The Mediterranean and the Jews: Society, culture, and economy in early modern times . 2002 ("Firstly, there are two melodies set to two piyyutim (liturgical poems) for the circumcision ceremony by Ricchi, notated at his request by the renowned Jewish composer from Amsterdam, Abraham Caceres, and published in ...").
personal data
SURNAME Caceres, Abraham
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Casseres, Abraham; Cáceres, Avraham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch late baroque composer
DATE OF BIRTH before 1718
DATE OF DEATH after 1738