Jewish music

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Jewish music spans a period of around 3000 years, from the biblical period through the diaspora and the founding of the state of Israel to the present day. It includes both religious and secular music. This article mainly deals with religious music; more information on secular Jewish music can be found under Klezmer . The texts of religious Jewish music are for the most part in Hebrew , and to a lesser extent in Aramaic (see Kaddish and Kol Nidre ); those of secular music, on the other hand, mostly in the Jewish colloquial language ( Ladino or Yiddish ) or in the national language . - The structure of this article essentially follows the template of the Encyclopaedia Judaica .

introduction

In his opening speech at the first international congress of Jewish music in Paris in 1957, Curt Sachs defined Jewish music as follows: "Jewish music is the music that was made by Jews for Jews as Jews". In such a functional definition, the areas of description, analysis and the conclusions to be drawn from them are left open.

As with all other nations and cultures, Jewish music is also determined by its origin and modified by historical characteristics. In the origin, the same principles apply that have worked for all descendants of the Middle Eastern civilizations . The music itself is created, performed and passed on through oral transmission . The practice is within the framework of religious and literary traditions, which in turn are laid down in writing.

The historical factor in Jewish music is the diaspora . Through their dispersion, the Jews came into contact with a variety of regional musical styles, practices, and ideas. Some of them corresponded more to their own tradition (e.g. in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean), others were fundamentally different (e.g. in Europe north of the Alps and the Pyrenees).

The question of musical notation clarifies the specifically Jewish problem. On the one hand, Judaism never developed a notation system in the European sense (one tone = one symbol). European Judaism, too, adopted the notation system of the surrounding culture only in some communities during certain periods and only for certain areas of musical activity. On the other hand, the Teamim serve worldwide as indicators for certain melodic motifs for determining the cantillation of the biblical texts. The melodic content of this cantillation, however, differs from place to place and is only transmitted orally. The syntactic and grammatical functions, which are also determined by the Teamim, are at least as old as the melodic traditions and are in turn defined in written doctrines ( halacha ) and discussions.

Biblical period

A shofar in Yemeni style.

The Bible is the most important and richest source of knowledge about musical life in ancient Israel up to the return from Babylonian exile . It is supplemented by several additional sources: archaeological finds of musical instruments and depictions of musical scenes, comparable material from neighboring cultures and post-biblical sources such as the writings of Philo , Flavius ​​Josephus , the Apocrypha and the Mishnah . However, the Bible with its mixture of partly mythological historiography, poetry and religious-political propaganda is now viewed very skeptically by modern research as a historical source (see also Historical Exodus Research ). The biblical statements on music practice partly contradict the archaeological findings. A reconstruction of the music from that time is not possible.

It is hardly possible to classify the biblical testimonies about music in chronological order, since certain events are often assigned to an earlier period in a relatively late source. An example of this is the chronicler's account of King David's setting up of temple music . Numerous details, especially the prominent status of the Levitical singers, which is attributed to King David, are probably projected back from the time of the chronicler in order to strengthen the Levitical position.

The mythical dimension of music appears in the biblical tradition only in the story of Jubal , "the father of all Kinnor and Ugaw players" ( Gen 4,21  EU , for the names of the instruments see below). Most of the biblical examples of mentioning music concern their cultic meaning. In reports about the tabernacle in the Sinai desert, the music is completely absent. The "bells" ( Pa'amon , perhaps also "rattles") on the high priest's robe did not have a musical but an apotropaic function. The trumpets were mainly used to guide the masses, as well as to "remember" God during sacrifices and in times of war ( Num 10.1-10  EU ). The report on David moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, accompanied by instrumental playing, is related to a spontaneous folk festival and does not describe an established ritual. Even the description of the dedication of Solomon's temple in the 1st Book of Kings does not contain explicit musical descriptions. Trumpets are only mentioned when the temple service was reestablished in the time of King Joasch ( 2 Kings 12.14  EU ).

In the second book of the chronicle , the musical element appears in one fell swoop as the most important part of the temple service, with detailed, repeated lists and genealogies of the Levitic singers and instrumentalists, planned by David and arranged by Solomon. Since the lists of returnees from Babylonian exile in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah contain some families of temple singers, it can be assumed that at least towards the end of the Solomonic temple there was already a certain organized cultic music in Jerusalem . On the other hand, it can be assumed that music played only a very minor role in the first temple and was cultivated much more in the shrines outside Jerusalem. This results from the mention of the "Prophet Orchestra " in Gibea ( 1 Sam 10.5  EU ) and the angry speeches of the prophet Amos against the external pomp in a cult place of the northern kingdom ( Am 5.23  EU ).

After returning from Babylon, music, as sacred art and as an artistic sacred act, was given an important place in the organization of temple service . The Psalm 137 By the rivers of Babylon describes not an abstract personification but Levitical singers who had to sing the praises of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings in the service of their conquerors. Court and temple orchestras in Mesopotamia became the prototype of the temple music that was established in Jerusalem after the return of the Jews.

List of instruments mentioned in the Bible

The following instruments are mentioned in the Bible (alphabetically):

  1. Asor , see below at Newel .
  2. Halil , wind instrument with two pipes, probably a melody pipe and a humming pipe. The instrument mouthpiece was probably like the clarinet with a single reed. The instrument was used in joy and mourning ceremonies.
  3. Hazozra , brass instrument , made of precious metal, usually made of silver. It was used by priests in sacrificial and coronation ceremonies.
  4. Kaitros / Katros , see below under Daniel instruments .
  5. Keren , Aramaic Karna , see below at Shofar .
  6. Kinnor . A string instrument from the lyres family. The Canaanite type of instrument, which was certainly also used by the Israelites, is asymmetrical. The instrument probably had an average height of 50 to 60 cm and its pitch was in the old area, as finds from Egypt show (where the shape and the name of the instrument were adopted from the neighboring Semites). Kinnor became the main instrument in the Second Temple Orchestra. It was played by King David and was therefore highly regarded by the Levites. According to Flavius ​​Josephus, it had ten strings and was played with a plectrum .
  7. Maschrokita , see below under Daniel instruments .
  8. Mena'an'im , a rattle instrument that is mentioned only once in the description of the transport of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (2 Book Samuel 6.5) and elsewhere (1 Book of Chronicles 13.8) under the name Meziltayim (see below) appears. After the 7th century BC, these rattles disappeared and were replaced by the newly invented metal bell (see Pa'amon below ).
  9. Meziltayim, Zilzalim, Mezillot . The first two forms probably stand for cymbals . The cymbals found in excavations were plate-shaped and made of bronze, with an average diameter of 12 cm. They were used by the Levites in temple service. Mezillot are mentioned in Zechariah 14, 20 as bells that are hung around horses. They probably correspond to the metal bells that can be seen on Assyrian reliefs.
  10. Minnim , an unclear term, probably a stringed instrument.
  11. Newel , a kind of lyre, perhaps originally from Asia Minor , larger than the related Kinnor and therefore with a deeper tone. According to Flavius ​​Josephus, it had 12 strings and was plucked with the fingers. It was the second most important instrument in the temple orchestra. According to the Mishnah, the strings were made of sheep intestines. Newel asor , or Asor for short, was probably a smaller form of Newel with only ten strings.
  12. Pa'amon are mentioned in Exodus and by Flavius ​​Josephus. They belonged to the clothing of the high priest, the meaning is bell . The bells found in Palestine are small, made of bronze and have an iron clapper.
  13. Psanterin and Sabchal , see below under Daniel instruments .
  14. Shalishim , only mentioned in 1st book Samuel 18, 6-7, as an instrument played by women. By analogy with a Ugaritic word for metal, it could be cymbals.
  15. Shofar , see there.
  16. Sumponia , see below under Daniel Instruments .
  17. Tof , a round frame drum , is associated with dance and is often played by women.
  18. Ugaw , still unclear, not a wind instrument according to medieval exegesis , but there are still some arguments in favor of a longitudinal flute. Or it is the harp, which like the lute ( Minnim ?) Never belonged to the Canaanite and Israelite instruments.
  19. Daniel instruments . Daniel 3: 5 describes in Aramaic an orchestra at the court of the Babylonian king. It contains the following instruments: Karna, Maschrokita, Kaitros, Sabbcha, Psanterin, Sumponia and "all kinds of instruments". Karna is a horn, and Kaitros, Sabbcha and Psanterin are aramaised forms of the Greek words Kithara , Sambyke and Psalterion (for the latter two see harp ). Maschrokita is a whistling instrument, and sumponia corresponds to the Greek term symphony , literally "harmony". It is very likely that this term does not mean a musical instrument at all, but describes the sounding together of the aforementioned instruments, which would be reinforced by the addition of all kinds of instruments .

The origin of synagogue chant

The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 required a complete reorientation in the religious, liturgical and spiritual realms. The abolition of the temple service meant an abrupt end to the instrumental music performed by Levites. With a few exceptions, the ban on the use of instruments in the synagogue has survived to the present day. Since the musical traditions of the Levites and their professional rules were only passed on orally, no traces of it have been preserved. Synagogal singing was therefore a new beginning in every respect - especially with regard to the spiritual basis. The prayer took over from now on the role of sacrificial service to forgiveness and grace to attain God. It had to be able to express a wide range of human emotions: joy, gratitude, and praise, as well as supplication, awareness of sin, and contrition.

In the first centuries AD there was a great stylistic unity in the recitation of the Psalms and other biblical books in the various Jewish communities in the Middle East . The same style of recitation is found in the oldest traditions of the Catholic , Orthodox, and Syrian churches. Since close contact between the Christian faiths only existed at a very early point in time, the song structures must have been adopted by Christianity together with the Holy Scriptures themselves.

The Pentateuch and excerpts from the prophets are recited regularly in synagogue services , while the other biblical books are reserved for certain feast days . It is characteristic of the synagogue that the biblical text is never read or declaimed, but is always provided with musical accents ( teamim ) and cadences . The church father Jerome testified to this practice around the year 400 with the words: decantant divina mandata : "They (the Jews) sing the divine commandments".

In the Talmudic era, musical accents were passed on exclusively orally, through the practice of chironomy : hand and finger movements to display the various cadences. Chironomy had already been practiced by singers in ancient Egypt and was later adopted by the Byzantines . Until recently this tradition was cultivated in Italy and Yemen . In the second half of the first Christian millennium, the Masoretes gradually introduced written accents. Some congregations, especially those of Yemeni and Bukharian origin, still do without written instructions for reading the Bible text and present the Bible in a very simple way, using only psalmody cadences. The limitation of the biblical audition to a small range of notes and limited decorations is intentional and serves to sharpen the perception of the word. Curt Sachs calls this type of music logological : it arises from the word and serves the word.

Teamim and Neumen

On the edge of some Dead Sea Scrolls ( Isaiah manuscript and Habakkuk Pescher ) there are unusual characters that differ from the team in the Masoretic text . There are no parallels to this in Roman, Syrian and Armenian neumes , but there are certain “Paleo-Byzantine” neumes found in early Byzantine and Old Church Slavonic manuscripts. These neumes belong to the Kontakia notation , which was used in the 5th to 7th centuries to write the Byzantine hymn type Kontakion (plural Kontakia) (see also Romanos Melodos ). The influence of Syrian and Hebrew poetry on the Kontakia is well known. The new notation itself was still used in Byzantium in the 9th and 10th centuries, and its original forms can also be found in the oldest Church Slavonic manuscripts.

Music in the Medieval Diaspora

The Jewish poet Susskind von Trimberg on the right in the picture with a Jew hat ( Codex Manesse , 14th century).

The beginning of a new period in Jewish music can be placed around the middle of the 10th century. By this point the accent system of the biblical text was complete. Music became a subject of philosophical contemplation, and poetry was given a new character with the introduction of musical meter and the aesthetic values ​​associated with it. At the same time, important political changes occurred. The Islamic expansion separated the local Jewish communities of the Babylonian academies. As dhimmis, the Jews had to integrate themselves into the prevailing culture and had to give up their administrative autonomy. Religious research, teaching and culture could develop in very different ways, depending on the respective caliph. Since traditional writing production in antiquity continued for about two centuries during the Islamic expansion, the humanities did not immediately experience the break that led the rest of Europe (end of papyrus deliveries) into the Middle Ages. With posts and special rights, for example, the Jews in Spain were played off against other dhimmis (the Christians). This politically generated contrast triggered the modern anti-Semitism that began with the Reconquista.

The term Chasan goes back to the time of the Roman Empire and initially referred to the representative of the Archisynagogus , i.e. H. the head of a Jewish community. This was an honorable function: in the Codex Theodosianus of 438 its owners were exempt from taxes, and Pope Gregory the Great confirmed this provision in 600. In the purely musical area, in the sense of a prayer , "Chasan" has been around since the 9th century used. The function of prayer leader in Jewish worship was passed on from father to son. At that time a Khazan also had to be able to perform pijjutim , i.e. H. Hymns to write and set to music. The close connection between Chasanut , i.e. H. the art of prayer, and Pijjutim appears in some letters that have been preserved from the Genisa in Cairo . Since the congregations in medieval Egypt always wanted to hear new hymns, this led to the prayer leaders exchanging their piyyutim, secretly copying them from colleagues and conducting international correspondence that reached as far as Marseille .

The term musika did not appear in Hebrew until the 10th century, in the Arabicized form mūsīkī . It referred to the concept of the science of music or music theory . This branch of science is considered the fourth in the classical quadrivium . It is described by Dunasch ibn Tamim (890 - approx. 956), a Jewish linguist and astronomer from Kairouan , as "the most excellent and last of the propaedeutic disciplines".

In the middle of the 10th century, Dunasch ben Labrat , a student of Saadia Gaon , introduced musical meter into Hebrew poetry. The Arabic poets had already adopted the metrics of the ancient Greeks , which are based on temporally fixed syllable lengths, in the 8th century, but in contrast to Arabic , the Hebrew language knows no difference between short and long vowels . The singers had to insert a certain number of syllables between the different word accents.

Even in the days of the Roman Empire , Jews were the minstrels ( ludarii connected), where musicians could join any origin. Since the jugglers and vagabonds represented a social fringe group in any case , their Jewish origin was no obstacle to serve as court musician to an Islamic caliph or emir , a Christian king , bishop or knight . These Jewish musicians wrote their songs in the local language. Susskind von Trimberg , a 13th century poet , was probably staying at the court of the Bishop of Würzburg .

Hikes and mixing of musical styles (around 1500-1800)

Sephardic Jews in the Orient and Occident

In 1492 the Sephardim were expelled from Spain , six years later from Portugal . Many of them emigrated under the rule of the Ottoman Empire . Safed became a center of mystical movement ( Kabbalah ) under the spiritual guidance of Isaac Luria . With the hymn Lecha dodi (“Go, my friend, to meet the bride”), which is framed by six introductory psalms - corresponding to the six working days - and two concluding psalms, the Kabbalists in Safed laid down the rite of Friday evening worship ( Kabbalat Shabbat ) , which is still held today in Jewish communities around the world.

Although the Sephardic Jews held onto their language, Ladino , a slightly modified variant of Castilian , even after their expulsion , they took on numerous influences from oriental music, especially Turkish music . Israel Najara (1555–1628), a Jewish poet from Damascus , appears to have been the first to set Hebrew poems to music according to the Makam system. A Makam (Turkish) or Maqam (Arabic) corresponds roughly to the Western mode and is a system of scales as well as related rules of composition and improvisation , whereby each Makam is assigned a certain character trait. In the Sephardic tradition, special maqamat developed : a solemn maqam for Torah readings , a happy one for Simchat Torah and weddings, a sad one for funerals and Tischa beAv, and a special one for circumcisions , to express filial affection. The Aleppo Jewish community was the one that most closely observed the rules of the Makam system. After the death of I. Najara, the contribution of the Jewish musicians also increased in the field of folk music : the Turkish traveler Evliya Tschelebi describes a parade of guilds in 1638 when 300 Jewish musicians and other Jewish dancers, jugglers and clowns addressed Sultan Murad IV . Filed past.

Sephardic Jews also settled in Christian Europe, including in Comtat Venaissin and Bayonne , in Livorno , Rome , Amsterdam and London . Amsterdam was an important center of Jewish music in the 18th century. The Spanish writer Daniel Levi de Barrios (1635-1701), who lived from 1674 in Amsterdam, describes newly arrived, excellent singers, harp, flute and Vihuelaspieler which as Marranos after their escape from the Iberian Peninsula in the Portuguese municipality received were. Here were at this time Purim games and cantatas for Simchat Torah and other festive occasions written. Abraham Caceres is known by name as a composer , who lived in the first half of the 18th century and from whom, among other things, the three-part setting of a chorale has been handed down, the words of which were written by Rabbi Isaac Aboab for the inauguration of the Amsterdam synagogue in 1675.

Humanism and renaissance

De arte cabbalistica , Haguenau 1530, title page with the coat of arms of Johannes Reuchlin

The humanists of the 16th century turned away from medieval dogmas and instead sought direct contact with the ancient classics in the original language. This also included studying the Bible and later works of Hebrew literature. Several Christian scholars became Hebraists who studied the Hebrew language and grammar in depth. Johannes Reuchlin , Sebastian Münster and Johann Böschenstein wrote treatises on Hebrew accents and spelling.

Especially in the city-states of Tuscany and northern Italy , the Jewish population was also captured by the spirit of the Renaissance . The doctor and rabbi Abraham ben David Portaleone (1542-1612) from Mantua wrote the book Shilte ha-Gibborim (“Shields of the Mighty”), which was published in Venice in 1612 . Based on a description of the temple service, the book touches on a large number of the sciences known at the time, such as architecture and the construction of social order. The chapter on the song of the Levites and the musical instruments used turns into a musical treatise; the book was used as a source by many Christian writers after its translation into Latin in 1767.

A lively musical life flourished in numerous northern Italian cities, but above all at the court of the Gonzaga in Mantua, in which Jewish artists played an important role. Most important of these is Salamone Rossi (1550–1630), who was one of the first to write sonatas for melodic instruments and basso continuo . A unique work by Rossi is the three- to eight-part setting of the songs of Solomon , in which choral psalmody is combined with the polychoral character of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli . These compositions were intended for special Sabbath and feast days and were not intended to replace traditional synagogue singing. The integration of Italian Jews into European art music came to an abrupt end as a result of the siege of Mantua by Habsburg troops and the plague epidemic in 1630.

19th century: Reform movement and Hasidic nigun

requirements

Jewish musicians with bassoon and viola da gamba , Prague 1741

The process of Westernization of Ashkenazi music started and initially developed on the margins of Jewish society. Klezmerim were originally professional traveling musician who sounds played or as a string trio appeared, mostly with two violins and a viola da gamba . In larger cities they performed solemn processions in honor of their Christian rulers : in Prague in 1678, 1716 and 1741, and in Frankfurt am Main also in 1716. Since these festive occasions were very rare, however, the Jewish musicians were dependent on official privileges in order to to be able to perform on Sundays and public holidays at the request of Christian personalities.

From the 17th century it had become the custom in wealthy Jewish circles in Western Europe to teach singing and instrumental music to children, especially daughters. Glückel von Hameln reports in her memoir that her sister was a good harpsichord player . In the course of the late 18th century this tendency intensified, and Rahel Varnhagen wrote that her musical education consisted of nothing other than the music of Sebastian Bach and the entire school of the time. Peira von Geldern, Heinrich Heine's mother , had to hide her flute from her devout father. Sara Levy , great-aunt of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn , daughter of the Berlin financier Daniel Itzig (1723–1799), who was the first Prussian Jew to receive the naturalization patent from Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1791 , was Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's last and most loyal student and kept many of his autographs for posterity.

From the second half of the 18th century, living conditions in the ghettos and overcrowded Jewish settlements in Europe had become almost unbearable. The numerous persecutions aimed at the economic, moral, and physical ruin of Judaism would almost have achieved their goal if they had not been outweighed by belief in final redemption and unbroken self-confidence. European Judaism freed itself from increasing pressure in two opposing ways: Moses Mendelssohn , Lessing's friend and founder of the Jewish Enlightenment , promoted the idea of assimilation , combined with the desire for emancipation . On the other hand, the Hasidism of the Baal Shem Tov and his successors focused on the development of inner values ​​and was associated with a certain spiritual escapism .

On the development of the Hasidic melody

The East European Jewry , increasing under the pressure of poverty and the constant threat of extinction since the pogroms under the leadership of Hetman Bogdan Khmelnytsky , lost after the failure of the messianic expectations of Shabbetaj Zvi had been awakened, the hope for early redemption. The Hasidic movement arose around the middle of the 18th century and proclaimed the idea that the soul could free itself from the body by means of spiritual values ​​and thus participate in a higher existence. In the mystical tradition of Safed, a happy heart was considered the most important requirement for prayer, and singing became a central religious experience. For the first time music from the realm of Jewish mysticism is known; it can be heard to this day. Hasidic chant is very emotional, but puts less emphasis on the meaning of the word. Many melodies are limited to a single word or even to a few - meaningless - syllables, such as ja-ba-bam, ra-la-la, etc. The purpose of this syllable song is to approach God in a way that is more childlike “Stammering” corresponds to a rational expression in words.

This type of singing was combined with ancient mystical exercises such as concentration, fasting, kawwana and rhythmic movements of the body. After the death of the Baal Shem Tov , some of his disciples gathered in the Stetl Mezhirichi, where the Hasidic niggun ( melody ) was developed during Sabbath meetings . One of the main promoters of this melody was Rabbi Schneur Salman from Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement. The saying goes from him: "I learned three things in Mezhirichi: what God is, what Jews are and what a nigun is."

The followers of Chabad Hasidism paid attention to the connection between music and ecstasy . Rabbi Dov Bär from Lubavitch (1773–1827) described three types of melodies: 1) melodies accompanied by words that promote the ability to “understand”; 2) wordless melodies that can express the psycho-physical nature of every person; 3) the unsung singing , the very essence of the music, which is not expressed in a melody, but in the spiritual concentration on the divine.

In the course of the 19th century there were often permanent instrumental groups, singers and writers of nigunim among the followers of an admor or tzaddik , and various subcategories of nigun styles developed. Some of these melodies are heavily influenced by Slavic folk music, but all go back to a specific form of Shteyger .

The Yiddish expression Shteyger is the Ashkenazi parallel to the Sephardic Maqam (see above). It has been used in Ashkenazi Judaism since the Middle Ages, describes a certain type of tonal space design and roughly corresponds to the church mode. In contrast to the church modes , the scale does not necessarily have to encompass an octave , the intervals can change depending on the ascending or descending tone sequence. Certain main notes serve as breakpoints for the middle and final cadences. Most Shteygians are named after the opening words of prayers from the Siddur and are characterized by specific motifs .

The two most important Shteygians, in both western and eastern Ashkenazi traditions, are Ahavah Rabbah , a passage from the morning prayer Shacharit , and Adonai malach , which introduces many psalms. In a 1912 transcription by Abraham Beer Birnbaum, the scale of Ahavah Rabbah is as follows, with the prime g 'as the main note: AhavahRabbah Scale.png

See Phrygian dominant scale .

In 1871 Moritz Deutsch wrote down Adonai Malach's scale in his “Pre-Beterschule” as follows, with the crossed c 'as the main note: AdonaiMalach Scale.png

Another Shteyger is called Mi Shebach .

Reform movement and Jewish art music

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy at the age of 30

In Western Europe, the renewal of synagogue singing was initiated by Napoleon . To centralize and promote the social integration of French Jews, a Consistoire was founded in 1808 in every department with a Jewish population of over 2,000 , under the direction of a grand rabbin (chief rabbi), whose election had to be confirmed by the state authorities. These reforms also extended to some areas that were occupied by French troops, such as the Kingdom of Westphalia . Israel Jacobson , court factor of Jérôme Bonaparte , founded reform synagogues in Seesen and Kassel in which chorale melodies were sung with organ accompaniment. After the fall of Napoleon, Jacobson moved to Berlin , where he continued his reform efforts. He opened a prayer room in his own house in 1815 and two years later moved to the private synagogue of Jakob Herz Beer, the father of Giacomo Meyerbeer . But the Prussian government, which received frequent complaints from Orthodox Jews , prohibited the continuation of the services in 1818. The reform movement soon spread to other communities. The Hungarian Rabbi Aaron Chorin published a book in 1818 in defense of the organ in the synagogue. Reform synagogues emerged in Frankfurt (1816), Hamburg (1817) and during the Leipzig trade fair (1820). The synagogue in Hamburg was also visited by Sephardic parishioners and existed until 1938. Here the melodic recitation of the prayers and the Bible texts was seen as out of date and replaced by simple reading. In addition, the German language was increasingly finding its way into reform synagogues: In addition to sermons, numerous prayers were now presented in German instead of in Hebrew. After the March Revolution of 1848, organs were also installed in more conservative synagogues. According to a census from 1933, 74 Jewish communities in Germany had an organ at that time.

In the 19th century, the western European cantors began to organize themselves professionally, and various specialist journals were published: The Jewish Cantor , edited by Abraham Blaustein (1836–1914), chief cantor in Bromberg , existed from 1879 to 1898; the Austro-Hungarian Cantoren newspaper , founded by Jakob Bauer (1852–1926), Chasan at the Turkish Temple in Vienna , was published from 1881 to 1902. Despite numerous activities related to synagogue singing, the appeal of the cantor's profession in Western Europe declined. This gap was filled by immigrants from Eastern Europe, especially after the pogroms in the Russian Empire following the assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II in 1881.

In the course of the 19th century, Jewish musicians increasingly integrated themselves into the production and reproduction of the generally predominant art music, but were always viewed by society as outsiders. Heinrich Heine , who in his third letter from Berlin dated June 7, 1822 and the letters “On the French Stage” from 1837 described Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy as the “legitimate heir to the throne of Mozart”, speaks in his report from Paris about the “Musical season of 1844” from the “fine lizard ear” and the composer's “passionate indifference”. Richard Wagner then takes clearly anti-Semitic positions in his book Das Judenthum in der Musik .

20th Century: Increasing Persecution and National Revival

After cantors had begun to record and collect the oral tradition of synagogue singing in the 19th century, this task was continued under scientific aspects at the beginning of the 20th century and expanded to include the music of the oriental Jews. This is mainly thanks to the musicologist Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882–1938), who trained as a cantor in Russia, emigrated to the West and studied at leading German conservatories and the Leipzig School of Musicology. Under the patronage of the Vienna Academy Idelsohn took 1,906 to 1,921 songs oriental Jews in Jerusalem on records and transcribed them. These transcriptions fill five volumes of his ten-volume masterpiece, Hebrew-Oriental Melody Treasure . Idelsohn defined Jewish music as music created by Jews for Jews, something that Curt Sachs (see introduction) later referred to. Idelsohn was also active as a composer and processed a Hasidic melody into the famous folk song Hava Nagila and provided it with words.

The revival of national values ​​in Jewish music began in Russia , where Rimsky-Korsakov asked his Jewish students in St. Petersburg in 1902 to cultivate their wonderful music . The “Saint Petersburg Society for Jewish Folk Music” existed from 1908 to 1918, but it was not very well received by an interested Jewish audience. The founding of Jewish theaters after the October Revolution , including Habima , today's Israeli National Theater, which was built in Moscow in 1917 , had a wider impact . In the Soviet Union , however, there was soon no more space for specifically Jewish art for political reasons, so that its representatives emigrated to the West. After a brief stay in Berlin at the beginning of the 1920s, most of them moved on to the USA and Palestine. Some, however, like Mikhail Gnessin , stayed in the Soviet Union and became useful members of the musical establishment there.

The emphasis on national values ​​in Jewish music led to two opposing developments. Jewish folk music developed from Eastern Europe as part of the Zionist establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine; the folk dance was revived and continuously developed (see Hora and its oriental counterpart Debka ). On the other hand, there were Jewish composers who were shaped by German musical traditions and who continued to cultivate these traditions along with the Jewish legacy even after they were ostracized during the Nazi era and driven out of Germany. Examples are Arnold Schönberg , one of the founders of twelve-tone music , whose unfinished opera Moses und Aron premiered several years after his death, and Kurt Weill , who was a celebrated opera composer in Berlin until 1933 and at the beginning of his in 1934 and 1935 He wrote the exile, the operetta Der Kuhhandel and the biblical drama The Path of Promise . These two works were premiered in an English version - A Kingdom For a Cow as Musical Play in London, The Eternal Road in New York, directed by Max Reinhardt .

For music in the Holocaust, see Auschwitz Girls 'Orchestra and Auschwitz Men ' s Orchestra .

After the Second World War, the Yiddish song was discovered in Germany via the Burg Waldeck Festival , which was performed there by Lin Jaldati , Peter Rohland , Michaela Weiss and Hai & Topsy, among others . Since the 1970s, klezmer music has been revitalized primarily by the clarinetist Giora Feidman .

Klezmer music and other traditional Jewish or Yiddish music have experienced a renaissance in recent decades. More recently, influenced by jazz and other genres of music, klezmer has also become a modern variety with bands like The Klezmatics .

Apart from klezmer, the playful handling of the extensive legacy of Jewish (and Yiddish) music and singing tradition sometimes produced curious results, as shown by the publications of the Canadian producer and DJ socalled , who among other things has known hip-hop versions of traditional songs contemporary Jewish musicians, including the singer Theodore Bikel . The Berlin actress and singer Sharon Brauner and the Berlin bassist and producer Daniel Zenke (Lounge Jewels: Yiddish Evergreens) wrapped some centuries-old Yiddish evergreens in a modern musical garb and spiced up the songs with swing, jazz and pop as well as Balkan polka and arabesques , South American rhythms, with reggae, waltz, tango and even country elements.

Music in Israel

Roman theater in Caesarea Maritima (Kesarya).

The establishment of an organic musical life began in Palestine in the 1930s with the immigration of numerous Jews from Central Europe. In 1936, the Polish violinist founded Bronislaw Huberman , the Palestine Orchestra , which after the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has been renamed. Paul Ben-Haim (1897–1984), who lived in Tel Aviv from 1933, is one of the most important Israeli composers of this time (see also list of Israeli classical music composers ). The most important concert halls in Israel are the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv (Hebrew Heichal Hatarbut "Palace of Culture") (opened in 1957) and Binyene ha-Umma in Jerusalem (opened in 1959). Annual music festivals take place at Kibbutz Ein Gev on the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee, as well as open-air performances at the Roman theater of Caesarea .

A diverse rock , pop and chanson scene has existed in Israel since the 1970s (see also Israeli culture ). Famous representatives of the first generation are Arik Einstein and the group Kaveret . Yossi Banai has performed and recorded chansons by Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens , which were translated into Hebrew by Naomi Shemer . The songs of the singer Ofra Haza come from the Yemeni tradition, Chava Alberstein is influenced by Yiddish klezmer music, Yehuda Poliker uses traditions from his parents' Greek homeland.

Since 1973, Israel has been the first country outside of Europe to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest . It took first place in 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018.

Jewish music in classical music

It is strikingly rare that elements of Jewish music can be found in classical music. A large number of Jewish composers have been active since the Renaissance ( Salamone Rossi ) and some of them were among the most successful of their generation (Offenbach, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer), but only composers of the 20th century consciously work with Jewish motifs. Whether Mendelssohn, for example, consciously drew his Elias from a melody sung on the Day of Atonement is controversial in research and rather doubtful, since he often had to fend off anti-Semitic criticism anyway. The same applies to Gustav Mahler: Max Brod's thesis that Mahler borrowed his rhythms and constructions, including the Lied von der Erde, from Jewish music, is plausible, but hardly scientifically proven. It was not until a generation later that composers , especially Ernest Bloch and Dmitri Shostakovich , appeared who explicitly deal with Jewish material. Bloch tried systematically to integrate Jewish thought into classical music. Shostakovich used Jewish motifs only occasionally (especially in the works between Op. 67 and Op. 91), but possibly due to his success and his affirmative attitude towards Jewish folk music, the use of Jewish elements in the Classical period was accepted as legitimate. Since then, processing of Jewish melodies and rhythms has become more common in the concert hall. The success of Mieczysław Weinberg can serve as an example , about whom the pianist Elisaveta Blumina said in an interview: I simply cannot imagine a more Jewish composer . Former composers such as Max Bruch (as recognized as Brahms during his lifetime ) and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (as recognized as Beethoven ) were practically banned from concert life during the Nazi era because of their Jewish motifs, and their music could not be restored in the post-Shostakovich era Find the recognition it enjoyed before the Nazi era.

Famous classical works with motifs from Jewish music

Max break

Gustav Mahler

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Modest Mussorgsky

Sergei Prokofiev

  • Overture on Hebrew Themes Op. 34.

Maurice Ravel

  • Jewish melodies (Kaddish, L'énigme éternelle, Meirke mein Zun)

Dmitri Shostakovich

  • Violin Concerto 1 in A minor Op. 77 (2nd movement)
  • Cello Concerto 1 in E flat major, Op. 107 (4th movement)
  • String Quartet 2 in A major Op. 68 (2nd movement)
  • String Quartet 4 in D major Op. 83 (3rd and 4th movements)
  • String Quartet 8 in C minor Op. 110 (2nd and 3rd movement)
  • Piano Trio 2 in E minor Op. 67 (last sentence)
  • This is just a selection of frequently performed works with a recognizable Jewish sound. Even in these works, Jewish material can be found in other places, for example in the 2nd and 3rd movements of the cello concerto or in the waltz of the 3rd movement of Op. 68, but the waltz doesn't sound Jewish: the Jewish element can only be recognized in detail. Typical of such a complete integration are the 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 : That in the 8th fugue in F sharp minor the clearly Russian song is accompanied by a Jewish prayer or that in the 14th fugue in E minor a kaddish (Jewish funeral prayer) is very likely escaped the Soviet audience at the time. Joachim Braun still counts fugues 16, 17, 19 and 24. Judith Kuhn finds Jewish material in the quartets No. 3 to 15, so only not in the first two.

Shostakovich on Jewish folk music

In Shostakovich's memoirs you can read (p. 176):

“I think when you talk about musical influences, Jewish folk music has shaped me the most. I never tire of getting excited about it. It's so diverse. It can appear joyful and in reality it can be deeply tragic. It is almost always a laugh through tears. This quality of Jewish folk music comes very close to my idea of ​​how music should be. [...] All genuine folk music is beautiful, but I have to say of Jewish music that it is unique. "

The book was declared a forgery by the Soviet government and some historians have doubted its authenticity to this day, but similar statements are also supported by other sources.

Discography

  • Anthology of Eastern Jewish Music . 3 CDs, Vol. 1: Religious chants, Vol. 2/3: Yiddish folk and theater songs. Music publisher Pan AG, Zurich 1997.
  • Feidman in Jerusalem . David Shallon, Giora Feidman , Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Dortmund: Plans, 1994.
  • Forbidden, not forgotten - Suppressed music from 1938-1945 . 3 CDs, Vol. 1: Gideon Klein (1919–1945), Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944); Vol. 2: Pavel Haas (1899-1944), Hans Krása (1889-1944); Vol. 3: Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905-1963), Acum, 1996.
  • Jewish Chamber Music . Tabea Zimmermann , Jascha Nemtsov. Hänssler Classic 2000.
  • Mélodies hébraïques . Maurice Ravel, Alberto Hemsi. The Nanum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, New York 1988.
  • musica rara - musica famosa . Dmitri Sitkowetski , David Geringas , Jascha Nemtsov . Vol. II: The Doctors' Plot . Hänssler Classic 2005. (Weinberg: Trio No. 1 / Weprik: Three Folk Dances / Shostakovich: Trio No. 2)
  • Musique judéo-baroque . Louis Saladin, Carlo Großi, Salamone de Rossi Ebreo . Harmonia mundi, Arles 1988.
  • Prayer . Sol Gabetta , Leonard Slatkin . Sony Music Entertainment, 2014. ( Bloch : From Jewish Life, Baal Shem, Meditation hébraïque, Schelome. Shostakovich : From Jewish folk poetry)
  • Tradition: Itzhak Perlman plays familiar jewish melodies . EMI Digital, 1987.
  • yiddish songs (traditionals 1911 to 1950) , 4 CDs, Membran Music Ltd., Distribution: Grosser and Stein, Pforzheim 2004, ISBN 978-3-937730-94-3 .

literature

  • Hanoch Avenary, in The Music Past and Present . 1st edition, Volume 7, 1958, pp. 226-261.
  • Philip V. Bohlman : How do we sing His song on the soil of the stranger! Ashkenazi Jewish music between tradition and modernity . Lit Verlag, Berlin, 2019, ISBN 978-3-643-13574-2
  • Golan Gur: folk music. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 6: Ta-Z. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02506-7 , pp. 309-311.
  • Abraham Zvi Idelsohn : Phonographed Chants and Pronunciations of Hebrew by the Yemeni, Persian and Syrian Jews . Quays. Academy of Sciences in Vienna, Philosophical - historical class, session reports, Volume 175, 4th treatise, 1922.
  • Abraham Zvi Idelsohn: Jewish Music - Its Historical Development . Henry Holt and Company / Dover Publications, New York 1929/1992, ISBN 0-486-27147-1
  • Eckhard John, Heidy Zimmermann (ed.): Jewish music. External images - self-images . Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-412-16803-3 .
  • James Loeffler: The Most Musical Nation. Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire , Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut / London 2010 ISBN 978-0-300-13713-2
  • Joachim Carlos Martini : Music as a Form of Spiritual Resistance, Jewish Musicians 1933-1945, The Example Frankfurt am Main , Volume 1 and 2, Brandes and Apsel Verlag 2009 ISBN 978-3-86099-620-1 (Volume 1) and ISBN 978-3-86099-621-8 (Volume 2)
  • Darius Milhaud , in Musica Hebraica 1-2, Jerusalem 1938.
  • Jascha Nemtsov : Society for Jewish Folk Music. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 2: Co-Ha. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02502-9 , pp. 450–453.
  • Amnon Shiloah: The dimension of music in Islamic and Jewish culture. (Variorum Collected Studies) Ashgate, Farnham 1993.
  • Eric Werner, in Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , Volume 4 (5th Edition 1954). Pp. 615-636.
  • Eric Werner: The Sacred Bridge. Liturgical Parallels in Synagogue and Early Church. New York 1959

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ EJ, pp. 554-555
  2. ↑ EJ, p. 555
  3. ↑ EJ, p. 559
  4. ↑ EJ, p. 559
  5. ↑ EJ, pp. 563-565
  6. ↑ EJ, p. 563
  7. ↑ EJ, p. 578
  8. ↑ EJ, p. 590
  9. ↑ EJ, p. 624
  10. ↑ EJ, p. 625
  11. ↑ EJ, p. 616
  12. ↑ EJ, p. 619
  13. ↑ EJ, p. 633
  14. ↑ EJ, p. 637
  15. ↑ EJ, pp. 609-610
  16. ↑ EJ, p. 650.
  17. ↑ EJ, p. 655.
  18. ↑ EJ, pp. 659-660
  • Other
  1. ↑ Joachim Braun: The music culture of old Israel / Palestine - studies on archaeological, written and comparative sources. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1999, in particular pp. 11-13.
  2. ^ P. Kyle McCarter: The historical David. , P. 117 and more often.
  3. ↑ Joachim Braun: The music culture of old Israel / Palestine: Studies on archaeological, written and comparative sources. (Publications of the Max Planck Institute for History). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999, p. 52f, ISBN 978-3-525-53664-3
  4. ^ Jacques Paul Migne : Patrologia Latina , 1844–1864. Volume 24, p. 561.
  5. ↑ Hannoch Avenary: Jewish Music. I. Introduction. 2. Sources. In: MGG Online , November 2016
  6. ↑ Link "Chironomy in the Ancient World"
  7. ↑ Shlomo Dov Goitein , Sidre Chinuch , Jerusalem 1962, pp. 97-102.
  8. ↑ Music in the past and present , Volume 09, p. 91.
  9. ^ Brod, Max: Gustav Mahler's Jewish Melodies . In: Musikblätter des Anbruch, vol. 02-1920, issue 10, p. 378f.
  10. ↑ Encyclopaedia Judaica , Vol. 3, 2nd ed., P. 760.
  11. ↑ http://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/article/view/id/24684
  12. ^ Prieberg, Fred: Handbuch Deutscher Musik unter Hitler , 2004. P. 747 (Bruch) and P. 4553ff. (Mendelssohn).
  13. ↑ Paul-André Bempéchat: Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony and the Culture of assimilation , p.32
  14. ^ Judith Kuhn: Looking Again an the Jewish Inflections in Shostakovich's String Quartets , pp. 194f. In: Shostakovich Studies, Volume 3, Berlin 2001.
  15. ^ Joachim Braun: The Double Meaning of Jewish Elements in Dimitri Shostakovich's Music , pp. 68-80. In: Musical Quarterly 71, 1985.
  16. ^ Judith Kuhn: Looking Again an the Jewish Inflections in Shostakovich's String Quartets , pp. 196–197. In: Shostakovich Studies, Volume 3, Berlin 2001.
  17. ↑ See for example Shostakovich's forewords to the works of other colleagues: Dmitri Schostakowitsch: Drei Vorworte, pp. 338–343. In: Shostakovich Studies, Volume 3, Berlin 2001.