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Darius MILHAUD THE PROBLEM OF JEWISH MUSIC Darius Milhaud (Aix en Provence 1892/Genève 1974) a, tout sa vie, invoqué son ascendance juive, du côté maternel, originaire de l’Empire Ottoman et d’Italie, et, du côté paternel, des Milhaud du Comtat Venaissin, venus préalablement du vil- lage de Milhaud, voisin de Nimes, qui s’étaient transportés, après la Révolution Française, à Aix en Provence. Joseph Milhaud, Président du Consistoire d’Aix, inaugurait en 1840 le nouveau Temple Israélite, cette fonction s’était transmise à son fils Gabriel, (père du compositeur) qui l’exerçait en 1940. Cette date a son importance, le compositeur atteignait la maturité, auteur déjà de très nombreuses œuvres, il était connu en France, certes, mais encore plus à l’étran- ger, entre autres, dans l’Allemagne préhitlerienne. A la débacle de l’Armistice (18 Juin 1940) cette célébrité avait conduit la Gestapo à son domicile dès que les troupes allemandes avaient occupé Paris. Le compositeur était alors à Aix. En Juillet 1940, Darius Milhaud accompagné de sa femme et de leur fils, purent quitter l’Europe pour les USA, où un poste de professeur lui était offert dans un Collège en Californie. Son séjour se prolongea bien au delà de la fin de la guerre, et c’est probablement à ce moment qu’il lui fut demandé un article ou une conférence dont nous remercions ici Madeleine Milhaud de nous avoir procuré le texte. La dâte exacte n’a pas pu être déterminée avec précision ce doit être 1945 (terminus ab quo) ou 1947 (terminus ad quem) car il y est fait allusion à la Palestine, alors que, après 1948, le nom d’Israël se serait trouvé tout naturellement sous la plume de l’auteur. Alors qu’il se définissait «Français de Provence et de religion israélite» ses nombreuses compositions ne présentent pas toutes un caractère se rattachant au judaïsme. Toutefois, la liste procurée par Madeleine Milhaud des compositions musciales «juives» de son mari, que nous avons reproduite in fine, montre qu’une telle inspiration occupe une place importante dans la vie du compositeur. S’il écrivait volontiers de telles pièces il a, toute sa vie, refusé de composer quelque musique liturgique chrétienne que ce soit. On trouvera dans le texte anglais ci après, la référence à une pièce spécifique- ment «juive» remontant à Janvier 1940. Il rencontrait alors à Marseille, l’écrivain Armand Lunel, mobilisé et en fin de permission militaire lui parlant d’un projet de célébration du centenaire de la Synagogue d’Aix en Provence. La cantate connue sous son titre définitif Couronne de Gloire est ainsi divisée: Keter Malhut texte hébreu du Rab. Salomon b. Gabirol (XVIIIe Siècle) Prière pour les Ames des Persécutés Prière pour le Pape au IXe juour de Succot (texte d’A. Lunel) Prière pour le jour de la Réclusion. (Lorsque Pessah coïncidait avec Paques, il était interdit aux Juifs de Carpentras de sortir de chez eux pour aller prier.) Revue des Etudes juives, CLV (1-2), janvier-juin 1996, pp. 233-244 234 THE PROBLEM OF JEWISH MUSIC Après Juin 1940, il n’était plus question de cérémonie au Temple. Et à la Libé- ration les fidèles étaient très peu nombreux (les parents Milhaud étaient morts) de sorte que le propriétaire de la synagogue centenaire décida de vendre l’immeuble. Il est consacré maintenant au culte Protestant. Darius Milhaud, alors aux Etats Unis reçut la nouvelle trop tard il aurait souhaité se substituer à l’acheteur. Mais il eut la consolation de donner le premier coup de pioche aux fondations de la synagogue actuelle, dont la construction a pu être réalisée grace à un vigoureux renfort de fidèles venus d’Afrique du Nord. Quelques années après la composition du texte que nous publions, pour com- mémorer le IIIe millénaire du roi David, en 1951, Darius Milhaud recevait la commande d’un grand opéra, auquel Armand Lunel devait fournir le livret, David. La gloire et les malheurs du fondateur de Jerusalem y sont évoqués. L’opéra a été joué en Israel, à Bruxelles, Milan, Nice et aux U.S.A. Georges JESSULA Musique «Juive» de Darius Milhaud 1916 Poèmes Juifs 1949 Les rêves de Jacob 1918 Psaume 136 (P. Claudel) 1951 Cantate des Proverbes 1919 Psaume 126 (P. Claudel) 1951 Les Miracles de la Foi 1925 Six Chants populaires 1951 Candélabre à sept branches hébraïques 1952 Samael (André Spire) 1925 Deux Hymnes (Alb. Cohen) 1952/3 David /Opéra (A. Lunel) 1925 Esther de Carpentras Opéra 1953 Hymne de Glorification Bouffe (A. Lunel) 1954 Saül (André Gide) 1927 Prières journalières à l’usage 1954 Trois psaumes de David des Juifs du Comtat Venaissin 1954 Service pour la veille du Sabbat 1928 Cantate pour louer le Seigneur 1960 Cantate de l’initition 1933 Liturgie comtadine 1962 Invocation à l’Ange Raphael 1934 Le Cycle de la Création (Paul Claudel) (Dom Sturzo) 1963 Pacem in Terris (extrait de 1935 La Sagesse (Paul Claudel) l’Encyclique de Jean XXIII 1937 Cantate de la Paix (P. Claudel) 11/IV/49 1937 Cantate nuptiale 1965 Cantate from Job 1937 Les deux Cités (P. Claudel) 1967 Cantate des Psaumes (p. Claudel) id Holem Tsaoudi (P. Claudel) id Gam Hayom 1971 Promesse de Dieu 1940 Couronne de Gloire 1972 Ode pour Jerusalem 1941 Borechou Schema 1973 Etudes sur des themes litur- 1944 Caïn et Abel giques du Comtat Venaissin It is a difficult problem and we must look at it from different sides: historical, liturgical, and folkloric. The question often arises: is there really a Jewish music.? Unfortunately we don’t have any idea of how the music was and how it sounded in the Temple of Jerusalem. Of course it would probably have been similar to that of the neighbouring countries: Egypt, Assyria, Babilonia. THE PROBLEM OF JEWISH MUSIC 235 The only remaining instrument actually used and witness of thousands years of faith and prayer is the Schofar, still used in the services of R.H. and K. Musically it is not very revealing of what music could have been as it can only give one pitch. Only the rythm is changed and it is used with alterations of long notes and staccato. Besides the schofar, some other ins- truments are mentioned the Chatzotzera, a kind of silver trompet probably imported from Egypt, the Uggav, a sort of pipe (mentioned in the first Temple), the Halil, or big pipe of greek origin, the Alamoth a double flute. In the second Temple, the Magrapha (pipe organ) is able to produce ten different notes. The Talmud says that no water organ (organum hydrolium) was used in the Temple because it was too sweet and too powerful, and could distract the attention from the traditional instruments. Cymbals and othrer percussion instruments were used in the time of David and Solomon. Finaly, the Pasmonium, little bells attached to the robe of the High Priest, about which we find in the Exodus the following explanation: “And the sound thereof shall be head when he goeth into the holy place before the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not” Dance was part of the ceremonies. The chorus consisted of a minimum of 12 male singers Boys of the levites were added in order to add sweetness to the song. Women never par- ticipated. We have no description of the tunes or of the scales, or of the rythm; we have only oral tradition. The Mishna gives us a description of a service in the last century B.C. at the Temple: A benediction by the priests on duty. The 10 Commandemùents. The Shema. The benediction of the priest and three others. Then the act of the offerings After the arrangements of the sacrifices, the Magrapha sounded and the Levites enter the Temple to prostrate themselves. The Lévites began the music; they blew the trumpets, then the cymbal as a signal for the Levites to sing the daily psalm and parts of the Pentateuch, which are interrupted by the blowing of the trumpets. After the destruction of the Temple all this music disapeared, only the vocal singing remained, alternartely expressed by the leader of the congre- gation and the public. As for the secular music, it was associated with dance, happiness, joy, wine, with men and women participating, using their songs instruments and hand clapping. The music used in Arabic countries, Palestine, and the near East is similar. 236 THE PROBLEM OF JEWISH MUSIC The musical tradition is only oral, transmitted by word of mouth. Already before the destruction of the sanctuary in Jerusalem, large Jewish settlements were established from Persia to Northwest Africa, from Arabia to Rome and the south of France. After the destruction of the national center, they were dispersed in the Iberic Peninsula, the Rhine, The Danube, as well as the Niemen, where the Jews lived practically in seclusion for 1.300 years, in Babylonia, Pzersia, Syria, North Africa, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Eastern Europe. In contact with these countries, their faith remained and so did the musical tradition of the liturgical music, but three different geographic lines were established: The Sefardim, Mediter- anean Jews, the Askenazim (Germans and Eastern European Jews), and the Jews of The Comtat Venaissin a very small community in the South of France descendant of these men who established commercial settlements at the time of the foundation of Marseilles, by the Phoceans 600 years B.C., who, during the Middle Ages, remained under the juridiction of the Pope when established in Avignon, until the French Revolution. And musi- cally, this division is important because, even in the liturgy, the Orien- tal/Mediterranean charchter, and the German/Polish one, or the purely Provençal one penetrated the style of the singing of the religious cermonies.
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