The Music of Jewish Prayer # 2 Magnified & Sanctified
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Magnified & Sanctified - The Music of Jewish Prayer # 2 Magnified & Sanctified - The Music of Niedersachsen. Jewish Prayer 2 In the first keynote, JUDIT FRIGYESI NI- RAN (Ramat Gan) encompassed the main Veranstalter: European Centre for Jewish Mu- theme of the conference, namely, the chal- sic EZJM at Hanover University of Music, lenges in encapsulating the experience of Jew- Drama and Media; Academic Wing of the Eu- ish music as part of a larger, phenomenologi- ropean Cantors Association cal religious experience. Starting by describ- Datum, Ort: 09.09.2019–12.09.2019, Hannover ing the concept of „davening“ and what it Bericht von: Miranda Crowdus, Europäisches means, musically or otherwise, she proposed Zentrum für Jüdische Musik, Hochschule für that East-European Jewish prayer melodies, Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover even when on paper (in transcription) they seem similar to melodies of other music, This international conference dedicated to sound strikingly different in the auditory ex- Jewish liturgical music offered an opportu- perience. The characteristic and the im- nity to explore the complexity of the music mediately recognisable „Jewishness“ of the of Jewish prayer in its many forms through melodies manifests in the subtleties of rhyth- papers, keynotes, performance sessions and mic and pitch structure, voice quality, and workshops. The event brought together Jew- form as well as in the totality of the musical ish music scholars and practitioners, in a experience. Frigyesi argued that this situation wide-ranging scope, encompassing themes makes the analysis of Jewish chant extremely such as Hebrew psalmody, Jewish melodies, difficult, since our analytical methods are con- the transmission of oral traditions, and syn- ceived on the basis of notation. In numerous agogue composition in areas where Jewish concrete instances and especially when one communities have flourished across the globe attempts to grasp the character of this mu- and throughout the centuries. Following sic as a whole, traditional methods fail com- the success of the first international confer- pletely. ence devoted to the music of Jewish prayer MIRANDA CROWDUS (Hanover) deliv- in Leeds in 2015, the sequel was held in ered a paper on the music of the Roman- Hanover. In Germany in particular – in re- iote Jews of Greece, discussing the chal- search as in performance – there has tended to lenges encountered by the ethnomusicologist be an overwhelming emphasis on text-based in analysing the long-lived musical traditions Jewish liturgical outputs in the German lib- of a distinctive Judeo-Greek group that has eral tradition at the turn of the 20th cen- historically been relegated to the periphery tury, examining works by a handful of popu- and about which very little music-related aca- lar composers of this period (Lewandowsky, demic scholarship exists. The first day was Sulzer). The main theme of the conference concluded with interactive performance ses- and one of the central goals of the EZJM, was sions. by no means to exclude these themes, but The second session of the conference rather to broaden research and performances was dedicated to the memory of the late approaches to include Jewish liturgical music Victor Tunkel. BENJY FOX-ROSEN (Vi- in all its forms, with an emphasis on oral tra- enna) drew on his experience both as a re- ditions and lived practice. searcher and a performer. In session 3, AS- Sponsors of the conference were: Nieder- SAF LEVITIN (Hanover) gave a talk with sächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft live examples of his research on Alberto und Kultur, Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim- Hemsi. JEANNE ZAIDEL RUDOLPH (Jo- Stiftung, UCLA Lowell Milken Fund for hannesburg) discussed and played excerpts American Jewish Music at the Herb Alpert of selected nigunim, illustrating their back- School of Music, Kulturbüro der Lan- ground, inner beauty, deep soulful yearning deshauptstadt Hannover, Jewish Music and spiritual cleaving. She engaged with ethi- Institute SOAS, University of London, cal and musical questions surrounding the ac- and Michael Fürst, Vorsitzender des Lan- ceptability and validity of transcribing and ar- desverbandes der Jüdischen Gemeinden von ranging selected esoteric nigunim for instru- © Clio-online, and the author, all rights reserved. mental ensembles; which effectively removes needed recognition, helping it to pursue Jew- them from the intention, immediacy and ex- ish music studies as a valid field of research in pressiveness of the human voice. Her main Europe and beyond. It was agreed that there question was: since nigunim exist as a path- should be a more systematic approach to Jew- way to a closer connection to hashem, how ish music studies, particularly the area focus- does one remain „faithful“ to these melodies, ing on the music of prayer, so that a field of whose nature defies being bound by verti- scholarship can be built that supports future cal harmonies, traditional metric grids, non- academic research endeavours, performance, vocal timbres and fixed rhythmic structures and a new generation of students in this area and restrictions as notated in measures (bars)? of focus. Rudolph enacted a critique of some „vertical“ Conference overview: arrangements of nigunim through an impres- sive interactive performance. Theme: Ashkenazi Nusach and Prayer Modes Day 3 opened with a fascinating talk by Keynote 1 COREEN DUFFY (Missoula, MT) who drew Judit Frigyesi (Bar Ilan University, Ramat on her experience as a researcher as well as Gan): Life Experience and Musical Structure, a choral conductor. In her discussion on the or What Makes a Melody „Jewish“ use of music from the Holocaust in synagogue services, Lorry A. Black (Los Angeles) then Session 1: Nusach and Prayer Tunes combined the historical with current prac- Miranda Crowdus (European Centre for Jew- tices in the synagogue. The second keynote ish Music at Hanover University of Music, talk was by MARK KLIGMAN (Los Ange- Drama and Media): The Synagogue Music of les, CA) who specialises in the liturgical tradi- the Romaniote Jews: Challenges in Documen- tions of Middle Eastern Jewish communities tation and Analysis and various areas of popular Jewish music. In her interesting talk, MILI LEITNER-COHEN Giula Shamilli (State Institute for Art Stud- (Chicago, IL) highlighted liturgical music by ies, Moscow): Avinu Malkeinu. Jewish Prayer women in everyday life and as a tool for po- and the Classical Traditions of the Middle litical agendas. Eastern Music The fourth day focused on the use of syna- Jalda Rebling (European Academy for Jewish gogue music in theory and practice, with sev- Liturgy): Workshop. T´hillim – Renewing the eral animated talks by the presenters. Relying Old Psalmody in Our Modern Liturgy? A on archival material, LIRAN GURKIEWICZ Work in Progress Experience (Tel Aviv) focused on Brod’s 1945 program- matic and highly revealing Rhapsody for pi- Theme: European Roots and Beyond ano, mapping his musical development from Session 2: Oral and Written Traditions. Dedi- a mainly European composer to a Jewish- cated to the Memory of Victor Tunkel Israeli composer who offers a unique perspec- tive on the semiotics of Jewish and Israeli folk Benjy Fox-Rosen (Music director of the Vienna music. Stadttempel Choir): The Paradox of Continu- Overall, the conference was a resounding ity: The Vienna Stadttempel Choir between success in terms of the variety of the re- Oral and Written Tradition search and performance contributions as well Jeremiah Lockwood (Stanford University, as the diversity of the participants. Feed- Stanford, CA): Animating the Archive. back received indicates that both researchers „Golden Age“ Records and Cantorial Revival and performers alike benefited form the net- in the Brooklyn Chassidic Community Today working opportunities. This was the case for the international participants, as well as Veronika Seidlová (Charles University, for the local students and German partici- Prague): Cantorial Recordings in Commu- pants. More broadly, being the only research nist Czechoslovakia: On the Social Life of institute in Europe in Jewish Music Studies, Audio Recordings of Jewish Liturgical Music the conference gave the EZJM some much- from/in Prague and their „Agency“ © Clio-online, and the author, all rights reserved. Magnified & Sanctified - The Music of Jewish Prayer # 2 Contemporary Synagogue Music in Germany. Danielle Padley (University of Cambridge): Round table discussion with the cantors Jalda The Female Voice in Anglo-Jewish Worship: Rebling, Assaf Levitin and Isidoro Abramow- Home, Holy Days and Holidays icz Theme: Synagogue Music(s) in Theory and Session 3: Cantors as Composers Practice Malcolm Miller (Open University, London): Session 5: Composers and Works Liturgy for the Concert Hall: Musical Influ- Liran Gurkiewicz (Independent Scholar, Tel ences in the Songs and Chamber Works of Aviv): Max Brod. Musical Narratives in Jew- Samuel Alman (1877-1947) ish Music Marsha Dubrow (Cantor of Congregation Sylwia Jakubczyk-Sl˛eczka(Jagiellonian´ Uni- B’nai Jacob, Jersey City, NJ): In the Key of versity, Krakow): Liturgical Compositions of Female: Music and Gender in the Modern the Pre-war Galician Synagogues. Modern- American Cantorate ization or Stagnation? Tamara Jurki´cSviben (University of Zagreb): Hervé Roten (Jewish Music Research Cen- Chief Cantor David Meisel – a Religious- tre, Paris): Psalm Recitation in the Spanish- Cultural Transfer of Synagogue Worship in Portuguese Rite (France). Formulation Pro- Northern Croatia between the two World cesses