Music of the Jewish People a synagogue Psalm in Hebrew—Catho- intended for use in a Jewish ritual. lic or Jewish? Where would we place We should not pretend that anything by Darius Milhaud’s Service Sacré, a setting written by a Jew is Jewish music. (Al- of the synagogue liturgy—French or though the Nazis in 1930’s Germany did Joshua R. Jacobson Jewish? And what about Yehezkel Braun’s assert that any music composed or even Seven Sephardic Folksongs—Hispanic or performed by a Jew was “degenerate.”) Jewish? Why not both? And why not Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” isn’t I avoid using the term “Jewish music.” place Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service in Jewish music. But do you have to be Jew- How can music be Jewish? Does music the same category as Brahms’s Ger- ish to compose Jewish music? I would keep kosher? Is music circumcised? man Requiem—simply great music for include in our category Eric Whitacre’s No—people can be Jewish, and that’s a concert? Five Hebrew Love Songs, Franz Schubert’s why I prefer the terminology “Music of A few years ago, I heard an honor Tov Lehodos, and Modest Mussorgsky’s the Jewish People.” choir at an ACDA national conference cantata Joshua Bin-Nun. performing a synagogue motet by Do you have to be Jewish to perform It is complicated. Is Jewish a religion, a Salamone Rossi (c.1570–c.1630) in a Jewish music? Of course not! Someone nationality, a race, or ethnicity? In which program of “ethnic and multicultural” who is steeped in Jewish culture and Repertoire & Standards category does music. I was thrilled to hear it performed, tradition may, however, have a head start Jewish music belong—Music for Wor- but Rossi’s motets are no more multicul- in regard to familiarity with the language, ship or Ethnic and Multicultural per- tural than are those of his better-known the context, and the subtleties of per- spectives or neither? Shall we juxtapose colleague Monteverdi. The lyrics are formance practice. I have conducted Jewish music with Catholic music or Hebrew, and the original performance Ramirez’s Misa Criolla, but a conductor perhaps with French music or Hispanic venue was a synagogue in Mantua, but from Argentina would have an advan- music? But then where would we place the style is hardly different from that of tage over me. I have conducted choral Franz Schubert’s Tov Lehodos, a setting of Christian composers of the late Renais- arrangements of African American sance/early Baroque era. spirituals, but someone who is steeped Let us say that traditional Jewish mu- in that tradition would certainly bring a Joshua R. Jacobson sic is music that has been used by Jews lot more to the table. more than by others and therefore has The fi rst time I conducted Handel’s Professor of Music and Director of Choral become associated with Jewish people. Messiah at Northeastern University, an Activities, Northeastern University And let us say that a Jewish choral com- Irish Catholic student in the chorus came Visiting Professor and Senior position is one that either incorporates up to me after the concert. She said to Consultant, School of Jewish Music elements of traditional Jewish music or me, “How can a Jew like you conduct at Hebrew College uses a Jewish text (a text associated with Handel’s Messiah?” I stammered some- Founder/Director, Jewish people) or is in a Jewish language thing about a musical performer being Zamir Chorale of Boston or is descriptive of Jewish people or is like an actor: you assume a persona
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 2 67 while you are on stage then go back to whom they lived. Jewish music became centuries). Until the twentieth century, being who you are. But maybe she had acculturated with the soundscapes of aside from the language, this music was a point. Take three conductors of equal various majority populations. As a result by and large modeled after and sounded musical competence—one is a devout there are many Jewish musics, espe- remarkably similar to choral music writ- Christian, another is a devout agnostic, cially with regard to non-sacred songs. ten for Christian churches. So the music and the third is a devout Jew. Which of The folk songs of the Jews of Yemen of Salamone Rossi may remind listeners the three will deliver a performance of sound very different from those of their of the motets of Orlando di Lasso; Salo- Handel’s Messiah that best represents co-religionists in Germany, Morocco, mon Sulzer’s choral music was modeled the sentiments of the composer? And Ukraine, etc. after the part songs of his friend Franz which of the three would be the best There is not a tremendous amount of Schubert; Louis Lewandowski’s compo- interpreter of Bloch’s Sacred Service? It repertoire for this genre of Jewish music. sitions drew their inspiration from Felix is complicated. Formal synagogue choirs didn’t appear Mendelssohn. In the past hundred years, Here is another complication. Scat- until the nineteenth century (although however, perhaps inspired by Bartok tered for nearly two millennia, Jews ab- there are a few notable exceptions and other nationalists, many synagogue sorbed the culture of the people among from the seventeenth and eighteenth composers have attempted to infuse
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68 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 2 their music with the modes and rhythms phony, Hashkivenu and several shorter but because it’s good music. of traditional Jewish chant. Among those pieces. Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service is composers who went in this direction fairly well known, but Darius Milhaud’s are Lazare Saminsky, Ernest Bloch, Paul charming Service Sacré, a setting of the NOTES Ben-Haim, Samuel Adler, and Yehudi same liturgy, deserves to be performed Wyner. more frequently. Arnold Schoenberg’s 1 Ethan Nash and Joshua Jacobson, Translations Choirs formed for the purpose of contribution includes Kol Nidre, A Sur- and Annotations of Choral Repertoire- singing secular Jewish music are not vivor from Warsaw, and De Profundis, a Volume IV: Hebrew Texts (earthsongs, found until the beginning of the twen- setting in the original Hebrew of Psalm 2009). 2 tieth century: fi rst in Poland, and soon 130. Kurt Weill wrote a bluesy setting of Visit
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