Biographies

Ph.D., Columbia University. Researcher on Ottoman Turkish and Jewish music, as well as the literature of the Ottoman and Central Asian Turks. Conducted research and published articles on classical and Sufi music in Turkey, the music and poetry of epic in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and Jewish klezmer music in the United States. His book, Music of the Ottoman Court: Makam,Composition, and the Early Ottoman Instrumental Repertoire was published in Berlin in 1996, and is currently being translated into Turkish.

Born in Szaki, Lithuania, Friedmann studied in Berlin and in 1882 was appointed chief hazzan of the Old Synagogue of the Berlin community, a post he held until 1923. He received the title of Koeniglicher Musikdirektor, Royal Academy of Art, Berlin, 1907. In 1901, he published Shir li-Shelomoh, a collection of cantorial music in traditional style for the prayers of the year. He also wrote Der Synagogale Gesang (1904) and Lebensbilder beruhmter Kantoren (3 vols., 1918-1927), containing biographies of 19th century hazzanim.