Analysis

MA thesis that deals with the relations between text and music in Lidarti's oratorio Ester (Esther). Written under the supervision of Prof. Israel Adler.

Based on recordings of services in the Copenhagen synagogue done back in 1967, this book presents the history of Jewish life in Denmark (mainly Copenhagen) and of music in the Copenhagen synagogue, and analises how the music reflects the special integrative character of that community.

Ph.D. dissertation from Northwestern University

PhD dissertation

Singing the prayer magen avot, the abbreviated repetition of Sabbath-eve amidah, is an old tradition which "goes back to the third century." Jewish communities in different parts of the world share the same mode for the prayer, though each community has its own variant. This mode, which, to Idelsohn, is the deepest expression of the Jewish soul, is based on an "original melodic line of Jewish folk song" and is also the foundation of various synagogue melodies (e.g. Leoni's yigdal).