The Music of the Jews (An Historical Appreciation)
Author
Originally published as Die Musik der Juden: Versuch einer geschichtlichen Darstellung ihrer Entwicklung (Zurich, 1951) and reprinted in 1960 and in 1975 (New York: A.S. Barnes) with a translation from German to English by H.S. Stevens. This book is a 'non technical' survey intended for laymen and is one of the earliest and most naïve post-Idelsohnian attempts to trace the entirety of Jewish music in a unileniar historical narrative.
Material Type:
Books
Year:
1953
I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy? Identity and Melody at an American Simhat Torah Celebration
Just harmonizing in their own way': Change and reaction in Judeo-Spanish song.
Author
The transplantation of traditional Sephardic songs to other contexts involves the potential for variations in performance that are eventually assimilated into the repertoire. The cultural profile of performers is crucial for an understanding of the nature of these changes and their acceptance in the tradition.
Material Type:
Articles in Journals
Year:
1993
Le catalogage des documents ethnomusicologiques sonores (Disques et bandes) de I'Institute de musicologie de Paris
Susana Weich-Shahak
Researcher
Email:
sweichshahak@gmail.com
Born in Argentina, lives in Israel since 1958.
PhD degree in Musicology at the Tel Aviv University (1986); BA and MA in Musicology and piano at the Conservatorio Nacional (Buenos Aires) and the Tel Aviv University Music Academy. PhD dissertation on "The Music of Four Indian Tribes of the Peruvian Forest: Yagua, Campa, Mashco and Orejon", based on recordings of music and mythical tales collected in fieldwork made possible by grants of the Tel Aviv University.
Johanna L. Spector
American Ethnomusicologist
Born in Libau, Latvia. During WWII she was imprisoned in various concentration camps, and in 1947 immigrated to the United States. Spector collected many recordings of different Jewish musical cultures, including music from Iraqi, Persian, Yemenite, and Indian cultures. She documented these cultures on camera and on film, producing several documentaries, and she published many articles concerning these cultures. Spector also assembled a collection of musical instruments from across the Middle East.
1915-2008
Amnon Shiloah
Israeli musicologist
1928-2014
- A Polka Mazurka
- Niggun of the Meggid of Mezerich From the album, "The Hasidic Niggun as Sung by the Hasidim." This dance niggun is the seventh and last in a series of niggunim sung by Bratslav Hasidim as they dance after the Shabbat evening service on Friday night. Some have attributed the niggun to R. Dov Ber, the meggid of Mezerich.
- Kol B'ru'ei (Padua, Italy) From the album, "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961)." The poem depicts "all creatures" singing and praising the unity of God, and was recited in the Italian rite during the daily morning prayer. This melody was sung only on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in the Italian tradition of Padua.
- Yigdal From the album, "Judeo-Carribean Currents, Music of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curaçao," performed by Gideon Zelermyer. The Yigdal is part of the ceremonial section of the liturgical order of Shabbat and the Holy Days in the Curaçao synagogue. It is one of the ending hymns of the service.
- Eres Chiquita y Bonita From the album, "Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle," sung by Alicia Bendayan from Tetuan. This is a song about courtship, related to the Jewish rituals that mark the events of the life cycle.
- Sweet Shalt Be My Chant From the album, "Kulmus Hanefesh," performed by Yair Harel on voice and tar, and Matti Kovler on voice and piano. A sacred hymn attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ha-Chasid, this is a Chabad tune with a near-Eastern arrangement.
- Lyr II From the album, "The Music of the Mountain Jews." Lyr is a genre found among all Turkish peoples, consisting of long, complex compositions usually comprised of three parts.
- Gilu ha-Galilim (Rejoice Galileans) From the album, "Nights in Canaan, Early Songs of the Land of Israel (1882-1946)." This is a Second Aliyah (1904-1914) song which became an integral part of the historical repertoire of Hebrew song. Both native-born and newly arrived pioneers sang this song in all circumstances.
- Saperi Tama From the album, "With Songs They Respond: The Diwan of the Jews from Central Yemen." This is a girdle poem by Se'adia ben Amram. Saperi Tama is sung to many melodies and is one of Yemenite Jewry's most common poems.