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MUSICAL HERITAGE
SASCH A UUkUDM 1 /M\l
Schubert Ateniorial If inner
\ lhkkt kinstkin, asked to explain his theory
of relativity in simple terms, once said:
“If my theory proves to he correct, you, as
a French lady will assert that I am a French
man; if it proves incotrect, you will have me as a
•lew; now the Germans, should my theory prove
correct, will claim me as a (iennan; hut if in
correct, they will maintain that I am a Jew.
You see, everything is relative and conditional.
Thus, when we speak of the Jew in music,
it is in his relat ion t o his religion and his heritage.
I hat there are great gaps in the history of
Jewry's part in music is a natural consequence
of 11 it- tendency of historians to record under
the nationality of the country in which they
happen t o he horn, all men who by t heir achieve
ments shed glory upon that country, \iewed in
the light of his tragic exile. Professor Hinstein s
ironic statement is fraught with prophecy and
significance, and stands as a terse summation
of Jewrv’s status in the arts and sciences.
M usic has always heen a part < f 11 k* life of the
Jew from the time he tended his sheep on the
hilltops of the Holy hand. The early Jewish
music preserved in the cant illation of the Hi 1 1 e
was the basis of the more modern modes, i- e.
1 entateuch, strength and consolation in a
prophetic mood; Lamentations, melancholy and
plaintive; Songs of Songs and the Ruth lyric
m strain, lightness and joy. For Esther, there is
a dramatic expression, at times joyous and at
times melancholy, following the content of the
narrative. These songs of I alestinian origin
were sung in the fields as the people were tilling
the soil and by the women and children in the
home.
When the Jews were forced to leave their
native land, they carried these songs with them
to the far corners of the earth. To quote Irma
( ohen in her “Introduction to Jewish Music:
Like the Jew himself, who wears the costun e
of every country, his Palestinian song takes on
the coloring of the sky beneath which it flowers
hut beneath that garment, the original song of
the Jew is to be found.”
Since written neumes and notes did not come
in until the time of Guido around 500 A. D., there
By Caroline Oettinger
is scant knowledge of this early song. However,
t is understood that the music was melodic
rather than harmonic, and that rhythm was
decidedly lacking. I he chant of the Orient
and the music of the Jewish orthodox cantor
today is a survival of this type of music.
Little is known of Jewish music after the
'’estruction of the I’einpie, because there fol
lowed many years of persecution. We have a
'duelling reference to a Jewish musician who
pic ‘ased his prince so much that he was allowed
‘o drop the badge he was required to wear as a
lesignation of his race. During this period
many dropped their religion because of their
ambition to rise above the barriers of segregu-
t ion.
There were* bright exceptions in the dark
ages of persecution in Europe. Italy, because
of similarity in appearance and temperament,
considered Jewry her own. During the Renais
sance there were many popular Jewish musi
cians at the court of Gonzagas at Mantua,
notably Saloinone Rossi and his sister, Madainu
Europa, who was a feted vocalist in the pre
miere of Monteverdi’s opera, “Arianna.” I he
Jewish orchestra in Fragile had an exceptional
part in Kith ami 17th ('cutury life.
In A. E. Keeton’s history of the development
of Jewish music, there is a st liking analysis,
applicable to and valid in all facets of Jewish ac
complishment, which accounts for the symbolic
quality of music during repression and persecu
tion: “Music is likewise the art in which per
ception and intuition have made the longest
voyages of discovery and, of necessity, the Jew’s
position has for generations trained him in
alertness in using his every iota of perception
and intuitiveness. These have been his most
t rust v wea|miiis of self defence and preservation.
They have kept his car as well as his eye sensi
tive and keen; and in consequence his nervous
system has predominated over his muscular sys
tem. It has heen aptly said that lie is all nerve.
His emotions are more vivid, his sensibility
more intense, his nervous reactions swifter
than is often found to be the case in other races;
and that lie is the most cerebral of men, pre
disposes him directly to the most complete sway
over the nervous organism.” (Israel ehez the
Nations— Anatole Reaulieu)
Among the secular composers of international
fame after the time of Rossi de Mantua, we
have Felix Mendelssohn, grandson of the great
philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, who was of
pure Jewish blood, but brought up a 1 rotestant
because of the social ambitions of his family.
Giocomo Meyerbeer, whose spectacular operas
are not as popular as during his lifetime, is
nevertheless acknowledged internationally.
Other operatic composers of Jewish faith were
Jacques Halevy, composer of “I>a Juive,”
Jacques Offenbach, best known for his ‘Tales
of Hoffman.” Anton Rubinstein is considered
second only to Lizst as a concert virtuoso.
Gustav Mahler, known for his great symphonic
works mid Karl Goldmark, opera composer
represent Vicuna. Leopold Damrosch in New
York and sir Michael (’osta in England were
outstanding Jewish composers in the musical
life of the 10th century. The mother of Camille
Saint Saens, composer of the magnificent “Sam
son and Delilah” was a Jewess. Among the
acceptably great Jewish musicians of today are
I ’a ul Dukas. Laurent Schmidt, and Maurice
Ravel, of France, Ernest Hloch and Lazar
Sam insky, Americanized Russians, Gneissens
and others who have remained in Russia. Two
Jewish composers who are sensational today
are Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky.
Other composers who have been claimed by
overzealous lovers of the race are: Tschai-
kowsky, because his family of Caucasian princes
use the harp and sling in its armorial bearing
and claims descent directly from David; Mo
zart, because of an anecdote in the Russian
Journal "Ancestors of Great Musicians” claim
ing that Marie Antoinette said, "A genius must
not be a Jew” and for the rest of his days
Mozart was a Christian; Chopin, because wdiile
his ancestry was unknown, his father is sup
posed to have come from the Polish Jewish
family, Szopin; (Please turn to Page 15)
MAURICE RAVEL
Modern French Compojcr
(51
the SOUTHERN ISRAELITE *