In this landmark of musical scholarship, the leading 20th-century authority on Jewish music describes and analyzes its elements and characteristics, and chronicles its development from the earliest appearance of Semitic song 2000 years ago to the early 20th century. Liberally illustrating every type of music discussed, the book examines the music as a tonal expression of Judaism, Jewish life and the spiritual aspects of Jewish culture.
Shiloah (musicology, Hebrew U. of Jerusalem ) discusses the manner in which the 2,000-year-old Jewish musical heritage meshes with the complex web of Jewish history by way of central themes such as the relation of music to religion, music and the world of the Kabbalah, and music in communal life. He considers technical and theoretical approaches, as well as art music, folk music, and performance practices of poets, vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Music in the Hebrew Bible investigates musical citations in the Hebrew Bible and their relevance for our times. Most biblical musical references are addressed, either alone or as a grouping, and each is considered from a modern perspective. The book consists of one hundred brief essays divided into four parts. Part one offers general overviews of musical contexts, recurring musical-biblical themes and discussions of basic attitudes and tendencies of the biblical authors and their society. Part two presents essays uncovering what the Torah (Pentateuch) has to say about music, both literally and allegorically. The third part includes studies on music's place in Nevi'im (Prophets) and the perceived link between musical expression and human-divine contact. Part four is comprised of essays on musical subjects derived from the disparate texts of Ketuvim (Writings).
Music was integral to the daily life of ancient Israel. It accompanied activities as diverse as manual labor and royal processionals. At key junctures and in core institutions, musical tones were used to deliver messages, convey emotions, strengthen communal bonds and establish human-divine contact. This book explores the intricate and multifaceted nature of biblical music through a detailed look into four major episodes and genres: the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15), King Saul and David's harp (1 Sam. 16), the use of music in prophecy, and the Book of Psalms. This investigation demonstrates how music helped shape and define the self-identity of ancient Israel.
This is a translation by Dennis Weber, edited by John Wheeler and jointly published with King David's Harp, in which a noted French musicologist argues that the accentual system preserved in the Masoretic Text was originally a method of recording hand signals (chironomy) by which temple musicians were directed in the performance of music. She explains her reconstruction of these notations which has allowed her to perform haunting and beautiful music around the worlds using only the Hebrew text as a score.
This volume of the Casden Institute's The Jewish Role in American Life annual series introduces new scholarship on the long-standing relationship between Jewish-Americans and the worlds of American popular music. Edited by scholar and critic Josh Kun, the essays in the volume blend single-artist investigations with looks at the industry of music making as a whole. They range from Jewish sheet music to the risqué musical comedy of Belle Barth and Pearl Williams, from the role of music in the shaping of Henry Ford's anti-Semitism to Bob Dylan's Jewishness, from the hybridity of the contemporary "Radical Jewish Culture" scene to the Yiddish experiments of 1930s African-American artists. Contents: Foreword (Gayle Wald); Introduction (Josh Kun); "Cohen Owes Me Ninety-Seven Dollars, and other Tales from the Jewish Sheet- Music Trade" (Jody Rosen); "'Dances Partake of the Racial Characteristics of the People Who Dance Them' : Nordicism, Antisemitism, and Henry Ford's Old Time Music and Dance Revival" (Peter La Chapelle); "Ovoutie Slanguage is Absolutely Kosher: Yiddish in Scat- Singing, Jazz Jargon, and Black Music" (Jonathan Z. S. Pollack); "'If I Embarrass You, Tell Your Friends' : Belle Barth, Pearl Williams, and the Space of the Risque" (Josh Kun); "'Here's a foreign song I learned in Utah' : The Anxiety of Jewish Influence in the Music of Bob Dylan" (David Kaufman); "Jazz Liturgy, Yiddishe Blues, Cantorial Death Metal, and Free Klez: Musical Hybridity in Radical Jewish Culture" (Jeff Janeczco).
In Judaism and Islam One God One Music, Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad offers the first substantial study of the history and nature of the Jewish Paraliturgical Song, which developed in the Arabo-Islamic civilization between the tenth and the twentieth centuries.
