Jewish music

Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. It includes both religious music, like songs sung at the synagogue and in homes during prayers, and secular music, such as klezmer. Some parts of Jewish music may have started in biblical times, like Biblical music, but different Jewish communities developed their own rhythms and sounds based on where they lived.

In the nineteenth century, changes in religious practices led to new religious songs that used styles from classical music. Around the same time, scientists began studying Jewish music using a field called ethnomusicology. Experts like Edwin Seroussi say that what we call Jewish music today comes from many history events and influences. Many modern Jewish composers have been inspired by these different musical traditions.

Religious Jewish music

Main article: Religious Jewish music

The history of religious Jewish music goes back a long way, starting with songs and melodies used in special services. The earliest music in Jewish places of worship was similar to what was used in a special building called the Temple. It included choirs and instruments like lyres, harps, and drums. After the Temple was destroyed, these traditions continued in new places called synagogues.

Jewish prayer music uses special musical patterns called modes. These help identify different types of prayers and connect them to certain times of the year or day. Cantors, who lead the singing, used to make up their own tunes within these patterns. Later, many of these tunes were written down, but some cantors still create their own music today.

Traditional Jewish services usually don’t use instruments. The main singer, called a cantor, leads the songs, and the congregation responds. In some older traditions, special voices would accompany the cantor during certain parts of the service. There are many types of songs used in Jewish services, including special poems and hymns that have been sung for centuries. These songs come from different parts of the Jewish world and are sung in Hebrew, Aramaic, or other languages.

Main article: Jewish prayer modes

Secular Jewish music

Main article: Secular Jewish music

Secular Jewish music and dances have been shaped by both the traditions of nearby cultures and Jewish traditions passed down through time.

Klezmer

Main article: Klezmer

In the 15th century, Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe created a tradition of secular Jewish music. Musicians called kleyzmorim or kleyzmerim performed dance songs for weddings and celebrations. These songs were usually in Yiddish.

Sephardic/Ladino

Main article: Sephardic music

Sephardic music began in medieval Spain, where songs were performed at royal courts. Over time, it absorbed influences from Spain, Morocco, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, and more. Sephardic songs include topical and entertainment songs, romance songs, and spiritual or ceremonial songs. Lyrics can be in several languages, including Hebrew for religious songs, and Ladino.

These traditions spread from Spain to Morocco (the Western Tradition) and parts of the Ottoman Empire (the Eastern Tradition), including Greece, Jerusalem, the Balkans, and Egypt. Sephardic music adapted to each place, taking in North African high-pitched sounds, Balkan rhythms, such as in ⁹
₈ time, and the Turkish maqam mode.

Jewish art music

Preclassical, classical, romantic and 20th-century composers

Salamone Rossi (1570 – c. 1630) of Mantua created a series of choral pieces called "The Songs of Solomon", based on Jewish religious and biblical texts.

Many famous musicians from Jewish families in the 1800s created beautiful music, but it wasn't always connected to Jewish traditions. Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880), a well-known composer of light operas, grew up with Jewish music, but his own music didn't reflect that style. Felix Mendelssohn, who was a grandson of a famous Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, remembered his Jewish roots even after he converted to Christianity. Though he sometimes used Christian ideas in his music, none of it can be called Jewish in style.

The Jewish national revival in art music

Main article: Jewish art music

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, many Jewish composers wanted to create a special Jewish sound in their music. A group called the St. Petersburg Society for Jewish Folkmusic, led by Joel Engel, traveled to Jewish villages called "shtetls" in Russia. They collected thousands of traditional Yiddish songs and turned them into new pieces for voices and instruments. This music mixed the sad melodies of the shtetl with the rich harmonies of famous Russian composers.

Jewish composers outside of Russia also wanted to explore their musical heritage. Ernest Bloch (1880–1959), who moved from Switzerland to the United States, wrote pieces like Schelomo for cello and orchestra, and Sacred Service, which was the first to set Jewish prayers in a grand orchestral style. Bloch said he was inspired by the deep emotions and strong sense of fairness in Jewish tradition.

Darius Milhaud (1892–1974) grew up hearing the music of Jewish families in Aix-en-Provence, which greatly influenced his work. His opera Esther de Carpentras shows this influence. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968), who moved from Italy to America before World War II, often used Jewish themes in his music, including songs in Ladino, the language of Sephardic Jews.

Israeli music

Main article: Music of Israel

In the 1930s, many talented Jewish musicians moved to what is now Israel. They wanted to create a new kind of music that reflected Israel's growing identity. These composers often avoided older Jewish music styles like Klezmer, feeling it did not match the strong spirit they wanted for their new nation. Over time, this led to the creation of a lot of new and beautiful Israeli art music. Today, famous Israeli composers include Betty Olivero, Tsippi Fleischer, Mark Kopytman, and Yitzhak Yedid.

From the beginning of Jewish settlement in Israel, people wrote popular songs. Early songs used tunes from German, Russian, or traditional Jewish music but with new Hebrew words. Later, in the 1920s, they tried to make a special Hebrew music style, borrowing ideas from Arabic and other Middle Eastern music. This new style helped connect people to their past and stand out from older Jewish music.

Youth, labor, and community groups helped grow this music, especially before and after Israel became a nation in 1948. They used music to build a new national identity and to teach new immigrants the Hebrew language. Today, public singing is still a big part of Israeli culture.

Main article: Mizrahi music

Mizrahi music is a modern style in Israel that mixes Israeli music with sounds from Arabic and Mediterranean music, like from Greece. These songs often feature violins or string instruments and include Middle Eastern rhythms. A well-known singer in this style is Zohar Argov.

Non-Jewish composers using Jewish music

Some composers who are not Jewish have used Jewish music in their work.

For example, Maurice Ravel created pieces called Mélodies hébraïques for violin and piano. Max Bruch arranged a Jewish prayer called Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra. Sergei Prokofiev wrote Overture on Hebrew Themes using traditional Jewish songs. Dmitri Shostakovich also used Jewish music in some of his works, like the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry and his 13th symphony named Babi Yar.