Ma'oz Tsur

[Sam Weiss <samweiss...>]

Robert Cohen wrote:

     >And the (universally sung) traditional melody to
     >"Ma'oz Tsur" is, I believe, universally accepted
     >to have been adapted from two (or maybe three)
     >German folk/popular melodies, one of which
     >was adopted by Martin Luther (a great friend of the
     > Jews ...) as the first hymn of the Lutheran church.


The context ("borrowing church melodies") of the above lines implies 
(and follow-up postings confirm) the unwarranted leap from the fact that 
(a) Jews borrowed a melody and (b) Luther also borrowed it, then (c) 
Jews borrowed a church melody(!). The whole "universally accepted" 
understanding, moreover, is built on a very shaky foundation. In a 
posting that I sent to another list I had occasion to comment on this in 
connection to similar sensationalist oft-told tales about the standard 
Eyn Keyloheynu tune (composed in 1841 by Julius Freudenthal):

<< The traditional Ma'oz Tzur melody supposedly has two segments that 
"were originally" a Lutheran hymn and a drinking song. Regarding the 
Lutheran hymn, according to Idelsohn ("Jewish Music in its Historical 
Development" p.171) "...only the first four and last two bars are to be 
found in Ma'oz Tzur". If you look carefully at his musical example 
(p.173) you'll see that even this relationship is a big stretch.[*] 
Luther took the melody for his hymn, moreover, from a German folksong. 
As far as the "drinking song," it's really a battle song; the similarity 
is limited and vague; and there still remain segments in Ma'oz Tzur that 
don't resemble any specific melody (though Eric Werner on p. 90 of "A 
Voice Still Heard" probes this further.) Idelsohn wasn't even claiming 
to trace origins; all he's trying to show are "the typical German 
characteristics" of Ma'oz Tzur. (Duh!) In actuality, German Synagogue 
singers, drunks, soldiers, and Luther drew from musical sources in common.>>

[*] BTW you can hear the Lutheran melody at 
http://www.lutheranhymnal.com/german/agerman_tlh.html
Click on the "tune" link next to "Nun freut euch, liebe Christen g'mein"

______________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ

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