Re: What is Jewish Music?

[L_Cahan <L_Cahan...>]

Relax, it wasn't a challenge!  I just wanted to know what you all felt.  This 
is a
discussion forum, isn't it?

Alex Lubet wrote:

> >How about the case of the man who asked a question of our list recently about
> >klezmer music to be referenced in a work being written to honor Holocaust
> >survivors, written by someone not Jewish:  is that Jewish music?
> >
> I could provide an answer to this particular case, but in the long
> run that would be unproductive.  It would be better for you to
> attempt to apply the definition and come up with your own answer.
>
> I attempted to provide a means to evaluate cases which I stated was
> fluid and contingent and which permitted many variables of agency
> regarding the 'use' of music.  I had no intention of providing a
> formula that was failsafe and upon which everyone engaged in this
> debate would agree.  If one attempts to answer this question on a
> case-by-case basis in which only the composition and the composer are
> considered, I would recommend revisiting the definition, because
> using music and composing it are neither the same thing nor mutually
> inclusive.  I'm also not interested in playing stump the band with
> people who want to poke holes in the definition I provided.  I'm
> personally quite happy with it and pleased that it continues to
> provoke discussion, which is may be as much as one can ask of an
> idea.  In my experience of having debated the definition of Jewish
> music for many years, I've found that most people who don't like my
> definition either provide one that is far more limiting (often
> revolving around nusach or liturgy) or throw their hands up in the
> air and say it can't be defined.
>
> If you don't like my definition, come up with your own.  I'm actually
> quite capable of generating my own problematic cases and my own
> ambivalent answers.  Since there's no universally accepted definition
> of either music or Jewish, the problem a complex.
>
> --
> Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
> Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
> Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
> University of Minnesota
> 100 Ferguson Hall
> Minneapolis, MN 55455
> 612 624-7840 (o)
> 612 699-1097 (h)
> 612 624-8001  ATTN:  Alex Lubet (FAX)
>

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