RE: What is Jewish Music - the Metaquestion

[Jonathan Gordon <jbgordon...>]

A couple of thoughts, stirred by the excellent postings of late.
Sam's point about the importance of our penchant for wrestling with
conscience is a very good one, and I. also, take pride in it. I wonder
exactly you mean, Sam, by the burden of self-examination of National
identity being lifted for Israelis at the creation of the state. From my
friends in Israel and my own observation I have learned that  the current
moral crisis has raised rather than minimized the significance and the
difficulty of that process. Who and what is Israel is an issue yet to be
decided.

Speaking to music per se, the contradistinction agaisnst Hungarian music
seems to dim, rather than enlighten the landscape for me.  I am sure that
many dedicated Nationalistic musicologists, composers and musicians are
trying to perpetuate the heritage of their own countries as we do.  I think
of the work of various composers, the Russian 5, Bartok, et al. I would
guess that the dialectic between to the need for authentic materials in the
music itself and the desire to foster the vitality of the culture as a whole
obtains in both our world and theirs.  Hungarians may have it no easier than
we do.
Jonathan Gordon