Re: Max Bruch/Kol Nidrei: Redux nokhamol!

[Sylvie Braitman <curlySylvie...>]

To Michael Spudic
Michael, thanks you for your mail. This is fascinating info!
I would see why Bruch's family had to make sure they were categorized as non 
Jewish in 1933. I agree with you on the lack of context on the part of Fifield. 
And yes these are muddy waters...
Two notes:
-this tells, again and again about the hate/love relationship between German 
and Jews. The mutual fascination/repulsion thing... A German composer writting 
on a Jewish theme (Ravel did the same, and so did Shostakovitch, and who 
else?). 
Even if he did it for fame or money, it still proves the importance of Jewish 
culture in German affairs in the beginning of last century.
Also I'll quote Salcia Landmann about a 1382 German music manuscript:" You 
could hardly imagine a more shattering document of German-Jewish symbiosis in 
the Middle Ages: the oldest, comprehensive Jewish-German written document is a 
German legend. And the oldest version of this German legend is a Jewish piece 
of writing!"
-it's probably my own fantasy, but what if he was a Jew who converted, or from 
a converted family?.... Not Bruch, but Baruch. Thus the intensity in proving 
they are not Jews in 1933. Just letting my imagination wander....
 
The notes from The Grove Music encyclopedia are that Bruch loved folk music as 
an inspiration for his melodies.That during his stay in Berlin, he conducted a 
choral group, whose Jewish members gave him the material used in Kol Nidrei. 
But of course, an encyclopedia is not expected to dig deep in these matters...

Voila,

Sylvie Braitman

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Spudicmikhl (at) aol(dot)com 
  To: World music from a Jewish slant 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 8:07 PM
  Subject: Max Bruch/Kol Nidrei: Redux nokhamol!


       Hi Sylvie and Judy, just wanted to chime in a little further on the 
issue of Max Bruch's religious origins and present the topic in light of a 
biography of Max Bruch that I stumbled upon a few years ago at a bookfair at a 
synagogue in Queens, 
  New York.  After Sylvie's question came up, I pulled that book off the shelve 
once more and examined it with the issue in mind of understanding the 
connection between Bruch and Judaism.   Let me give this my best attempt. 

        In what is probably the definitive English language biography of Max 
Bruch, written by Christopher Fifield, "Max Bruch - His Life and Works" (New 
York, George Braziller, 1988), there is a passage just before Chapter One, and 
following the Preface, found under the title "Origins."  I find it curiously 
worded and thought I would quote the most relevant paragraph concerning the 
topic of Bruch's religious affiliation: 

        "It has been erroneously recorded in such books as Kohut's "Beruehmte   
                    juedische Maenner und Frauen,"Gunther's "Rassenkunde des 
deutschen Volkes," and Zaleski's "Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race," that 
Max Bruch was Jewish.  This was refuted by the composer, by his daughter 
Margarethe and his youngest son Ewald, and by Professor Felix Bruch, a 
descendant of the composer's cousin. During the Third Reich an attempt was 
again made to label Bruch a Jew, but in November 1933 this was corrected at the 
insistence of his family.  Bruch himself always considered that the composition 
of Kol Nidrei was the reason for the confusion." 

        For such an exhaustive biography from whence the above quotation, 
strangely there is very little commentary regarding this question of Bruch (who 
died in 1920) and his encounter with "Jewish music."  One would logically 
expect this as witnessed by the ensuing reception history of what is probably 
his most popular work aside from his G minor Violin Concerto. 
         
        Christopher Fifiled, an English scholar, in my estimation is 
malignantly short on words about this topic.  I make this judgement from not 
only the fact that he quotes a Nazi German source ("Handbuch der Judenfrage," 
ed.32, 1933) to substantiate that in November 1933 the Bruch family corrected 
the attempt to label Bruch a Jew.   The source for this last statement is a 
footnote, rather than mentioned by name in the body of the text as the other 
sources above it, as if to lessen the impact of it being of Nazi provenance.  
It's a shame that Fifield has absolutely no commentary on this source material 
and being in a position to write an extended study of the composer, one would 
think that this topic would have been explored with a little more rigor.   
        
         Finally, to push matters a little bit futher, there is a quote from 
Bruch to Emil Kamphausen (referred to as a "philistine friend" in a prior 
letter exchange).  Bruch discusses the provenance of the two melodies that he 
utilized in his setting of the "Kol Nidre" and there is the following quote: 
         
         "I got to know both melodies in Berlin, where I had much to do with 
the 
  children of Israel in the Choral Society.  The success of "Kol Nidrei" is     
         assured, because all the Jews in the world are for it eo ipso"  
(January 31, 1882).   

        Aside from the fact that Fifield makes in my opinion a translator's 
misjudgement in rendering the highly poeticized German expression much too 
literally as "children of Israel,"  ("Jews" or "Jewish members" would have done 
the trick) but again, there is no commentary; he really could have 
contextualized Bruch's attitude as expressed in this quote.   

        As exhaustive as this biography portends to be in its 351 pages of 
detailed discussion about Bruch's life and work, except for a direct quote of 
source material there is very little reflection on the topic of Bruch's 
attitude towards the "Kol Nidre" or more importantly, no attempt by this 
biography to place the question of Bruch's origins into a more formidable bas 
relief.  Is it enough to provide sans commentary that Bruch's immediate family 
was annoyed to be considered Jewish? Or quote without commentary Bruch's 
written comment to a "philistine friend" that if  his work is popular among 
Jews, it will be popular around the world "eo ipso."   In other words, Jews are 
in such powerful positions to collectively popularize music that "they" 
uniformly deem to be worthy.  Do I need to say there's dangerous territory 
hinted at here.   

        Without more commentary, you might easily infer that Bruch and his 
family were not particular pleased to be affiliated with the "children of 
Israel."  Granted, from this biography, and the way the information is 
stacked--and with such a dirth of commentary on the salient issue of Bruch and 
his connection to Judaism-- I believe it would be unfair to already make any 
such accusation that the composer of such a uniquely touching work was less 
than a mentsh, although this may very well be the case. 

        Regardless of the verdict, Pablo Casals recording of Bruch's "Kol 
Nidrei," prior to World War II will remain as simply one of the most beautiful, 
heartfelt, musical recordings ever committed to vinyl.  Perhaps some other list 
members with access to more source material could shed further light on this 
topic.   

  Michael Spudic 
  New York