Re: Max Bruch, Penny's worth

[Spudicmikhl <Spudicmikhl...>]

In a message dated 1/31/2002 3:19:31 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
combrink (at) herzlia(dot)com writes:


> At the risk of offending every-one on the list, my penny's worth. I am
> Catholic but work at a Jewish School in South Africa. Why should it seem odd
> for a non-Jew to write a "Kol Nidrei", and why would it have to be placed in
> a "repulsion-fascination" paradigm?
> 

       Hi Albert,

             Believe me Albert, as much as it is fascinating that you are a 
Catholic working at a Jewish School in South Africa, please be aware that 
there are a mulitude of opinions expressed on this list from people of every 
background, including non-Jewish.   It would be hard to offend every-one on 
this list.  

       As to the question of why it should seem odd for a non-Jew to write a 
"Kol-Nidrei" and that this question should be placed into a 
"repulsion-fascination" paradigm, I'm wondering how you inferred this issue 
from the discussion thus far. As this is a list concerned with Jewish music, 
and historical antecedents such as the European holocaust do have 
implications upon the further development of a tradition of Jewish music,  I 
believe it is relevant to discuss issues such as Wagner's anti-semitism. 

       Or in a more latent sense, the idea that a non-Jew would write music 
based on Jewish sources (perfectly plausible) and in the context of 
pre-holocaust Europe?  Is it not relevant to examine what it was that would 
cause Bruch and later his family to double over backwards to explain that 
they weren't Jewish.  I just found the explanation in this comprehensive 
biography a little bit "dry" and unyielding on this subject.  Also I'm not 
trying to imply that Bruch and his family needed to be absolute philo-semites 
in order for me to enjoy his setting of the "Kol Nidrei."   Bruch lived 
through the Bismarckian period and was a champion of German Unification, was 
very much a nationalist, and with that political foundation it should come as 
no surprise that he would enjoy the musical mileage that his setting of the 
"Kol Nidrei" would garner among Jewish communities around the world (witness 
his letter that I cited, whereby Bruch mentions this "added bonus") while at 
the same time, find it expedient to deny that he was Jewish when the topic 
would come up.  Of course, with Hitler's ascension to power, his family found 
it even more than expedient to contact the appropriate authorities to 
formalize their Christian status.  
       
       Finally, on a more personal note, as someone raised Catholic in New 
York, I truly understand the universalist thrust of your email, and the 
issues raised.  But again, I respectfully disagree that there ever was a 
focus upon whether a non-Jew can set the "Kol-Nidrei."  In light of the 
murder and expulsion of millions of Jews from Christian Europe, I would not 
purport to sit here and explain what were the roots of that.  However, when 
participating in a forum that has a focus upon Jewish music (and by extension 
Jewish culture and history), I truly believe that the mindset of a Max Bruch 
is truly interesting when considering the Jewish/German historical 
experience, not to mention the physical and psycological onus of being a Jew 
in Europe into the 1930s. Yes, being a musician and looking at music from a 
musician's perspective is most valid and relevant.  But without more context, 
one fails to see the greater forest (or sorry to say often greater wasteland) 
from the humble trees.  That context does not have to question the artistic 
greatness of an artist's work, but can inform us at other levels that clearly 
enrich the aesthetic experience. 

PS   You mentioned Albert that you had never heard of the "Kol Nidrei" being 
performed during religious services. On this list, there was a discussion 
about the theremin several months ago, and someone wrote that in Los Angeles, 
there is a tradition at one of the synagogues of listening to Bruch's setting 
of the "Kol Nidrei" as performed on a theremin!  That's America, that's 
eclecticism, and I guess that is the complex situation of the multitude and 
variety of music heard in synagogues around the world.