RE: Jewish themes in Offenbach

[Yoel Epstein <yoel...>]

Here are some suggestions regarding Jewish themes in 19th century classical
music:

Joachim, Hebrew Melodies for viola and piano.

Bruch, Kol Nidrei (of course).  Bruch also wrote a choral work based on
Jewish themes, the name of which I have forgotten, but which someone else on
this list will surely remember. (Don't forget that Bruch was NOT himself
Jewish).

The St. Petersburg composers.  These were Jewish musicians trained at the
St. Petersburg Conservatory (where Anton Rubinstein taught).  They
rediscovered their Jewish ethnic roots, and wrote a corpus of works based on
Jewish music.  Some of the leaders were Joseph Achron, Joel Engel (who
immigrated to Palestine and was more or less the father of modern Israeli
folk music), Michael Gnessin, Israel Brand, Rosowsky, Shitomirsky.  If you
need references to specific pieces, I can help you a bit (I suggest
off-list).

I don't know of any specifically Jewish content in the music of Offenbach,
but you should certainly not ignore the operas of Halevy.  These operas deal
with specifically Jewish themes, and were quite popular in their day (still
are).

If you are looking at contemporary composers who wrote on Jewish themes,
don't forget Darius Milhaud.  His opera Esther de Carpentras is about the
Jewish community of Provence in the Middle Ages.  He has other works as well
that draw on Jewish themes.

As for Beethoven and Mozart: I know that the Adagio of opus 133 sounds
Jewish, but I have never seen any evidence that that is not mere
coincidence.  As for the Mozart Symphonia Concertante, I never heard the
claim that it was even Jewish-sounding, though, now that you mention it, I
suppose the slow movement could be construed that way.  In any case, Mozart
certainly didn't intend it.

Good luck with your course.

Yoel Epstein


>
> ------------------------------
> From: "Geraldine Auerbach" <jewishmusic (at) jmi(dot)org(dot)uk>
> To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> Subject: Jewish themes in Offenbach
> Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 00:19:29 +0100
> Message-ID: <BFEJLEMGNINDCIDNAIFOOEMKFIAA(dot)jewishmusic (at) 
> jmi(dot)org(dot)uk>
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>
> We have been approached by Ed Eisen with the following request. Can anyone
> think of anything
>
> Dear Jewish Music Institute,
> I have been collecting recordings of Jewish Music for some time.  I have a
> decent collection of the music of Isreali composers for Ben-Haim
> to Leef and
> Oram Schapira with all the guys in between like Seter, Sharif, Orgad,
> Ehrlich and others.  I also have collected the entartete series
> as issued by
> EMI.. Goldscmidt, Sculoff, Brautenfels (Jewish by the same standard that
> made Mendelsohn a 'Jewish' composer) Zemlinsky, Dessau (including his
> Haggudah).
> I am launching a course concerning Jewish Music next month and I have been
> looking for something - maybe you can help me out.  In the 19th century,
> Jews after the Haskalah were moving into the mainstream Mayerbeer
> and Halevy
> and maybe Mendelsohn and others.  I have been looking for
> examples of Jewish
> music in the works that they produced.  I have fouun 'Kol Nidrei' in the
> adagio section of Beethoven String Quartet No. 14, op. 133 and
> Jewish themes
> in the K364 of Mozart.  I am looking for what would be Jewish citations in
> the music of Offenbach who was the son of Cantor Herbst of Offenbach,
> Germany.. Are there any citations in the music of Offenbach that you know
> of?  Thank you   ed eisen
>
> Geraldine
>
> Jewish Music Institute

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