RE: Leor Holtzman and origins of Klezmer and Jewish music

[medelman <medelman...>]

I think it's important to remember that MiSinai tunes are exclusively a part
of Ashkenazic worship.  It would be egocentric in the extreme - not to
mention wrong! - to presume that God handed Ashkenazic nusach to Moses and
his band of Middle Eastern natives whose only frame of musical reference at
the time would have been Egyptian music.  The better-documented origin of
the MiSinai tunes as having emerged in Germany between the 11 - 15th
centuries as a result of interaction with the larger Christian society is
the one on which we should rely.  (See Eric Werner's "The Sacred Bridge" for
more on this subject).  It does not diminish the high regard in which the
MiSinai tunes -- and indeed, the traditional tunes of all Jewish
communities - are held to acknowledge that their origins are less than
divine.  In fact, one would be very hard-pressed to find ANY Jewish musical
tradition that is exclusively based in uniquely Jewish life and practice,
let alone divine in origin.  The Hasidim do believe that there is divine
inspiration in all acts of human creation, and this should be more than
enough for us.

Marsha Bryan Edelman
  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
[mailto:owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org]On Behalf Of Fred Blumenthal
  Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 10:19 AM
  To: World music from a Jewish slant
  Subject: Leor Holtzman and origins of Klezmer and Jewish music



  Leor Holtzman wrote an inquiry about the origins of Klezmer and Jewish
music, and Ari Davidow provided some links to further information.  But I
wonder if the concept of the MiSinai Tunes has been mentioned.  According to
tradition, not only did Moses receive the written Torah on Mt. Sinai, he
also received all of Oral Torah, and he also received the MiSinai Tunes -
the motives that are the direct ancestors of Torah trope, Haftarah trope and
the Prayer Modes.  My understanding is that, in turn, the Prayer Modes are
the direct ancestor of klezmer modes; and that "scientific" musicology says
that the Prayer Modes evolved in Europe within the last 1000 years or so.

  Fred Blumenthal
  xd2fabl (at) us(dot)ibm(dot)com