Re: Jews in Handel's time

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

Thanks.  I made a very similar point when this thread appeared, although on
somewhat less authority.  ancient Jewry was a major fascination for the British
in this period.  I suspect they barely made a connection between the ancients 
and
their Jewish contemporaries.



Joel Bresler wrote:

> Fred Blumenthal wrote (about the Handel oratoria "Judas Maccabeas")
>
> But I prefer the apocryphal story that Handel was advised to compose for
> royalty and the aristocracy, but wanted to see seats filled in the theater,
> and so wrote for the Jews.
>
> Yoel Epstein, aka Joel HaRishon, wrote:
>
> How fascinating. Does anyone know anything about the concertgoing habits of
> Jews in this period? Did Jews actually go to Handel's concerts, and did
> they constitute a significant part of the audience? What about in countries
> other than England?
>
> Joel Bresler, aka Joel HaSheni, wrote his brother in law's brother in law
> (it's a small Jewish world), Prof. Todd Endelman of the University of
> Michigan, author of "The Jews of Modern Britain, 1656 to 2000" and "The
> Jews of Georgian England, 1714-1830" and put the question to him. He replies:
>
> Dear Joel,
>
> I very much doubt that Jews attended performances of Handel's music during
> his lifetime. Few Jews in central and northern Europe would have been
> sufficiently acculturated that they would attend public concerts. There may
> have been a handful of wealthy Sephardim in Amsterdam and London who were
> concert goers, but they would hardly have been noticed. It is also
> important to remember that in the 18th century the overwhelming majority of
> Jews in central Europe did not live in big cities. They were scattered in
> small towns and villages. Berlin, for example, during Handel's lifetime was
> a backwater. Urbanization is a 19th-century phenomenon. In short, the story
> sounds entirely apocryphal. It says much more about those who believe it
> than it does about Jews of the past.
> ---
> Shabbat shalom,
>
> Joel HaSheni
>
> Joel Bresler
> 250 E. Emerson Rd.
> Lexington, MA 02420
> USA
>
> 781-862-4104 (Telephone & FAX)
> joel(dot)br (at) verizon(dot)net
>

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music and Jewish Studies
Adjunct Professor of American Studies
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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