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 The Chronicle #60/2002 200 Years of Jewish Music in America Precis of a three-part course inaugurating the HUC-JIR/FAU partnership Dr. Mark Kligman Associate Professor of Jewish Musicology, HUC-JIR/NY 
The
history of Jewish music in America can be divided into four periods,
each about 50 years in duration. The first period, 1800-1850, was
a reflection of the largely German immigrants. Liturgical music
consisted of traditional chant singing and early reforms, most significantly
heard in the hymn singing. The Protestant style of worship was the
model for emancipated Jewry.
The change to the second period, 1850- 1900, began with the publication of Salomon Sulzer's Schir Zion (1840). His significant contribution was twofold: 1) some compositions kept traditional melodies but added harmonization showing classical and romantic musical influence; 2) new liturgical compositions that artfully expressed the liturgy with cantor, choir, and later organ. Composers in both Central and Eastern Europe (Naumbourg, Lewandowski, Gerovitch, and Nowakowsky) furthered these developments. Jews in America were recipients of the European music changes - as people immigrated to America they brought their music with them. A transition to the third period, 1900-1950, was the Golden Age of the Cantorate (1880-1930). This phenomenon coincided with the largest wave of migration of Jews from Eastern Europe to America. The cantors of this era combined the traditional nusach with operatic embellishments. This liturgical style gave way to an American liturgical style where some compositions made use of nusach and others were newly composed works that explored new harmonies, colors, and textures. Many of the composers of this era (Binder, Freed, Fromm, Piket, and Helfman) were founders and active faculty members of HUC-JIR School of Sacred Music. The fourth period, 1950-present, has been a post World War II circumstance where European musical traits are less common. During this period liturgical music was met with an interesting challenge. As synagogue attendance declined, music was typically seen as the "culprit." In the 1970s a younger generation of American-born Jews saw themselves as "American Jews" and crafted a new sound to express this new identity. The NFTY camp music had a significant impact on the Reform movement, yet the phenomenon was simultaneous in all corners of the Jewish community. At present, the challenge of synagogue music is no different from the same challenge of synagogue life: to create a service where music draws from the past but is rooted in modern sensibilities, with an aesthetic that is inviting yet distinct from other parts of life. Outside the synagogue, Jewish music has grown significantly in the 20th century. European genres of Jewish music (cantorial, klezmer, hassidic, and Yiddish) were seen as harbingers to the past in the last few decades of the 20th century. In the realm of popular and artistic forms of Jewish music, songwriters, performers, and composers seek to draw eclectically from the past yet form new dimensions to the growth of Jewish music. Composers Ernst Bloch and Leonard Bernstein put aspects of Jewish music in the concert hall; Sam Adler, David Diamond, Steve Reich, and others have continued this trend. Recorded Jewish music has increased greatly since the 1970s. Some have estimated that well over 10,000 recordings of Jewish music have been made in the last thirty years. Another way to view the impact of Jewish music in America popular culture is to see the growth of klezmer music, now regularly part of concert series not only in communities but in concert halls and jazz clubs, as well. Liturgical music too has made an impact on popular music. Kenny G has recorded a Shabbat service and Barbara Striesand's recording Higher Ground includes a rendition of Max Janowski's Avinue Malkeinu. |
