5 minute read
Contemporary Jewish Music
By Mark Kligman
Contemporary Jewish Music consists of a wide range of music in a variety of styles from folk and popular to art and the sacred. There is no universal form of Jewish music as musical styles are drawn from their surroundings. Most American Jews have heritage from Europe, while Jews from the Middle East draw from a different musical environment. Jewish melodies for Americans with European heritage contain modes and phrases that emerge to form a recognizable sonic landscape forming a tradition. Like the music from other cultures and religions, Jewish composers balance tradition (through words and music) with innovation to create contemporary music.
This program of contemporary Jewish music by Seraphic Fire presents many new works by various composers. Established Jewish folk melodies presented in a contemporary style provide a fresh approach to fuse tradition and innovation. Stacey Garrop’s Lo Yisa Goy is a Hebrew text taken from a passage in Isaiah 2:4: “May no nation rise up in war against another nation.” Garrop draws upon a melody from her childhood, a well-known melody by Shalom Altman, sung in Hebrew along with variants of the melody. She also includes English words in this work from Micah 3:3-4 to complement the message of not waging war. This is a contemplative tune that fits the texts as a prayer for peace.
Drawing upon known melodies is one approach of Jewish composers, another is writing music anew. The program will include the works by Julia Wolfe and Shulamit Ran, both accomplished composers. Guard My Tongue from Speaking (2009) by Julia Wolfe is set to a passage in Psalms 34:14: “Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.” The Jewish concept of “Lashon Hara” [guarding the evil tongue] is a religious practice to only speak kindly of others. Wolfe’s setting repeats the words “guard my tongue” with a percussive sound in the choir which emphasizes the importance of this Jewish concept. Shulamit Ran, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who was born in Israel and developed her career in the United States, wrote Shirim L’yom Tov – 4 Festival Songs for the Bar Mitzvah occasions of her two sons; she sets four biblical passages in Hebrew. The lyrical music conveys the festive and joyous nature of the texts.
Also represented in this program is the experience of Jewish Americans as Americans. Meredith Monk, a multi-talented artist known for treating the voice as an instrument, explores science fiction themes in her vocal music. Her Astronaut Anthem is a representation of this effort as the evocative sounds of another world are heard with the choir creating various ambient sounds. For Jews, America is seen as a place for artistic exploration since access to creative arts, through exposure or training, was not possible in prior generations for Jews born in Europe. As a land of opportunity, America provides an artist like Meredith Monk ways to express her ideas.
Another example is David Lang’s protect yourself from infection. Lang, also a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, is recognized as a leading musical innovator. His work on this program was a contribution to the Philadelphia-based Mütter Museum’s exhibition of the infamous parade during the great Spanish flu epidemic of 1918/1919. During the Covid pandemic, Lang wrote this work in 2020 to specifically commemorate the loss of thousands of individuals who, against medical advice, marched in a parade in Philadelphia on October 12, 1918. Philadelphia had the highest death rate during that pandemic. David Lang writes that he was named after his father’s cousin, Daniel Abraham Leibowitz, who, at 18, died during the Spanish flu epidemic. In the Jewish tradition, naming a child after a deceased relative is a way to acknowledge the life of the deceased. Lang’s composition is not connected to a Jewish text or melody but is connected to the memory of his deceased relative. Like Monk, Lang’s composition is a work by someone who is Jewish, and the context provides an opportunity for personal creative expression.
The works on this program showcase contemporary Jewish music by composers who are famous, others less well known and, in the case of Yoni Fogelman, just starting their careers. Drawing from Jewish texts in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English provides an intimate connection to the Jewish past. Sonically, some composers draw from known melodies allowing for innovation of the past. Other composers express their experiences as Americans who are Jewish through the personal encounters that are deep and significant; these musical works provide an entrée to that experience.
Mark Kligman is the inaugural holder of the Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music where he is a professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology, and is the Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience.
Listen to the concert playlist
