Jews in Music

From the Age of Enlightenment to the Mid-Twentieth Century

Artur Holde

• Publisher: Philosophical Library/Open Road
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781504066839
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

This authoritative history chronicles the work and lives of great Jewish musicians around the world from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth. Since the Age of Enlightenment, Jewish musicians, composers, and musicologists have greatly enriched the artistic legacies of cultures and countries on a global scale. Their contributions have been a major influence on numerous musical forms, both secular and sacred. Jews in Music presents a survey of these accomplishments through the rise of Zionism, the settlement of the Jewish Homeland, and the burgeoning Jewish music developments in America. Jews in Music presents a detailed history ranging from the symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn to the Broadway musicals of Leonard Bernstein, from the great touring violinists of Western Europe to the pioneers of commercial music recording. Plus, a section on sacred music explores in depth the evolution of the musical components of the synagogue, including the chants, compositions, and traditional songs of the chazzanim.

Secular Music

VII

Composers

Halévy—Meyerbeer—Mendelssohn—Offenbach

Even if, before the emancipation, musical talent had concentrated in European Jewry so strongly as to hold the promise of great achievements in composition, the conditions of life would hardly have made their realization possible. A backward glance at the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries will easily explain this. There were no bridges between the Jews and the cultural life of their surroundings which might have facilitated the development of musical activity on a large scale. First the laws barring Jews from most professions had to be relaxed and finally repealed, and freedom in the choice of residence granted before the ground was prepared for the participation of Jews in the general scientific and artistic activity. This process, at first limited mainly to western and central Europe, was often speeded up by conversion to Christianity.

At the same time fundamental changes in the entire social structure took place in France. The leaders of the revolution of 1789 had declared equal rights for the Jewish population to be an important part of their program. But the National Assembly that followed granted many of the vigorous demands only hesitatingly. However, they did agree in principle to all changes of laws concerning the Jews. Thus, France became the first European country where a Jewish composer could attain highest honors.

This first one was Jacques François Fromental Elias Halévy (1799, Paris—1862, Nice). He was the son of the scribe Elias Levy who had come from Fuerth, Bavaria. According to a government order, the latter had prefixed his name with the Hebrew article “Ha” so as to distinguish him from fellow–citizens of the same name. At the age of ten, already, his son passed the difficult entrance examination at the Paris Conservatoire, and twice won the “Grand Prix de Rome.” His teacher in composition was Luigi Cherubini. Young Halévy actively identified himself with Judaism, composing a Hebrew cantata with an opening funeral march in honor of the deceased Duc de Berry, which was first performed in the Synagogue in the Rue St. Avoye. The operas he wrote in Rome, Les Bohémiennes, Pygmalion and Les Deux Pavilions, never reached the operatic stage. Halévy was more fortunate with the amusing satire on Italian opera librettos, Le Dilettante d’Avignon. After some more or less successful operas and ballets the composer reached the zenith of his career in La Juive. Deeply moved as a Jew by the subject matter so effectively prepared by Eugène Scribe, he here displayed his full dramatic power as well as his leaning toward theatrical effects through pomp and pageantry. Alone among his thirty stage works, La Juive survived its creator by many decades. The genius of Verdi and Wagner increasingly crowded him out of the repertories. Halévy’s contribution to Jewish liturgical music will be evaluated elsewhere. As a teacher Halévy has had a considerable influence on a whole generation of French composers. Among his pupils were Gounod and Bizet. The latter became his son–in–law, and, apparently for that reason, has often wrongly been assumed to be a Jew. Essays, lectures and reviews by Halévy afford an interesting insight into French musical life of his time.

Another celebrity of the same period in operatic life has likewise receded into the background. Although he figures prominently in all music histories, Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791, Berlin—1864, Paris) has completely lost the large space he once occupied on opera programs. With our changed ideas and esthetics a revival can hardly be expected. But the dramatic pathos of Meyerbeer has exercised its stylistic influence down to the present time, to mention but Puccini and Schreker. For almost two generations his principal works ruled supreme in the world’s opera houses. The explanation for this is that his style, or rather his styles, have good qualities which cover up many of his weaknesses. However, the enthusiasm of the large public was in no way shared by the judgment of authoritative musicians and critics of his time. Robert Schumann, especially, who, with all the onesidedness of his artistic views, to a large degree represented the esthetic conscience of his time as related to music, called attention to the vulnerable spots in the work of Meyerbeer.

The composer started life under more fortunate auspices than most musicians. His father, Herz Beer, was a banker from Frankfurt who had gained considerable wealth in Berlin and took a great interest in the arts. He and his wife, a woman of exceptional spiritual and human qualities, strongly influenced the development of the son. Jacob, who, during his Italian period, changed his first name to Giacomo, combined his grandfather’s name, Meyer, with that of his father. In this he followed the last wish of his grandfather, who also bequeathed to the grandson a considerable fortune in order to safeguard the future of the young musician. The father secured for his son the best teachers of composition available in Berlin, Karl Friedrich Zelter and Bernhard Anselm Weber, and, later on, the famous Abbot Vogler who lived in Darmstadt. There Meyerbeer became a close friend of Carl Maria von Weber. Products of his Darmstadt period are the oratorio, Gott und die Natur, which brought him the title of Hessian Court Composer, and the scenic oratorio, Jephta’s Geluebde, in which he adopted the German contrapuntal style of Vogler. Young Meyerbeer had his first operatic success in Stuttgart with the comic opera, Abimelek or Die beiden Kalifen. In Vienna the court conductor, Salieri, advised him to familiarize himself with the effective treatment of the human voice in Italy, the classic land of bel canto. Meyerbeer adopted the Italian operatic style with the same ease with which a talented linguist assimilates the vocabulary and specific characteristics of a foreign idiom. He wrote a string of works with Italian texts, the last of which was the opera, Il Crociato in Egitto, wildly acclaimed in Venice. Self–criticism and the unfavorable opinions of close friends caused the composer to revise his method thoroughly. He started by shaking off the yoke of mass production forced upon him in Italy where at least one new work had to be brought out each season. In Paris, his new abode, he began to study the history, art and characteristics of the French people. He also tried to acquaint himself systematically with the stylistic conditions of the old French opera. In this transformation of style he combined Lully’s dramatic energy with the rhythmic and melodic charms of the music of Méhul, Cherubini and Halévy. An additional valuable element was the solid technique of part writing acquired in the German school. The uncritical tunesmith now turned into a fussy workman, going cautiously about his business and tortured by lengthy deliberation. Due to this slow creative process only four more grand operas saw the light during more than three decades, not counting minor dramatic works, such as Dinorah and L’Etoile du Nord.

It is not easy to understand how a man as cultured and sensitive as Meyerbeer could have worked up a taste for Eugène Scribe’s disjointed and theatrical text for Robert le Diable. Surprising scenic effects, caressing melodies, colorful instrumentation and dramatic force form the key to the enthusiasm of the public of his day which, for the greater part, made very modest demands in matters of opera. In spite of the confusion of hardly believable events difficult to unravel, the plot of Les Huguenots is artistically more attractive. The large ensembles display scenes of bold contrast. For the tragic love of Raoul and Valentine the composer finds tones full of tenderness and inner warmth. In Le Prophète Eugène Scribe builds moving scenes against the fiery background of the anabaptist episode in Muenster. The composer infuses the happenings with music full of brooding pathos. To his last opera, L’Africaine, likewise written together with Scribe, Meyerbeer devoted more time and energy than to any of the preceding ones. The work was not finished at the time of his death, and the Belgian musicologist and lexicographer, François Joseph Fétis, undertook its completion. In this dramatic swan song Meyerbeer attained a more expressive language than ever before. This characteristic, combined with its exotic atmosphere, somewhat related to Verdi’s “Aida,” gave this opera the longest life. Here, as in the other principal works of Meyerbeer, the impressive vocal numbers contributed to the smashing success. The German opera, Ein Feldlager in Schlesien, written in 1842 after his appointment as Royal Generalmusikdirektor in Berlin, and the opera, L’Etoile du Nord, written 1854 in Paris, could not enhance the fame of the composer. Among the remaining considerable production we find cantatas, hymns, psalms, songs, a number of marches, among them the effective so–called Fackeltaenze (torch dances), and the stage music for the drama Struensee written by his brother, Michael Beer, who had died at an early age.

As a human personality Meyerbeer is one of the most appealing figures among musicians of the nineteenth century. His readiness to help, often misinterpreted solely as propaganda for his own compositions, benefitted no one more than Richard Wagner. Meyerbeer also documented his pronounced social consciousness by his successful efforts in behalf of legislation covering the payment of royalties to opera composers in Prussia. Until the beginning of the political upheaval in Germany the “Meyerbeer Foundation” established by him granted substantial fellowships to young composers. Meyerbeer’s funeral in Berlin was carried out according to strict Jewish ritual in the presence of a gigantic following led by members of the royal family of Prussia.

The environment from which Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn–Bartholdy (1809, Hamburg—1847, Leipzig) came is in several respects similar to the parental home of Meyerbeer. His father, Abraham Mendelssohn, was likewise a banker who had become very prosperous and was highly cultured and interested in music. The mother, Lea, née Salomon, who was intelligent, warm–hearted and exceedingly well educated, showed full understanding for the development of her children. From her Felix had inherited his talent for drawing. She was able to read Homer’s works in the original Greek, and she spoke English, French and Italian fluently. Both parents took charge of the education of their four children with a methodical thoroughness rare at that time even among the upper bourgeoisie of Berlin, where the family had settled meanwhile. During a stay in Paris, where the father was sent on a government mission, Felix and his sister, Fanny, his senior by four years, were given piano lessons by Marie Bigot de Morognes who, due to her great pianistic talent, had gained Beethoven’s friendship in Vienna. Upon their return the academic education was placed in the hands of an excellent private teacher, K. Heyse, the father of the short story writer and poet, Paul Heyse. The composer, Ludwig Berger, was engaged as piano teacher, Karl Friedrich Zelter taught Felix theory, while the painter, Roesel, developed his talent for drawing. By association with highly cultured persons young Mendelssohn widened his own horizon. When the thirteen–year–old boy together with Zelter visited Weimar, Goethe was so delighted by Felix’s musical talent, his charm and his mental alertness that he did not like to see him continue his journey to Switzerland. With words of greatest friendship he accepted the dedication of the Piano Quartet in B minor, op. 3.

Once he started to study composition systematically Mendelssohn’s creative power broke through with eruptive force. In his eleventh year alone he produced more than fifty manuscripts: sonatas, organ works, chamber music and lieder. The following year was equally fruitful with no less than five Symphonies for string orchestra. Two one–act operas, Die beiden Paedagogen and Soldatenliebschaft, date from this period, also the fragment of a third one, to be titled Die wandernden Konwedianten, The concerto for violin and strings he wrote at the age of thirteen was made public recently together with numerous other unknown manuscripts and letters owned by a descendant. Acquired and first performed by Yehudi Menuhin, this concerto is a work full of noble melody and of surprisingly mature technical structure, though, of course, it does not measure up to the later masterwork in E minor.

Every other Sunday music was played in the spacious drawing rooms of the sprawling parental villa situated in Leipziger Strasse in Berlin. These improvised musicales were attended by Berlin’s musical elite and many famous artists who were passing through. His stupendous musical memory enabled Felix to utilize later on in his compositions the themes freely improvised on such occasions. At seventeen Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” inspired him to an overture which, with its unique charm and fairy tale atmosphere, has lost none of its lustre. Only six years later did he complete the incidental music to the play. Mendelssohn’s is the only one among many compositions serving the same purpose which measures up to the genius of the dramatist. Inspired by a trip to Scotland, Mendelssohn wrote “The Hebrides” Overture, a symphonic painting akin to the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture. Although his father encouraged him strongly in detailed letters, Mendelssohn’s wish to compose an opera was never realized. For lack of libretti that could inspire him, the nearest to it was music to the Greek tragedies, “Antigone,” “Oedipus Colonaeus,” “Oedipus Rex” and, based on Racine’s drama, “Athalia.”

With Mendelssohn’s strong lyrical inclination poetry was particularly apt to awaken musical inspiration. He himself even tried his hand at poetry. In opus 8 and 9 the mystical name of Voss appears, and actually conceals the composer himself. Even though he was well aware of the limitations to the creative talent of his sister, Fanny, and for this reason did not want to use his influence with publishers in her behalf, the communion of spirit that existed between them caused him to insert several of her very attractive lieder under her name in his own collection of songs.

In spite of most intensive work as composer, Mendelssohn did not neglect his pianistic talents. Systematic occupation with the piano led to the composition of the beautiful Concertos in G minor op. 25 and in D minor op. 40, the Variations Sérieuses, and the Allegro Brillant op. 92 for four hands, which reveal his personal style in its highest sublimation, the Rondo Capriccioso in E minor and the Capriccio Brillant in B minor with orchestra. The “Songs without Words” are valuable contributions to the intimate romantic piano literature, far surpassing as character pieces of varied moods the drawing room fare of Herz, Kalkbrenner and Huenten.

Of the five great Symphonies, especially the last three are appearing frequently in concert programs: the “Scottish Symphony,” op. 56, reflecting memories of his visit to the British Isles, the “Italian Symphony,” likewise inspired by his travels and full of joyous spirit, and the “Reformation Symphony” (published only in 1868), in which he uses Luther’s choral, Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott, in powerful development. “St. Paul” and “Elijah” are landmarks of oratorio in the nineteenth century, revealing melodic beauty, impressive tone painting and finest detail of part–writing. If we cast a passing glance at the three Preludes and Fugues and six Sonatas for the organ, we are confronted by a total production, all created within less than three decades, bearing witness to an admirable wealth of imagination, noblest artistic attitude and mature mastery.

As soon as he had placed his existence on a firm foundation through his work Mendelssohn sought to round out his life by marriage. He found the source of greatest human happiness in the home of the late Pastor Jeanrenaud of the French Reformed Church in Frankfurt, whose extraordinarily gracious, sensitive and understanding daughter, Cécile, became his wife. This completely harmonious marriage was blessed by five children. In his personal life Mendelssohn was unusually fortunate. He enjoyed the love of his family and the friendship of many outstanding minds. Musicians of highest rank, such as Schumann, Moscheles, the violinist, Ferdinand David, the English composer, Sterndale Bennett, were close to him in spirit. All were captivated by his kindness, sunny temperament and his integrity in artistic and personal matters. His personal happiness was dimmed only in the final years of his brief life. The death of his parents and the untimely passing of his sister, Fanny, to whom he felt very close till the end, cast dark shadows on his own state of mind, and probably hastened his death caused by cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 38. The entire musical world mourned him.

No sharp dividing line can be drawn between genius and talent. The best definition of the difference might perhaps be this: genius frequently moves merely within the area of talent, but talent never enters the regions of genius. Seen from this point of view, Mendelssohn has a right to claim a place among the composers of genius many of whose works will outlast the centuries.

Thanks to the recent research work of the musicologist Eric Werner, some more light has been cast on the circumstances connected with the baptism of Felix Mendelssohn and his family. Werner was able to draw on numerous documents hitherto unpublished. The tendency among distinguished Jewish families in Berlin to become baptized was also making itself felt with the Mendelssohns and their relatives. After she divorced the banker Simon Veit and subsequently married the famous philosopher and writer Friedrich von Schlegel, Abraham Mendelssohn’s sister Dorothea had renounced the Jewish faith. Lea Mendelssohn’s brother, Jacob Levin Salomon, an archaeologist and art historian who had inherited great wealth and whom the Prussian government appointed consul general in Rome, had assumed the name of Bartholdy—after the original owner of his large estate in Berlin—and he, too, became a Protestant. From the available letters it is evident that it was mainly due to his influence that Abraham Mendelssohn allowed himself to be persuaded to have the children baptized. The arbitrarily adopted name of Bartholdy was eventually taken over by the family. Abraham Mendelssohn himself, together with his wife, did not sever his ties with Judaism until later, in Frankfurt–am–Main.

A letter to the 20–year–old Felix reveals that Abraham Mendelssohn was strictly opposed to the sole name of Mendelssohn for the young composer. Felix had deliberately omitted the name of Bartholdy on his concert programs, and his father wrote him reproachfully: “… A Gentile by the name of Mendelssohn is an absurdity.” Even his own father, he emphasized, had found it necessary at the time to adapt his name “Mendel von Dessau” to the existing circumstances. Since he felt that the name Felix Mendelssohn–Bartholdy was to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Preface to the New Edition
• Introduction
• SACRED MUSIC
• SECULAR MUSIC
• Bibliography
• Biographical Index to the New Revised Edition
• About the Author
• Copyright