Jewish Music

Music is known to leave its mark on people helping them to overcome challenges in their lives or to give them courage to defy the odds. In one’s daily life, music is normally taken for granted or is seen as nothing special. As ordinary as it may seem, music can convey emotion in times when the body is numb or all hope is lost. Similarly, in The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, the cello’s music gave people hope and determination to live their lives in spite of the rampant siege around them. Therefore, music very much impacts the lives of the principal characters Dragan, Kenan, and Arrow.

Some may say music is just music; a song is just a song. However, music plays an enormous role in our psychology, because a single song has the ability to bring about many kinds of thoughts and emotions in the listener. Music is subtly one of the main factors in which people identify with certain groups and establish their belonging in society. It shapes people’s perspectives on how the world functions and the roles they play within it. Music can function the same way in a culture; it can reflect many of the culture’s values and ideologies. Music can have many effects on culture and the people’s idea of who they think they are within that culture. Music can serve in a way that promotes cultural identity and pride, yet it could also play a

In my second year in the choir, we were invited to sing in the oratorio "To Be Certain Of The Dawn" written by Stephen Paulus. The oratorio was based on the events of the Holocaust and served as a memorial for the deceased. For me, this was my first experience singing in a choir with a large orchestra and choir ensemble the (Madison Symphony Orchestra and Chorus). That moment changed music in my life. It was there, singing with the orchestra and choir that I realized that music is really what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be able to sing with a large group of people for the rest of my life. Singing in "To Be Certain Of The Dawn" also helped me embrace my Jewish heritage. With this opportunity to sing the oratorio, we also learned a lot about the Holocaust. On a retreat, we had a guest come in and speak about her survival in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. She attended the performance and told us that she was honored to hear us tell her story. It helped me understand everything that my relatives must have gone through, including my grandmother who, along with her parents, fled to Poland and then Russia, escaping the

During the Holocaust, Jews in the ghettos and concentration camps used music to keep hope alive and to fuel spiritual resistance, despite the Nazi’s use of music as another weapon in their murder and dehumanization of the Jewish people. Even as the Jews struggled to endure the horrible conditions of ghetto life, musical performance continued, both in secret and in Nazi sanctioned performances. Music encouraged hope in the camps as well, and offered comfort to many Jews during their final hours. However, the Nazi’s sought to use ghetto music as a propaganda tool and concentration camp music to dehumanize and pacify their victims. Nonetheless, many Jews found comfort and hope within the music that they continued to make and listen to, despite the horrors that surrounded them.

Horton, Andrew J. "The Forgotten Avant Garde: Soviet Composers Crushed by Stalin." Central Europe Review vol. 1, no. 1, 28 June 1999. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

The museum of tolerance taught a lot about Anne Frank and her experiences of the holocaust. In my opinion the holocaust was a genocide, it was the biggest genocide there was. That single genocide took 6 million lives of innocent people. One was the famous Anne frank which died in Bergen-Belsen, the cause of the death was because of typhus. Going to the museum of tolerance helped me understand more about the holocaust and how it was so tragic.

In this essay, I will be discussing the music of Jewish composers who were unable to showcase their pieces, due to the massive animosity towards their race, despite having composed several outstanding pieces of music. Although they were persecuted severely during the Nazi era, they too contributed to the international music community. For many of the Jewish composers, the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and Austria was an increasing danger to their safety in the country. They had to make difficult choices to survive –To stay in Germany and remain oppressed in their very own country, or to leave, and be detached from their own cultural roots forever.

The music that was present in World War II was extremely versatile and happy, which helped keep spirits high among everybody. Styles such as swing, blues, and jazz were popular music styles at the time. By the end of 1941, 96.2% of Americans owned radios. This granted greater access to music and information on the war. This is in contrast to World War I, where most citizens of the world were not as connected to the war through radio. In a way, the mass distribution of music was unifying for the American citizens and troops. However, many African-American musical artists used music to highlight the hypocrisy of the Americans fighting for freedom at that time because there was still a lot of segregation and discrimination in the United States and in it’s military.

Throughout the German occupation of Poland during WWII, musicians and composers alike suffered under strict music censorship practices put in place to destroy the Polish peoples’ morale, dampen their nationalistic pride, and spread propaganda supporting the German regime. Composer Witold Lutosławski kept his deep love and pride for his nation and her people in the face of adversity, and through his music, fought the German occupation’s push to destroy the national music and traditions of Poland, and in the process, created a unique musical identity for himself. Lutosławski successfully kept the music of his nation alive, as well as inspiring not only Poland, but the people of other nations in the same controlling grip of governmental music

There are many different kinds of music from all around the world, each with their own distinct and unique sounds. Yet one culture's music constantly interests me just a little more than the others, that culture being the Jews. It may be because Hava Nagila is just that catchy and find myself always humming it, or it could be because of the kinds of instruments they were using and their style of rhythm. When speaking of Jewish music, it is essential to understand that there is more than one kind. Jewish music has a wide variety spreading from Klezmer, Sephardic, and Synagogue music each containing a different style and meaning for separate occasions.

This article reminded me of several times in history when music was used by African Americans to survive times of hardship. In the time of slavery, music was used as an escape. The negro spiritual was sung by the slaves who worked in the fields and those who worked in the household alike. The songs took them to a more peaceful time and were passed down from generation to generation. The negro spiritual was even used by Harriet Tubman and others who worked the Underground Railroad as a code. The spirituals were used as a haven for the African Americans who were not in charge of their own lives. That same music would be used in future generations as a war call and as a way to endure the struggles they would face.

Whether it is May 2017 Ariana Grande concert or October 2017 Las Vegas Country Music Concert massacre, among them a common factor is the art of music. People are ignorant that amid war, conflicts, and terror attacks all over the world, the role of art and culture in rebuilding society is very crucial

Music is one of the most powerful ways to move a group of people and it can be so moving music can even move people into doing wrong things. Depending on the style of music will determine the meaning. Like the Beatles manly sang about girls and made their songs about a feeling or a mood. “The Beatles are heard everywhere: pocket-sized transistor radios, eight-track stereos in cars, and portable record players. Everyone with a radio can sing along to the thrilling quality of stereo FM broadcasts. Although Elvis works hard to keep up, music is changing for good. The brightest stars are linked to the British Invasion, and the Motown and San Francisco sounds”. Music an easy way to express an opinion about certain topic. “The mood” came to replace the “The message”. This can produce major influences in the culture and it did. This total change brought many artists up but also many down as well because the style, went out of style like Evils Presley. The clothing style that musicians wore changed as well wearing white jump suits with rein stones on it which is what Elvis wore, to the Beatles wearing nice black suits with black ties. Also you have the Famous Jimmy Hendrix who is famous for his music and his pristine hippie clothes. This is the era of the hippie, which is an own culture in itself. Hippies were against the Vietnam war and did many things to protest against

Several historians assume that songs may reflect to a certain extent the society in which they were produced. To my mind, this view of music is reasonable: a musical work is a part of the culture from which it rose from. “Songs serve to unify groups of people and to move them to common action or help them express common emotions” [1]

War time is very hard with many deaths and bloodshed. Many people used music to express the pain they suffered. The loss of people is very saddening but the people who died