page_title: Jewish western art music
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Jewish western art music / History
caption_attribution_description: עברית: דף הגדה מתוך הגדת ברצלונה. בתחתית האיור נגנים בכלים מגוונים.
context_page_description: The Jewish western art music is the art music which is created for performing and singing in a synagogue and is similar to the creation of church music known as classical music. Musical composition of verses for service is used for playing in liturgical events, holidays and shabbats as well as para- liturgical service events such as: weddings, Brit Milahs, and other performances with a Religious ground motive.
  This music was played among Jewish communities in Italy in Avignon of France and in the city of Amsterdam during the 17th and 18th centuries. The music is an organized language in notes, composed and artistically printed, then presented to professional singers and instruments players to practice and perform in front of an audience. Hence, it is considered artistic music and not folk music. The Western Jewish Art Music sounds very much like the western non-Jewish one, and is written according to the western style principles of the period its created in. As such, this phenomenon was controversial, and highly criticized among the Jewish communities where it was performed.
context_section_description: Jewish music composition according to the western artistic theory of the period was initially documented in western musical notes. Evidence of 12th century's musical notes was found in the Cairo Genizah and was written by the Normandyian Obadiah the Proselyte. These musical notes are the earliest (most ancient) musical written document owned by a synagogue.
  During the 16th and 17th centuries the renaissance culture was greatly widespread, and consequently, it influenced the Jewish community. One of the effects of it was on the performance of art music in synagogues. The Jewish people, who didn't feel comfortable to be part of a less developed culture, have started building big synagogues, beautifully structured, and gorgeously magnificently decorated with fine art, not less than the next door churches in Casale Monferrato, Florence, Venice and in Rome. the outstanding composer of that period was the Italian composer Salamone Rossi. He was well known thanks to his great contribution to the art music played in synagogues. First signs of art music in the synagogues were revealed in Padova (Between the years of 1555 till 1565), in Ferrara (1605), Mantuna (from 1610 till 1612) and in Venice (in about 1628). During this period, due to the Counter-Reformation, the Jews were pushed to ghettos in Italy. Apparently, the Jewish communities being transformed to ghettos and the rise of art music synagogue not only overlap in time, but also have a causality relation.
  In the middle of the 17th century, the beginning of the middle Baroque period, performing art music was common in many synagogues in Italy. We know that thanks to the writings of Yehudah Mi-modena who quoted the words of Nethanel Trabot from 1645 about the music which is played and sung in synagogues while Jews worship god. Researchers found evidence of art music being a common component and institutionalized in the cultural life of the Jewish ghettos in Italy
  The descendants of Anusim (crypto-Jews) from Spain and Portugal who had settled in Amsterdam in the late 16th century have become one of the most prosperous communities in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. These crypto-Jews who returned to the Judaism, assimilated Christian culture in the years that they were living as a Christian. The admixture of Jewish people who hide their true identity, living as Christian, belonging to high society, and having the need to create art resulted in many art works in various fields.
  The only Jewish community left in France after the 1394 Expulsion from France were the Provence Jewish community. Since they weren't expelled, they had an opportunity to develop a rich community culture. One of the remaining of this community is of great worth – The Kantata for a Brith
caption: "Barcelona Haggadah" from the 14th century, with western music instrument
exif: {}