Jewish Studies and Music Study Group

Overview

In recent years, an increasing number of AMS members have engaged in the study of topics related to Jewish studies. These studies include:

• The representation of Jews in Western art music, especially opera

• The intersection of musical Orientalism and the representation of Jews and Judaism in Western music

• Music's role in the development of a specifically Jewish (and Zionist) identity for Jewish composers working in Europe, the United States, and Israel

• The nationalistic aspirations of Russian Jewish composers around the turn of the century

• The interconnection of racial theories and definitions of Jewish music

• The role of Jewish composers in the development of European modernism

• The role of music in the process of assimilation

• The effect of anti-Semitism on musical life in various countries

• The effect of the exodus of composers and intellectuals of Jewish heritage from Nazi Germany

• Music in the Nazi camps

• Critical assessment of Holocaust memorials in music

• The influence of Yiddish song on the development of the repertory of Tin Pan Alley

• Jewish liturgical music and its relation to Christian and Muslim musics

• And liturgical traditions of different Jewish communities.

This wide range of topics demonstrates the potential richness of this emerging field.
 
The "Jewish Studies and Music" Study Group welcomes all studies concerning the musical aspects of Jewish culture, yet its focus is not necessarily "Jewish music," a concept with disquieting historical connotations, but the social, historical, and cultural significance of music in Jewish culture and of Jewish participation in Western music. The study group aims to offer a forum for scholars working on related topics, and encourage research in unexplored areas.