A Performer's Guide to Transcribing, Editing, and Arranging Early Music provides instruction on t... more A Performer's Guide to Transcribing, Editing, and Arranging Early Music provides instruction on three important tasks that early music performers often undertake in order to make their work more noticeable and appealing to their audiences. First, the book provides instruction on using early sources -- manuscripts, prints, and treatises-in score, parts, or tablature. It then illuminates priorities behind basic editorial decisions-determining what constitutes a "version" of a musical piece, how to choose a version, and how to choose the source for that version. Lastly, the book offers advice about arranging both early and new music for early instruments, including how to consider instruments' ranges and various registers, how to exploit the unique characteristics of period instruments, and how to produce convincing textures of accompaniment. Drawing on methods based on early models (for example, how baroque composers arranged the music of their contemporaries), Alon Schab pays tribute to the ideas and ideals promoted by the pioneers of the early music revival and examines how these could be implemented in an early music field revolutionized by technology and unprecedented artistic independence.
Bodleian manuscript Mus. C. 45, a fragmented and incomplete manuscript of dance tune melodies cop... more Bodleian manuscript Mus. C. 45, a fragmented and incomplete manuscript of dance tune melodies copied by an amateur musician named William David around 1700, offers a unique window into the world of amateur musicianship during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Despite its damaged and inconsistent state, the manuscript reveals its copyist’s awareness of, and attempts to collate, variant readings from several printed sources, and dedication to collecting these tunes. Furthermore, the manuscript presents intriguing anomalies, arising from its copyist’s misunderstanding of music theory, errors in copying, and the influence of oral transmission. These anomalies, rather than detracting from the value of the manuscript, serve to enrich our understanding of the experiences of amateur musicians of that era. The article explores the significance of manuscripts like Mus. C. 45 that, despite the insignificance for transmitting the musical text, elucidate the world of early amateur musicianship.
Judith Cohen found, in Thomas Weelkes’s madrigals, motivic allusions to Salamone Rossi’s Canzonet... more Judith Cohen found, in Thomas Weelkes’s madrigals, motivic allusions to Salamone Rossi’s Canzonets. Further analysis of these two corpora shows, however, that the allusions are, rather than on the motivic surface, deeper, relating to subtle adaptations and modifications of contrapuntal techniques that Weelkes, inspired and influenced by both Rossi and English traditions, applied to his work.
In this article, we describe how the singer-songwriter model was adopted by Israeli performers wh... more In this article, we describe how the singer-songwriter model was adopted by Israeli performers who established their artistic identities in the late 1970s. Led by Shalom Hanoch and Shlomo Artzi, these musical artists began by performing songs they wrote and composed. It was not, however, until they subtly adopted American models of writing, performance, and music production in the mid-1980s that they reached commercial success. Bruce Springsteen, one of the most creative American musicians, whose role in Israeli culture has yet to be studied, was the primary influential model for Hanoch and Artzi. We examine how his impact was felt through their work with producer Louis Lahav, who helped engineer and produce Springsteen's first three albums. Our study includes a discussion of how American cultural processes and events, such as the Vietnam War and the economic depression of the 1970s, indirectly influenced Israeli singer-songwriters. At the same time, local events, such as the First Lebanon War, affected their art more directly. The development of local singer-songwriters was another step in the Americanization process of Hebrew culture, especially Israeli rock music. The article explores how the American singer-songwriter model was adapted to the changing Israeli ethos during the 1970s and 1980s, thereby enabling the rise of a number of male and female musical artists who wrote their deeply personal songs in Hebrew. These early songs were not only works of intimate expression, but for the first time in popular Israeli music, also carried messages of poignant social protest.
This article uncovers an untold story of how rock music came to the big stages and national broad... more This article uncovers an untold story of how rock music came to the big stages and national broadcasting studios of a country transitioning from the European sphere and a socialist ethos to the American sphere and a market-oriented culture. In demonstrating how the rock musical preceded, anticipated, and likely enabled rock music in Israel, this article will focus on five rock musicals from the early 1970s. We argue that the rock musical introduced a friendly and commercially oriented version of rock and rock’n’roll music and its antics, and thus enabled wide crowds to adopt a foreign-born culture such as rock. By the end of that process in the mid-1970s, the broad acceptance of American rock music and particularly a socially involved rock aesthetic had emerged through the overlooked and unlikely genre of the rock musical.
Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists... more Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists the programming conventions accepted in classical-romantic albums. Instead, the early music revival has developed its own unique approach to recording, inspired by innovations in musical styles other than classical music. The emergence of the rock concept album in the 1960s helped to shape the genres of art rock and progressive rock and to set them apart from other sub-genres. Some of the achievements of the early concept album—the use of studio technology and the medium of the LP in a way that yielded a large-scale musical and narrative form—appealed to early music and folk musicians. The article examines the work of prominent early music performers who adopted a conceptualnarrative approach to the recording of early repertories. David Munrow’s first early music albums demonstrate techniques borrowed from his work in the folk scene. Thomas Binkley’s careful handling of large-scale musical form helped to shape the pilgrimage narrative of his influential “Camino de Santiago” album. The article analyses further examples from several recordings of Hildegard’s music, and from the recordings of Jordi Savall and Pedro Memelsdorff, as early music concept albums. These albums show how early music performers use narrativity both to create a quasi-historical illusion and to create abstract musical narratives.
Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists... more Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists the programming conventions accepted in classical-romantic albums. Instead, the early music revival has developed its own unique approach to recording, inspired by innovations in musical styles other than classical music. The emergence of the rock concept album in the 1960s helped to shape the genres of art rock and progressive rock and to set them apart from other sub-genres. Some of the achievements of the early concept album—the use of studio technology and the medium of the LP in a way that yielded a large-scale musical and narrative form—appealed to early music and folk musicians. The article examines the work of prominent early music performers who adopted a conceptualnarrative approach to the recording of early repertories. David Munrow’s first early music albums demonstrate techniques borrowed from his work in the folk scene. Thomas Binkley’s careful handling of large-scale musical form helped to shape the pilgrimage narrative of his influential “Camino de Santiago” album. The article analyses further examples from several recordings of Hildegard’s music, and from the recordings of Jordi Savall and Pedro Memelsdorff, as early music concept albums. These albums show how early music performers use narrativity both to create a quasi-historical illusion and to create abstract musical narratives.
The concept of Mode is among the most fundamental concepts in any musical-theoretical discourse, ... more The concept of Mode is among the most fundamental concepts in any musical-theoretical discourse, encompassing collections of notes, the way those collections operate, and their extra-musical associations. Students usually first encounter the concept either through the narrower term of the Church Modes, or through the loose exchange of the terms mode and scale in theory textbooks. When students should encounter the term; how it should be taught; and in what ways that concept can enrich students’ understanding of music and of society in general—are questions apparently open for debate. This study examines the way in which the Church Modes are treated in theory textbooks. In general, the Church Modes do not constitute an integral part of the corpus of knowledge of elementary theory, as shown with regards to American and British curricula. In Israel, however, modality seems to reflect additional, extra-musical, values at the crux of Israeli cultural diversity. The adoption of the modal system by Israeli musicians in the mid-20th century served an important educational purpose. An examination of curricula in Israel over the past century shows that, unlike in the English-speaking world, the study of modes has been overemphasized in Israel. The article surveys the historical and ideological reasons for that overemphasis, through analysis of music theory textbooks, aural training textbooks, and musical pieces aimed at students. It seems that, even if the adoption of the Church Modes as signifiers of locality was not embraced by all composers and songwriters, there was a consensus about the importance of the subject and its particular relevance to music education in Israel. While the local emphasis on the study of modes has been waning in the past two or three decades, it may still be possible to see its lasting impact on the generations that are still active in the Israeli musical scene.
Henry Purcell is considered among the most important composers in the history of English music. T... more Henry Purcell is considered among the most important composers in the history of English music. The article argues that Purcell’s posthumous fame is based in no small way on how his widow, Frances Purcell, and his publisher, Henry Playford, handled his musical estate and its publication during the first decade following his early death (1696–1706). I argue that the pace, order and contents of these posthumous publications containing Purcell’s music had enduring influence on the composer’s reception and the way his commemoration was tinged with mythical colors. The article outlines the dramatic changes in the English royal court, the London theaters and musical printing during the second half of the seventeenth century; it overviews Purcell’s published works both during his life and posthumously; and it discusses the patrons of several posthumous publications. The title of one song collection, Orpheus Britannicus, is discussed in light of its mythical imagery and its precedents in the history of English music and poetry. The contents of the various volumes of Orpheus Britannicus is then examined and compared with what is known about Purcell’s works, which circulated in manuscript form at that time. Finally, a comparison is drawn with the reception processes of two more recent musicians – Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley – who won great popularity only after death, and whose creative corpus was shaped posthumously by their close circle.
Palestine, from the end of World War I to the foundation of the state of Israel, had a vibrant co... more Palestine, from the end of World War I to the foundation of the state of Israel, had a vibrant concert scene led partly by local musicians (and from 1933 onwards, by an elite of leading performers and composers who fled from Europe), and partly by the cultural institutions of the British Mandate, including the Palestine Broadcasting Service. While the collaborations between these two forces often yielded inspired musical results, each had its own agendas and priorities. The music of Henry Purcell was perceived as a cultural asset of the British and, as such, its performance became the platform for tacit negotiation of local musical identity, as well as a means to communicate with the British administration. The present study examines how Purcell’s music was treated in Palestine, which works by Purcell were performed, which scores and editions were available to local musicians, how the 250th anniversary of his death (1945) was commemorated, what motivated musicians to perform Purcell in concert, and what happened to the performance of Purcell’s music in Israel after Britain withdrew its forces from Palestine in 1948.
A few weeks after his twentieth birthday, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy conducted Bach's St. Matthe... more A few weeks after his twentieth birthday, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy conducted Bach's St. Matthew Passion. A concert performance of a sacred work, over a hundred years old, was not a common sight in early nineteenth-century Berlin. In this act, Mendelssohn became an emblem of musical historicism. Immediately after this epoch-making event, Mendelssohn embarked upon his Grand Tour, as a part of which he spent more than half a year in Italy. In this paper I discuss the letters he wrote during his travel to Italy and his descriptions of his encounters with the past - with the ruins of Rome, with Renaissance art, and with traditions of musical performance practice. These letters provide a vivid picture of the philosophical and ideological underpinning of Mendelssohn's activity in the realm of early music, and portrait a young intellectual whose ideas will eventually resurface decades later as a part of the ongoing debate regarding historically informed performance. The paper seeks to find whether it really is possible to take Mendelssohn as an example of either "historically informed" or "traditional" performance
***co-authored with David Rees (Munich)***
In the summer of 1828, Franz Schubert composed his one... more ***co-authored with David Rees (Munich)*** In the summer of 1828, Franz Schubert composed his one and only piece in Hebrew: an excerpt of Psalm 92, set for four-part choir and Solo Baritone. The main sources available until now for this composition, a manuscript in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (A-Wgm Sammlung Witteczek-Spaun Bd. 31) and a printed version in Salomon Sulzer’s compendium of Viennese synagogal music, Schir Zion (Song of Zion), date to 1834/35 and 1839/40, respectively. A newly discovered manuscript, dating from 1832, represents an early stage in the compilation of Schir Zion and contains the earliest known source of Schubert’s piece. New variant readings with regard to pitch, ornamentation and text underlay suggest that Schubert’s lost autograph may not be the immediate parent of the best sources known until now. With its title in Hebrew calligraphy, moreover, this manuscript was clearly intended for Jewish use; it thus challenges the authority of Schir Zion with regard to the underlay of the Hebrew text. The manuscript demonstrates a starting point in the adaptation by later editors, including Salomon Sulzer’s son Joseph, of Schubert’s Hebrew composition from the living, essentially oral performance tradition of an expert cantor to the formal written requirements of publication for a far-flung audience.
The article complements Alan Howard's 'Sampson Estowck's Trio Sonata' (published in Early Music P... more The article complements Alan Howard's 'Sampson Estowck's Trio Sonata' (published in Early Music Performer 31). Howard and myself, each 'recreated' a fragmentary trio sonata by a conteporary of Purcell, Sampson Estwick (both available online for NEMA members on the Early Music Performer site) and our respective articles overview the challenges of reconstructing the piece and several other technical and historical issues that arose during the work. My article deals with some harmonic and contrapuntal idioms and their characteristic position within the musical form, as well as a short speculative discussion on the irony in our tendency to stretch a dividing line between, on the one hand, the practice of reconstructing musical fragments and, on the other, the composing of an entire work 'in the style of...'.
The article analyses two chaconnes by Purcell: the Chacony in G minor Z.730 and the Chaconne in F... more The article analyses two chaconnes by Purcell: the Chacony in G minor Z.730 and the Chaconne in F major Z.335/7. Despite several structural features shared by the two works, analysis of audible structural cues in the works shows that they differ in the challenges they offer to the listener. The contrapuntal sophistication of the Chaconne Z.335/7 is growing steadily and in regular pacing throughout the piece; the increasing sophistication of the Chacony Z.730 is irregular and hard to follow. The article highlights ways in which Purcell communicated musical form to his listeners and how this was affected by the social context of each composition.
The article also clarifies a minor textual error in the Chacony Z.730 (an error which have permeated numerous recordings and editions of the piece), and comments on Britten's engagement with the work.
Despite its seemingly authoritative primary source, the music in Henry Purcell’s opera Dioclesian... more Despite its seemingly authoritative primary source, the music in Henry Purcell’s opera Dioclesian, printed in movable type by John Heptinstall in 1691, poses numerous textual problems. Based on a study of four copies of the score in the British Library, the article highlights a pattern of misprints which seems to have been idiosyncratic to Heptinstall’s workshop, and suggests that the working method of one of the workshop’s compositors, whereby he miscalculated the position of the notes on the stave, resulted in wrong readings and ‘mirror related’ notes—notes whose type seems to have been erroneously inverted. The mechanism of ‘mirror related’ readings is analysed and collated with other features of house style in order to retrieve information regarding the printing process and the printers involved. The article also discusses performers’ possible responses when encountering such doubtful readings, and the significance of such responses to present-day editorial work.
Henry Purcell’s posthumous Ayres for the Theatre (1697) is the largest source of the composer’s i... more Henry Purcell’s posthumous Ayres for the Theatre (1697) is the largest source of the composer’s instrumental music for the London stage. This editorial achievement — an impressive collection of Purcell’s late theatrical output, arranged for string ensemble — preserves several pieces that otherwise would have been lost and suggests alternative readings of pieces that have survived in other sources; but at the same time it grants authority to the original editor whose identity and editorial practices are unknown. This article outlines the means by which the editor’s involvement when compiling the Ayres for the Theatre might have shaped later views of the scoring of the works in it, their generic classification and dramatic context. Analysis of the music for the play Distress’d Innocence (1690) demonstrates that the editorial interventions might have included completion of inner parts on behalf of the deceased composer.
A paper given at an event celebrating the publication of Yossi Maurey's book 'Medieval Music, Leg... more A paper given at an event celebrating the publication of Yossi Maurey's book 'Medieval Music, Legend, and the Cult of St. Martin'.
A Performer's Guide to Transcribing, Editing, and Arranging Early Music provides instruction on t... more A Performer's Guide to Transcribing, Editing, and Arranging Early Music provides instruction on three important tasks that early music performers often undertake in order to make their work more noticeable and appealing to their audiences. First, the book provides instruction on using early sources -- manuscripts, prints, and treatises-in score, parts, or tablature. It then illuminates priorities behind basic editorial decisions-determining what constitutes a "version" of a musical piece, how to choose a version, and how to choose the source for that version. Lastly, the book offers advice about arranging both early and new music for early instruments, including how to consider instruments' ranges and various registers, how to exploit the unique characteristics of period instruments, and how to produce convincing textures of accompaniment. Drawing on methods based on early models (for example, how baroque composers arranged the music of their contemporaries), Alon Schab pays tribute to the ideas and ideals promoted by the pioneers of the early music revival and examines how these could be implemented in an early music field revolutionized by technology and unprecedented artistic independence.
Bodleian manuscript Mus. C. 45, a fragmented and incomplete manuscript of dance tune melodies cop... more Bodleian manuscript Mus. C. 45, a fragmented and incomplete manuscript of dance tune melodies copied by an amateur musician named William David around 1700, offers a unique window into the world of amateur musicianship during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Despite its damaged and inconsistent state, the manuscript reveals its copyist’s awareness of, and attempts to collate, variant readings from several printed sources, and dedication to collecting these tunes. Furthermore, the manuscript presents intriguing anomalies, arising from its copyist’s misunderstanding of music theory, errors in copying, and the influence of oral transmission. These anomalies, rather than detracting from the value of the manuscript, serve to enrich our understanding of the experiences of amateur musicians of that era. The article explores the significance of manuscripts like Mus. C. 45 that, despite the insignificance for transmitting the musical text, elucidate the world of early amateur musicianship.
Judith Cohen found, in Thomas Weelkes’s madrigals, motivic allusions to Salamone Rossi’s Canzonet... more Judith Cohen found, in Thomas Weelkes’s madrigals, motivic allusions to Salamone Rossi’s Canzonets. Further analysis of these two corpora shows, however, that the allusions are, rather than on the motivic surface, deeper, relating to subtle adaptations and modifications of contrapuntal techniques that Weelkes, inspired and influenced by both Rossi and English traditions, applied to his work.
In this article, we describe how the singer-songwriter model was adopted by Israeli performers wh... more In this article, we describe how the singer-songwriter model was adopted by Israeli performers who established their artistic identities in the late 1970s. Led by Shalom Hanoch and Shlomo Artzi, these musical artists began by performing songs they wrote and composed. It was not, however, until they subtly adopted American models of writing, performance, and music production in the mid-1980s that they reached commercial success. Bruce Springsteen, one of the most creative American musicians, whose role in Israeli culture has yet to be studied, was the primary influential model for Hanoch and Artzi. We examine how his impact was felt through their work with producer Louis Lahav, who helped engineer and produce Springsteen's first three albums. Our study includes a discussion of how American cultural processes and events, such as the Vietnam War and the economic depression of the 1970s, indirectly influenced Israeli singer-songwriters. At the same time, local events, such as the First Lebanon War, affected their art more directly. The development of local singer-songwriters was another step in the Americanization process of Hebrew culture, especially Israeli rock music. The article explores how the American singer-songwriter model was adapted to the changing Israeli ethos during the 1970s and 1980s, thereby enabling the rise of a number of male and female musical artists who wrote their deeply personal songs in Hebrew. These early songs were not only works of intimate expression, but for the first time in popular Israeli music, also carried messages of poignant social protest.
This article uncovers an untold story of how rock music came to the big stages and national broad... more This article uncovers an untold story of how rock music came to the big stages and national broadcasting studios of a country transitioning from the European sphere and a socialist ethos to the American sphere and a market-oriented culture. In demonstrating how the rock musical preceded, anticipated, and likely enabled rock music in Israel, this article will focus on five rock musicals from the early 1970s. We argue that the rock musical introduced a friendly and commercially oriented version of rock and rock’n’roll music and its antics, and thus enabled wide crowds to adopt a foreign-born culture such as rock. By the end of that process in the mid-1970s, the broad acceptance of American rock music and particularly a socially involved rock aesthetic had emerged through the overlooked and unlikely genre of the rock musical.
Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists... more Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists the programming conventions accepted in classical-romantic albums. Instead, the early music revival has developed its own unique approach to recording, inspired by innovations in musical styles other than classical music. The emergence of the rock concept album in the 1960s helped to shape the genres of art rock and progressive rock and to set them apart from other sub-genres. Some of the achievements of the early concept album—the use of studio technology and the medium of the LP in a way that yielded a large-scale musical and narrative form—appealed to early music and folk musicians. The article examines the work of prominent early music performers who adopted a conceptualnarrative approach to the recording of early repertories. David Munrow’s first early music albums demonstrate techniques borrowed from his work in the folk scene. Thomas Binkley’s careful handling of large-scale musical form helped to shape the pilgrimage narrative of his influential “Camino de Santiago” album. The article analyses further examples from several recordings of Hildegard’s music, and from the recordings of Jordi Savall and Pedro Memelsdorff, as early music concept albums. These albums show how early music performers use narrativity both to create a quasi-historical illusion and to create abstract musical narratives.
Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists... more Early music has been recorded for over half a century but most of its pre-1600 repertoire resists the programming conventions accepted in classical-romantic albums. Instead, the early music revival has developed its own unique approach to recording, inspired by innovations in musical styles other than classical music. The emergence of the rock concept album in the 1960s helped to shape the genres of art rock and progressive rock and to set them apart from other sub-genres. Some of the achievements of the early concept album—the use of studio technology and the medium of the LP in a way that yielded a large-scale musical and narrative form—appealed to early music and folk musicians. The article examines the work of prominent early music performers who adopted a conceptualnarrative approach to the recording of early repertories. David Munrow’s first early music albums demonstrate techniques borrowed from his work in the folk scene. Thomas Binkley’s careful handling of large-scale musical form helped to shape the pilgrimage narrative of his influential “Camino de Santiago” album. The article analyses further examples from several recordings of Hildegard’s music, and from the recordings of Jordi Savall and Pedro Memelsdorff, as early music concept albums. These albums show how early music performers use narrativity both to create a quasi-historical illusion and to create abstract musical narratives.
The concept of Mode is among the most fundamental concepts in any musical-theoretical discourse, ... more The concept of Mode is among the most fundamental concepts in any musical-theoretical discourse, encompassing collections of notes, the way those collections operate, and their extra-musical associations. Students usually first encounter the concept either through the narrower term of the Church Modes, or through the loose exchange of the terms mode and scale in theory textbooks. When students should encounter the term; how it should be taught; and in what ways that concept can enrich students’ understanding of music and of society in general—are questions apparently open for debate. This study examines the way in which the Church Modes are treated in theory textbooks. In general, the Church Modes do not constitute an integral part of the corpus of knowledge of elementary theory, as shown with regards to American and British curricula. In Israel, however, modality seems to reflect additional, extra-musical, values at the crux of Israeli cultural diversity. The adoption of the modal system by Israeli musicians in the mid-20th century served an important educational purpose. An examination of curricula in Israel over the past century shows that, unlike in the English-speaking world, the study of modes has been overemphasized in Israel. The article surveys the historical and ideological reasons for that overemphasis, through analysis of music theory textbooks, aural training textbooks, and musical pieces aimed at students. It seems that, even if the adoption of the Church Modes as signifiers of locality was not embraced by all composers and songwriters, there was a consensus about the importance of the subject and its particular relevance to music education in Israel. While the local emphasis on the study of modes has been waning in the past two or three decades, it may still be possible to see its lasting impact on the generations that are still active in the Israeli musical scene.
Henry Purcell is considered among the most important composers in the history of English music. T... more Henry Purcell is considered among the most important composers in the history of English music. The article argues that Purcell’s posthumous fame is based in no small way on how his widow, Frances Purcell, and his publisher, Henry Playford, handled his musical estate and its publication during the first decade following his early death (1696–1706). I argue that the pace, order and contents of these posthumous publications containing Purcell’s music had enduring influence on the composer’s reception and the way his commemoration was tinged with mythical colors. The article outlines the dramatic changes in the English royal court, the London theaters and musical printing during the second half of the seventeenth century; it overviews Purcell’s published works both during his life and posthumously; and it discusses the patrons of several posthumous publications. The title of one song collection, Orpheus Britannicus, is discussed in light of its mythical imagery and its precedents in the history of English music and poetry. The contents of the various volumes of Orpheus Britannicus is then examined and compared with what is known about Purcell’s works, which circulated in manuscript form at that time. Finally, a comparison is drawn with the reception processes of two more recent musicians – Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley – who won great popularity only after death, and whose creative corpus was shaped posthumously by their close circle.
Palestine, from the end of World War I to the foundation of the state of Israel, had a vibrant co... more Palestine, from the end of World War I to the foundation of the state of Israel, had a vibrant concert scene led partly by local musicians (and from 1933 onwards, by an elite of leading performers and composers who fled from Europe), and partly by the cultural institutions of the British Mandate, including the Palestine Broadcasting Service. While the collaborations between these two forces often yielded inspired musical results, each had its own agendas and priorities. The music of Henry Purcell was perceived as a cultural asset of the British and, as such, its performance became the platform for tacit negotiation of local musical identity, as well as a means to communicate with the British administration. The present study examines how Purcell’s music was treated in Palestine, which works by Purcell were performed, which scores and editions were available to local musicians, how the 250th anniversary of his death (1945) was commemorated, what motivated musicians to perform Purcell in concert, and what happened to the performance of Purcell’s music in Israel after Britain withdrew its forces from Palestine in 1948.
A few weeks after his twentieth birthday, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy conducted Bach's St. Matthe... more A few weeks after his twentieth birthday, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy conducted Bach's St. Matthew Passion. A concert performance of a sacred work, over a hundred years old, was not a common sight in early nineteenth-century Berlin. In this act, Mendelssohn became an emblem of musical historicism. Immediately after this epoch-making event, Mendelssohn embarked upon his Grand Tour, as a part of which he spent more than half a year in Italy. In this paper I discuss the letters he wrote during his travel to Italy and his descriptions of his encounters with the past - with the ruins of Rome, with Renaissance art, and with traditions of musical performance practice. These letters provide a vivid picture of the philosophical and ideological underpinning of Mendelssohn's activity in the realm of early music, and portrait a young intellectual whose ideas will eventually resurface decades later as a part of the ongoing debate regarding historically informed performance. The paper seeks to find whether it really is possible to take Mendelssohn as an example of either "historically informed" or "traditional" performance
***co-authored with David Rees (Munich)***
In the summer of 1828, Franz Schubert composed his one... more ***co-authored with David Rees (Munich)*** In the summer of 1828, Franz Schubert composed his one and only piece in Hebrew: an excerpt of Psalm 92, set for four-part choir and Solo Baritone. The main sources available until now for this composition, a manuscript in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (A-Wgm Sammlung Witteczek-Spaun Bd. 31) and a printed version in Salomon Sulzer’s compendium of Viennese synagogal music, Schir Zion (Song of Zion), date to 1834/35 and 1839/40, respectively. A newly discovered manuscript, dating from 1832, represents an early stage in the compilation of Schir Zion and contains the earliest known source of Schubert’s piece. New variant readings with regard to pitch, ornamentation and text underlay suggest that Schubert’s lost autograph may not be the immediate parent of the best sources known until now. With its title in Hebrew calligraphy, moreover, this manuscript was clearly intended for Jewish use; it thus challenges the authority of Schir Zion with regard to the underlay of the Hebrew text. The manuscript demonstrates a starting point in the adaptation by later editors, including Salomon Sulzer’s son Joseph, of Schubert’s Hebrew composition from the living, essentially oral performance tradition of an expert cantor to the formal written requirements of publication for a far-flung audience.
The article complements Alan Howard's 'Sampson Estowck's Trio Sonata' (published in Early Music P... more The article complements Alan Howard's 'Sampson Estowck's Trio Sonata' (published in Early Music Performer 31). Howard and myself, each 'recreated' a fragmentary trio sonata by a conteporary of Purcell, Sampson Estwick (both available online for NEMA members on the Early Music Performer site) and our respective articles overview the challenges of reconstructing the piece and several other technical and historical issues that arose during the work. My article deals with some harmonic and contrapuntal idioms and their characteristic position within the musical form, as well as a short speculative discussion on the irony in our tendency to stretch a dividing line between, on the one hand, the practice of reconstructing musical fragments and, on the other, the composing of an entire work 'in the style of...'.
The article analyses two chaconnes by Purcell: the Chacony in G minor Z.730 and the Chaconne in F... more The article analyses two chaconnes by Purcell: the Chacony in G minor Z.730 and the Chaconne in F major Z.335/7. Despite several structural features shared by the two works, analysis of audible structural cues in the works shows that they differ in the challenges they offer to the listener. The contrapuntal sophistication of the Chaconne Z.335/7 is growing steadily and in regular pacing throughout the piece; the increasing sophistication of the Chacony Z.730 is irregular and hard to follow. The article highlights ways in which Purcell communicated musical form to his listeners and how this was affected by the social context of each composition.
The article also clarifies a minor textual error in the Chacony Z.730 (an error which have permeated numerous recordings and editions of the piece), and comments on Britten's engagement with the work.
Despite its seemingly authoritative primary source, the music in Henry Purcell’s opera Dioclesian... more Despite its seemingly authoritative primary source, the music in Henry Purcell’s opera Dioclesian, printed in movable type by John Heptinstall in 1691, poses numerous textual problems. Based on a study of four copies of the score in the British Library, the article highlights a pattern of misprints which seems to have been idiosyncratic to Heptinstall’s workshop, and suggests that the working method of one of the workshop’s compositors, whereby he miscalculated the position of the notes on the stave, resulted in wrong readings and ‘mirror related’ notes—notes whose type seems to have been erroneously inverted. The mechanism of ‘mirror related’ readings is analysed and collated with other features of house style in order to retrieve information regarding the printing process and the printers involved. The article also discusses performers’ possible responses when encountering such doubtful readings, and the significance of such responses to present-day editorial work.
Henry Purcell’s posthumous Ayres for the Theatre (1697) is the largest source of the composer’s i... more Henry Purcell’s posthumous Ayres for the Theatre (1697) is the largest source of the composer’s instrumental music for the London stage. This editorial achievement — an impressive collection of Purcell’s late theatrical output, arranged for string ensemble — preserves several pieces that otherwise would have been lost and suggests alternative readings of pieces that have survived in other sources; but at the same time it grants authority to the original editor whose identity and editorial practices are unknown. This article outlines the means by which the editor’s involvement when compiling the Ayres for the Theatre might have shaped later views of the scoring of the works in it, their generic classification and dramatic context. Analysis of the music for the play Distress’d Innocence (1690) demonstrates that the editorial interventions might have included completion of inner parts on behalf of the deceased composer.
A paper given at an event celebrating the publication of Yossi Maurey's book 'Medieval Music, Leg... more A paper given at an event celebrating the publication of Yossi Maurey's book 'Medieval Music, Legend, and the Cult of St. Martin'.
According to Edward J. Dent, 'it has often been remarked that Purcell in all his works shows a pe... more According to Edward J. Dent, 'it has often been remarked that Purcell in all his works shows a peculiar leaning to the minor mode, offering in this respect a great contrast to Lulli, whose
employment of the minor mode is comparatively rare.' Without reference or explanation, Dent offers that statement in his Foundations of English Opera (1928). Such incautious arguments are quite impossible to find in modern scholarship, and yet Dent had no little truth in his claim, and it still deserves attention.
My study investigates Purcell's idiosyncratic use of the minor key. It will be shown that in a substantial body of his minor-mode works Purcell uses melodic leaps and harmonic progressions often identified with folk and folk-like music. Some of these idioms have been mentioned by
scholars (but only with relation to Purcell's "Scotch Tunes") and some were not analysed hitherto. It will be shown that these idioms are fundamental to one's understanding of the composerís late style.
The issue of "style composition" is considered one of the most difficult in composition studies, ... more The issue of "style composition" is considered one of the most difficult in composition studies, and music studies in general. During one's student years, one's ability to imitate a style is considered a merit, and yet, after graduation it is considered a dangerous deed, undermining the ideal of originality. This dualism originates in the late-eighteenth century changes in the image of the composer, changes that were brought about by Romantic philosophy, post French Revolution social changes, and the foundation of the establishment of modern conservatories.
Elam Rotem (b. 1984), a composer, harpsichordist and bass singer, is one of the most promising talents in today's early music scene. His ensemble, Profeti dela quinta, won prestigious prizes, records and tours regularly. Alongside his work as performer (and perhaps as an integral part of it), Rotem also composes works for his ensemble, usually in 17th century Italian style. The work under discussion in my lecture is the largest and most-demanding piece he composed to this day - Rappresentatione di Giuseppe e i suoi fratelli (Joseph and His Brethren) - based on text from the book of Genesis, and sung in the original Hebrew.
In the CD booklet of the new recording of the piece (Pan Classics PC10302) Rotem refers to this kind of composition as New-Early-Music. The composers command of 17th century musical grammar is impeccable and makes his piece an extreme case-study of style composition. My lecture will present the piece; try to highlight historicist and modernist aspects of it; and attempt to examine it in light of the common arguments against style composition. In my talk, I will suggest that "Joseph and His Brethren" should be adopted by the audience not just for its merits as a new exciting and moving piece written with great skill, but also as an opportunity to rethink several Romantic presuppositions that were accepted as unrivalled truths in contemporary musical terminology (work, composer, performance, originality).
The piyyut ‘Lechoh Dodi’ was one of the items of Jewish liturgy most frequently set to music in 1... more The piyyut ‘Lechoh Dodi’ was one of the items of Jewish liturgy most frequently set to music in 19th-century Europe. This may stem from several reasons: its origin in the Kabbalat Shabbat service—a service of relatively high attendance and whose musical facet appealed to Jews as well as to non-Jews; the regular weekly performance; and its being a platform for reflecting the solemnity of different periods of the liturgical year by the use of different melodies.
In a musical sense, ‘Lechoh Dodi’ may have appealed to composers by virtue of its apparent resemblance to the Rondo form, mainly through its use of a refrain, but also through the musical implications of its strict poetic metre and rhyming scheme.
My paper will explore several settings of ‘Lechoh Dodi’ and overview the ways in which composers aimed to elaborate its basic Rondo structure: by increasing the numbers of melodies used for the verses; by complicating the overall tonal scheme of the piece; by using subtle motivical transformation; and by balancing the need in clear delievery of the text with the attempt to create a rich polyphonic texture.
The main focus of my paper will be on settings from the Sulzerian circle (Salomon Sulzer himself and Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried), although other, later examples, will be surveyed as well.
Christopher Simpson, in his The Division Violist (1659), admits that it is ‘hard to determine, wh... more Christopher Simpson, in his The Division Violist (1659), admits that it is ‘hard to determine, what a composer may approve, or disapprove, in diverse cases concerning flats, and sharps’ and claims that in such cases ‘the ear must be chief umpire’. Although helpful and informative in its day, Simpson’s criterion for resolving ambiguous readings is problematic for 21st-century performers of early music. Because we do not have 17th-century ears, we must restrict the range of possible readings via an informed theoretical and intellectual understanding of the syntax of earlier styles.
Besides its being an astonishing compositional achievement, Purcell’s Fantazia à 4 in D minor dated ‘August the 31: 1680’ epitomises the problems, textual and interpretative, of Purcell’s Fantazias, including the problem of ambiguous accidentals. Surveying the fantazia’s various editions, one may find an impressive quantity of ‘editorial’ and ‘cautionary’ accidentals. Some of the work’s historically informed recordings offer yet more surprising readings. My paper will offer a close reading of Purcell’s work, seek to clarify the implications of some of its notational ambiguities and to comment on what we perceive today as Purcell’s style.
The setting in Hebrew of Psalm XCII (D 953), composed in 1828 for the Viennese Jewish community i... more The setting in Hebrew of Psalm XCII (D 953), composed in 1828 for the Viennese Jewish community in the Seitenstettengasse synagogue and its famous cantor Salomon Sulzer, holds a unique place in Schubert’s late oeuvre. The language of its text, its a cappella setting, and the historical circumstances which led to its composition make it difficult to compare it to any other late work by the composer.
The picture is complicated further by the facts that the autograph score is lost, that that two primary sources for the piece are considerably later (1834 and 1840), and that they disagree over text underlay and other details.
Recently we have rediscovered another, previously unknown, manuscript copy (in private hands). Preliminary research suggests not only that it is the earliest source of the piece (ca. 1832) but also supplies interesting variant readings and alternative text underlay. More importantly, it may shed new light on the early reception history of the work and on the objection it might have encountered among the Jewish community. Our paper will describe the new source, survey its variant readings and revisit the historical background of the piece.
The rise and decline of the Israeli progressive rock (henceforth prog) movement were largely cont... more The rise and decline of the Israeli progressive rock (henceforth prog) movement were largely contemporaneous with and heavily influenced by those of its British counterpart. However, a detailed comparison of the two may reveal not only the patterns in which ideas and techniques that were developed in Britain were transposed to the Israeli rock scene, but also several profound differences which stem from the unique cultural treasures from which prog musicians in each country drew inspiration, and differences in their reception process.
The British prog movement thrived from the late 1960s to the early 80s and offered young audiences a mixture of aggressive rock sound with lyrics that were intellectually challenging (often far-removed from the everyday subjects characterizing main-stream rock), sophisticated arrangement and scoring, and an imaginative approach to musical form, ranging from song fragments to thirty-minute instrumental works. These, triggered by the classical background and artistic aspirations of many prog musicians, on the one hand attracted groups of devout enthusiastic fans, and on the other hand situated the genre on shaky grounds in terms of commercial potential. Eventually, genres today which can be seen as the offspring of prog are still relatively marginal in that sense.
Behind what appeared to be an imitation of that foreign style, Israeli prog musicians in the 70s (Shlomo Gronich, Shem-Tov Levy, Yoni Rechter, Danny Sanderson and others), created, perhaps unknowingly, a local style of song writing whose influence extended far beyond the mid 1980s, which saw the waning of the ‘classical’ period of prog. My study will show how, while filtering out several characteristic of the British prog style, while showing preference to distinctive lyrical genres, local modes and rhythms, and through involvement in other fields in the music industry (music for children, TV documentary soundtracks), the influence exerted by Israeli prog musicians on the local colour of Israeli rock today is far greater than the weight of prog remnants of today’s British mainstream rock.
Ever since their ‘rediscovery’ in the early twentieth century, Henry Purcell's fifteen Fantazias ... more Ever since their ‘rediscovery’ in the early twentieth century, Henry Purcell's fifteen Fantazias (ca. 1680) have fascinated performers, listeners, composers and scholars: they were written in remarkable speed; nothing is known of the context in which they would have been performed (and if they were intended for performance at all); the models on which some of them are based are outmoded (In Nomine), especially when compared to the bold and modern, almost prophetic, harmonic language they exhibit; at least in one case, it may even seem that Purcell was trying to play a musical trick, perhaps to impress his colleagues (Fantazia upon one note).
My paper attempts to explain some of the peculiarities of Purcell’s fantazias through investigation of what I identify as their infra-structure and through study of the mathematical principles that dictate it: Purcell's concept of form, as reflected in some these early works, was grounded in a cyclic treatment of seven- and eight-note scales that has not been recorded in contemporary treatises. While some of the imitational sections in the fantazias are based on presenting the principal subject starting on the primary degrees of the mode (the final, a fifth above it, a fifth below it etc.), some sections betray an aware attempt to incorporate entries on all degrees. This attempt, joined with the limited spaced the composer allocates to it (sometimes a section of eight bars) results in great density and harmonic progressions which may sound arbitrary but in fact are meticulously planned.
Using lists of pitches which he exhausted in turns, Purcell on the one hand sought and achieved control over musical form and, on the other hand, created a framework for bold vertical sonorities which are, at least in part, gave these works their reputation as experimental, personal and rare masterworks. Focusing on the four-part fantazias, the study will demonstrate how during the process described by J.A. Westrup as Purcell's 'progress from freedom to a regularity no less free', the composer used numbers, lists, and considerations which lie outside the borders of the emerging tonal system and experimented with other fascinating shaping forces in music.
It is often lamented that Henry Purcell’s posthumous opus, Ten Sonatas of Four Parts (1697), does... more It is often lamented that Henry Purcell’s posthumous opus, Ten Sonatas of Four Parts (1697), does not conform to the customary grouping of six or twelve works per publication and that the order and tonal scheme of the set are unbalanced.
This is all the more striking when comparing the set to the earlier and masterly Sonnata’s of III Parts (1683) whose dozen works show a carefully planned tonal scheme and greater sense of unity. Scholars have suggested that the first two sonatas of 1697, when joined to the twelve sonatas of 1683, create a complete, even if untypical, unit of fourteen works. Concentrating on the compositional aspect of these two sets, this paper will re-examine the thesis of the fourteen-piece set to ask whether that hypothesised cycle shows intrinsic coherence and whether it can be seen as a ‘meaningful’ set. This paper considers also what questions ‘the fourteen-piece set thesis’ raises about the about Purcell’s remaining sonatas of 1697, focusing particularly on issues of style and chronlogy.
The score book GB-Lbl RM 20.h.9 , a manuscript in the hand of John Reading, is an important sourc... more The score book GB-Lbl RM 20.h.9 , a manuscript in the hand of John Reading, is an important source for the study of Henry Purcell's instrumental works, being a unique source for three pieces and an important concordance of several others. However, the inclusion in it of an eclectic selection of vocal and instrumental works by other composers helps to create an overall impression of a somewhat haphazard collection. Reading, organist in Winchester and fifteen years Purcell's senior, seems to have had an interesting relationship with the court musicians who joined the King's entourage during the visits to Winchester in the early 1680s, and with Henry Purcell in particular. Although the manuscript is comprised mostly of music, much can be learned, from the way it is assembled, from the gossip-like inscriptions added to the titles of works, and from critical examination of the music it contains. These reveal much about the professional and personal relationships inside the circle of musicians among which it was copied and about Reading's professional view of his London colleagues. The manuscript is an example of an artefact which confusingly does not fall into any established category of Restoration music-manuscripts, but makes perfect sense as a personal document, and as such, it transmits valuable information about the manuscript-culture which yielded it, and the personality of the copyist.
Henry Purcell's published legacy divides more or less equally between his busy creative life and ... more Henry Purcell's published legacy divides more or less equally between his busy creative life and the two decades following his early death. The temptation of seeing the publications from the composer's time as more authoritative than the posthumous oeuvre is great. Purcell's personal involvement in the editorial process, as well as his hand on numerous proof exemplars, does indeed suggest that the pre-1695 publications are a reliable corpus. However, some of Purcell's printing ventures were so ambitious in scope that even the composer's own supervision could not keep them free of error.
His largest publication, Dioclesian, was produced in 1691, when the composer’s obligations were becoming more and more demanding. Dioclesian is significantly less reliable than the masterly engraved edition of the Sonatas of Three Parts (1683), perhaps because of those demands on his time; and we have no autograph concordance on which to rely.
I will try to show that inner evidence in the printed music betrays characteristic errors that have been overlooked, and that their identification as errors may affect future editions or performances, as well as shed new light on the printing process.
main text it is clear that at least the first one refers not to the reference given in fn. 39 but... more main text it is clear that at least the first one refers not to the reference given in fn. 39 but to that from fn. 38. There is no consistency as to when the French original of quotations is given in footnotes: on p. 29, fn. 57, we have the original text from a 1660 publication, while on pages 23 to 27 we are not given the original texts from a 1666 publication—nor, for instance, that of a 1643 quotation on p. 35. As one can see in fn. 105 on p. 43, it is good to have the original text: the English translation omits to include a word for the French “diverses” before “complaints”. The study is complemented by two Appendices, the first helpfully listing all the “maîtres de musique” at Saint-Sauveur between 1657 and 1750 (although one wonders why not up to the Revolution) and the second one providing a work catalogue of the Latin church music of the “Aix School” (although strangely not listing the scoring of these pieces). Unfortu nately, most of the pages of Appendix 2 do not have page numbers printed on them (pp. 228 to 256—the same applies to Table 4 on pp. 195–96): this makes detailed reference to individual entries rather difficult. However, more problematic is the issue of missing references for quotations (such as in the first sentence of the Prologue’s main text on p. xxi, or in the middle of p. 152). Quite often the reader is left guessing from where information originates (see the biographical information on Poitevin on pp. 32 and 41, or that on Jaques Cordier on p. 44)—one simply has to trust the author and is left hoping to find this somewhere else in the book. A glossary explains some of the French terms used in the book. However, it is not clear why some of them are included in the first place. For instance, for the French “Chapitre” the main text simply uses the English equivalent “Chapter” for most of the time (see especially the use of both on pp. 40–43). There are several issues in the bibliography: quite apart from the fact that it includes manuscript sources (and is thus a “List of sources” rather than a mere “Bibliography”), it is confusing to have articles separated from the other “Printed Sources since 1800”. The author works with the wide-spread abbreviation system of “last name year” (although it is not understandable what the date adds to identifying the abbreviation). However, there is some inconsistency: when there are several titles by the same author, it seems that the full name of the author is intended to be included only for the first entry. But for the entries for Duron we have the full name each time—and given the abbreviation system, this is actually more user-friendly. The entry for “Gooch 1972” simply lacks the full name and unfortunately, in the actual text there is generally no full citation on the first mention in the footnotes. Regarding the manuscript sources, the listing of the archival sigla is confusingly not distinct from the actual listing, but on the bottom of p. 262 there is a section headed “Unpublished Manuscripts”: should this heading have come after the sigla? This book has little to be commended. Its title appears to have been chosen to achieve maximum attention but without much thought of reflecting the book’s contents. The few paragraphs on “The Transmission of the Court Motet Style to Provence” (pp. 156–57), and possibly those on pp. 151–52, together with the bits on Aix composers going to Versailles, are the only passages that truly correspond to the book title. The biographies of composers from the “Aix School” in the second part at the centre of the book are unmistakably the book’s main raison d’être. These are genuinely interesting and seem well researched. Indeed, these could have worked very well as a contextualising study on André Campra, who is clearly the centre of attention; or as a meaningful volume on Poitevin and his “remarkable legacy” (p. 218). Overall, the book does not live up to its boisterous title, and the quality of the scholarship, while certainly enthusiastic, is in places questionable.
The 14th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music took place at Queen's University, Belfast,... more The 14th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music took place at Queen's University, Belfast, from 30 June to 4 July, and was chaired by Yo Tomita. Writing about a conference which featured a keynote address should be made easier by virtue of the focal point which such a lecture ...
“Magic Violin”: Jüdische Musikkultur und Moderne, 2024
The chapter explores the fluid reception and interpretation of Erich Walter Sternberg’s First Str... more The chapter explores the fluid reception and interpretation of Erich Walter Sternberg’s First String Quartet, drawing a parallel with architectural developments in British Palestine during the early 20th century. The chapter highlights how both Sternberg's composition and the International Style in architecture were subject to contrasting ideological and aesthetic readings over time, reflecting broader debates about Jewish identity, modernism, and nationalism. The chapter provides an architectural and cultural context by comparing the works of architects Alexander Baerwald and Richard Kauffmann, showing how their styles—eclectic and modernist—were reinterpreted to fit evolving narratives. Similarly, Sternberg’s Quartet, initially tied to Jewish identity and diaspora, gradually shifted in its reception to embody more universal qualities, aligning with changing cultural agendas. Through detailed analysis of Sternberg’s music and its thematic links to Jewish liturgy and Yiddish song, the chapter argues for the work's significance in Israeli music history while challenging the simplistic categorization of its Jewish or Zionist elements. Ultimately, the chapter calls for a reevaluation of Sternberg's work as a multifaceted contribution to the local and international soundscape.
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Books by Alon Schab
Papers by Alon Schab
the pilgrimage narrative of his influential “Camino de Santiago” album. The article analyses further examples from several recordings of Hildegard’s music, and from the recordings of Jordi Savall and Pedro Memelsdorff, as early music concept albums. These albums show how early music performers use narrativity both to create a quasi-historical illusion and to create abstract musical narratives.
This study examines the way in which the Church Modes are treated in theory textbooks. In general, the Church Modes do not constitute an integral part of the corpus of knowledge of elementary theory, as shown with regards to American and British curricula. In Israel, however, modality seems to reflect additional, extra-musical, values at the crux of Israeli cultural diversity. The adoption of the modal system by Israeli musicians in the mid-20th century served an important educational purpose. An examination of curricula in Israel over the past century shows that, unlike in the English-speaking world, the study of modes has been overemphasized in Israel. The article surveys the historical and ideological reasons for that overemphasis, through analysis of music theory textbooks, aural training textbooks, and musical pieces aimed at students. It seems that, even if the adoption of the Church Modes as signifiers of locality was not embraced by all composers and songwriters, there was a consensus about the importance of the subject and its particular relevance to music education in Israel. While the local emphasis on the study of modes has been waning in the past two or three decades, it may still be possible to see its lasting impact on the generations that are still active in the Israeli musical scene.
The article outlines the dramatic changes in the English royal court, the London theaters and musical printing during the second half of the seventeenth century; it overviews Purcell’s published works both during his life and posthumously; and it discusses the patrons of several posthumous publications. The title of one song collection, Orpheus Britannicus, is discussed in light of its mythical imagery and its precedents in the history of English music and poetry. The contents of the various volumes of Orpheus Britannicus is then examined and compared with what is known about Purcell’s works, which circulated in manuscript form at that time. Finally, a comparison is drawn with the reception processes of two more recent musicians – Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley – who won great popularity only after death, and whose creative corpus was shaped posthumously by their close circle.
In the summer of 1828, Franz Schubert composed his one and only piece in Hebrew: an excerpt of Psalm 92, set for four-part choir and Solo Baritone. The main sources available until now for this composition, a manuscript in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (A-Wgm Sammlung Witteczek-Spaun Bd. 31) and a printed version in Salomon Sulzer’s compendium of Viennese synagogal music, Schir Zion (Song of Zion), date to 1834/35 and 1839/40, respectively. A newly discovered manuscript, dating from 1832, represents an early stage in the compilation of Schir Zion and contains the earliest known source of Schubert’s piece. New variant readings with regard to pitch, ornamentation and text underlay suggest that Schubert’s lost autograph may not be the immediate parent of the best sources known until now. With its title in Hebrew calligraphy, moreover, this manuscript was clearly intended for Jewish use; it thus challenges the authority of Schir Zion with regard to the underlay of the Hebrew text. The manuscript demonstrates a starting point in the adaptation by later editors, including Salomon Sulzer’s son Joseph, of Schubert’s Hebrew composition from the living, essentially oral performance tradition of an expert cantor to the formal written requirements of publication for a far-flung audience.
The article also clarifies a minor textual error in the Chacony Z.730 (an error which have permeated numerous recordings and editions of the piece), and comments on Britten's engagement with the work.
Talks by Alon Schab
the pilgrimage narrative of his influential “Camino de Santiago” album. The article analyses further examples from several recordings of Hildegard’s music, and from the recordings of Jordi Savall and Pedro Memelsdorff, as early music concept albums. These albums show how early music performers use narrativity both to create a quasi-historical illusion and to create abstract musical narratives.
This study examines the way in which the Church Modes are treated in theory textbooks. In general, the Church Modes do not constitute an integral part of the corpus of knowledge of elementary theory, as shown with regards to American and British curricula. In Israel, however, modality seems to reflect additional, extra-musical, values at the crux of Israeli cultural diversity. The adoption of the modal system by Israeli musicians in the mid-20th century served an important educational purpose. An examination of curricula in Israel over the past century shows that, unlike in the English-speaking world, the study of modes has been overemphasized in Israel. The article surveys the historical and ideological reasons for that overemphasis, through analysis of music theory textbooks, aural training textbooks, and musical pieces aimed at students. It seems that, even if the adoption of the Church Modes as signifiers of locality was not embraced by all composers and songwriters, there was a consensus about the importance of the subject and its particular relevance to music education in Israel. While the local emphasis on the study of modes has been waning in the past two or three decades, it may still be possible to see its lasting impact on the generations that are still active in the Israeli musical scene.
The article outlines the dramatic changes in the English royal court, the London theaters and musical printing during the second half of the seventeenth century; it overviews Purcell’s published works both during his life and posthumously; and it discusses the patrons of several posthumous publications. The title of one song collection, Orpheus Britannicus, is discussed in light of its mythical imagery and its precedents in the history of English music and poetry. The contents of the various volumes of Orpheus Britannicus is then examined and compared with what is known about Purcell’s works, which circulated in manuscript form at that time. Finally, a comparison is drawn with the reception processes of two more recent musicians – Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley – who won great popularity only after death, and whose creative corpus was shaped posthumously by their close circle.
In the summer of 1828, Franz Schubert composed his one and only piece in Hebrew: an excerpt of Psalm 92, set for four-part choir and Solo Baritone. The main sources available until now for this composition, a manuscript in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (A-Wgm Sammlung Witteczek-Spaun Bd. 31) and a printed version in Salomon Sulzer’s compendium of Viennese synagogal music, Schir Zion (Song of Zion), date to 1834/35 and 1839/40, respectively. A newly discovered manuscript, dating from 1832, represents an early stage in the compilation of Schir Zion and contains the earliest known source of Schubert’s piece. New variant readings with regard to pitch, ornamentation and text underlay suggest that Schubert’s lost autograph may not be the immediate parent of the best sources known until now. With its title in Hebrew calligraphy, moreover, this manuscript was clearly intended for Jewish use; it thus challenges the authority of Schir Zion with regard to the underlay of the Hebrew text. The manuscript demonstrates a starting point in the adaptation by later editors, including Salomon Sulzer’s son Joseph, of Schubert’s Hebrew composition from the living, essentially oral performance tradition of an expert cantor to the formal written requirements of publication for a far-flung audience.
The article also clarifies a minor textual error in the Chacony Z.730 (an error which have permeated numerous recordings and editions of the piece), and comments on Britten's engagement with the work.
employment of the minor mode is comparatively rare.' Without reference or explanation, Dent offers that statement in his Foundations of English Opera (1928). Such incautious arguments are quite impossible to find in modern scholarship, and yet Dent had no little truth in his claim, and it still deserves attention.
My study investigates Purcell's idiosyncratic use of the minor key. It will be shown that in a substantial body of his minor-mode works Purcell uses melodic leaps and harmonic progressions often identified with folk and folk-like music. Some of these idioms have been mentioned by
scholars (but only with relation to Purcell's "Scotch Tunes") and some were not analysed hitherto. It will be shown that these idioms are fundamental to one's understanding of the composerís late style.
Elam Rotem (b. 1984), a composer, harpsichordist and bass singer, is one of the most promising talents in today's early music scene. His ensemble, Profeti dela quinta, won prestigious prizes, records and tours regularly. Alongside his work as performer (and perhaps as an integral part of it), Rotem also composes works for his ensemble, usually in 17th century Italian style. The work under discussion in my lecture is the largest and most-demanding piece he composed to this day - Rappresentatione di Giuseppe e i suoi fratelli (Joseph and His Brethren) - based on text from the book of Genesis, and sung in the original Hebrew.
In the CD booklet of the new recording of the piece (Pan Classics PC10302) Rotem refers to this kind of composition as New-Early-Music. The composers command of 17th century musical grammar is impeccable and makes his piece an extreme case-study of style composition. My lecture will present the piece; try to highlight historicist and modernist aspects of it; and attempt to examine it in light of the common arguments against style composition. In my talk, I will suggest that "Joseph and His Brethren" should be adopted by the audience not just for its merits as a new exciting and moving piece written with great skill, but also as an opportunity to rethink several Romantic presuppositions that were accepted as unrivalled truths in contemporary musical terminology (work, composer, performance, originality).
In a musical sense, ‘Lechoh Dodi’ may have appealed to composers by virtue of its apparent resemblance to the Rondo form, mainly through its use of a refrain, but also through the musical implications of its strict poetic metre and rhyming scheme.
My paper will explore several settings of ‘Lechoh Dodi’ and overview the ways in which composers aimed to elaborate its basic Rondo structure: by increasing the numbers of melodies used for the verses; by complicating the overall tonal scheme of the piece; by using subtle motivical transformation; and by balancing the need in clear delievery of the text with the attempt to create a rich polyphonic texture.
The main focus of my paper will be on settings from the Sulzerian circle (Salomon Sulzer himself and Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried), although other, later examples, will be surveyed as well.
Besides its being an astonishing compositional achievement, Purcell’s Fantazia à 4 in D minor dated ‘August the 31: 1680’ epitomises the problems, textual and interpretative, of Purcell’s Fantazias, including the problem of ambiguous accidentals. Surveying the fantazia’s various editions, one may find an impressive quantity of ‘editorial’ and ‘cautionary’ accidentals. Some of the work’s historically informed recordings offer yet more surprising readings. My paper will offer a close reading of Purcell’s work, seek to clarify the implications of some of its notational ambiguities and to comment on what we perceive today as Purcell’s style.
The picture is complicated further by the facts that the autograph score is lost, that that two primary sources for the piece are considerably later (1834 and 1840), and that they disagree over text underlay and other details.
Recently we have rediscovered another, previously unknown, manuscript copy (in private hands). Preliminary research suggests not only that it is the earliest source of the piece (ca. 1832) but also supplies interesting variant readings and alternative text underlay. More importantly, it may shed new light on the early reception history of the work and on the objection it might have encountered among the Jewish community. Our paper will describe the new source, survey its variant readings and revisit the historical background of the piece.
The British prog movement thrived from the late 1960s to the early 80s and offered young audiences a mixture of aggressive rock sound with lyrics that were intellectually challenging (often far-removed from the everyday subjects characterizing main-stream rock), sophisticated arrangement and scoring, and an imaginative approach to musical form, ranging from song fragments to thirty-minute instrumental works. These, triggered by the classical background and artistic aspirations of many prog musicians, on the one hand attracted groups of devout enthusiastic fans, and on the other hand situated the genre on shaky grounds in terms of commercial potential. Eventually, genres today which can be seen as the offspring of prog are still relatively marginal in that sense.
Behind what appeared to be an imitation of that foreign style, Israeli prog musicians in the 70s (Shlomo Gronich, Shem-Tov Levy, Yoni Rechter, Danny Sanderson and others), created, perhaps unknowingly, a local style of song writing whose influence extended far beyond the mid 1980s, which saw the waning of the ‘classical’ period of prog. My study will show how, while filtering out several characteristic of the British prog style, while showing preference to distinctive lyrical genres, local modes and rhythms, and through involvement in other fields in the music industry (music for children, TV documentary soundtracks), the influence exerted by Israeli prog musicians on the local colour of Israeli rock today is far greater than the weight of prog remnants of today’s British mainstream rock.
My paper attempts to explain some of the peculiarities of Purcell’s fantazias through investigation of what I identify as their infra-structure and through study of the mathematical principles that dictate it: Purcell's concept of form, as reflected in some these early works, was grounded in a cyclic treatment of seven- and eight-note scales that has not been recorded in contemporary treatises. While some of the imitational sections in the fantazias are based on presenting the principal subject starting on the primary degrees of the mode (the final, a fifth above it, a fifth below it etc.), some sections betray an aware attempt to incorporate entries on all degrees. This attempt, joined with the limited spaced the composer allocates to it (sometimes a section of eight bars) results in great density and harmonic progressions which may sound arbitrary but in fact are meticulously planned.
Using lists of pitches which he exhausted in turns, Purcell on the one hand sought and achieved control over musical form and, on the other hand, created a framework for bold vertical sonorities which are, at least in part, gave these works their reputation as experimental, personal and rare masterworks. Focusing on the four-part fantazias, the study will demonstrate how during the process described by J.A. Westrup as Purcell's 'progress from freedom to a regularity no less free', the composer used numbers, lists, and considerations which lie outside the borders of the emerging tonal system and experimented with other fascinating shaping forces in music.
This is all the more striking when comparing the set to the earlier and masterly Sonnata’s of III Parts (1683) whose dozen works show a carefully planned tonal scheme and greater sense of unity. Scholars have suggested that the first two sonatas of 1697, when joined to the twelve sonatas of 1683, create a complete, even if untypical, unit of fourteen works. Concentrating on the compositional aspect of these two sets, this paper will re-examine the thesis of the fourteen-piece set to ask whether that hypothesised cycle shows intrinsic coherence and whether it can be seen as a ‘meaningful’ set. This paper considers also what questions ‘the fourteen-piece set thesis’ raises about the about Purcell’s remaining sonatas of 1697, focusing particularly on issues of style and chronlogy.
His largest publication, Dioclesian, was produced in 1691, when the composer’s obligations were becoming more and more demanding. Dioclesian is significantly less reliable than the masterly engraved edition of the Sonatas of Three Parts (1683), perhaps because of those demands on his time; and we have no autograph concordance on which to rely.
I will try to show that inner evidence in the printed music betrays characteristic errors that have been overlooked, and that their identification as errors may affect future editions or performances, as well as shed new light on the printing process.