Perspectives on Jewish Music

Secular and Sacred

Jonathan L. Friedmann

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2009
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216286998
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Music

Perspectives on Jewish Music presents five unique and engaging explorations of Jewish music. Areas covered include self-expression in contemporary Jewish secular music, the rise of popular music in the American synagogue, the theological requirements of the cantor, the role of women in Sephardic music and society, and the personal reflections of a leading figure in American synagogue music. Its wide-ranging topics and disciplinary approaches give evidence for the centrality of music in Jewish religious and secular life, and demonstrate that Jewish music is as diverse as the Jews themselves. From these studies, readers will gain an appreciation of both what Jewish music is and what it does. This book will be useful for students, practitioners, and scholars of Jewish secular and religious music and Jewish cultural studies, as well as ethnomusicologists specializing in Jewish or religious music.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 01. A Tale of Four Diasporas: Case Studies on the Relevance of “Diaspora” in Contemporary American Jewish Music
• Chapter 02. The Folk and Folk/Rock Movement of the Sixties and Its Influence on the Contemporary Jewish Worship Service
• Chapter 03. Humility, Prayer, and the Cantorial Ideal
• Chapter 04. Gender and Liturgy in Music: Masculine and Feminine Forms of Language and Ritual in Sephardic Secular and Sacred Music
• Chapter 05. Trust the Process: My Life in Sacred Song
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• About the Contributors