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Jewish music in the Italian Renaissance
In the relatively small area between Rome and Milan,
and between Genoa and Venice, there was, from the 14th
through the 16th century, an efflorescence of genius,
of vitality and of versatility, coupled with a universality
of aesthetic expression such as the world has perhaps
never known at any other time. This dazzling process
was the Italian Renaissance.
It happened that this area was, at this period-as would
not have been the case a century or so before-the seat
of numerous Jewish communities, and, in the liberal
spirit of the times, it was impossible for them not
to be affected by, and not to contribute in some measure
toward, this intellectual turmoil and artistic efflorescence.
The court of Mantua was, par excellence, the seat of
royal luxury and artistic magnificence. At the end of
the 15th century the duchess Isabella d'Este Gonzaga
brought many of the finest musicians of Italy to Mantua
to compose new music and perform it for the entertainment
of the royal family. During the reign of Gugliemo Gonzaga,
in the second half of the 16th century, there was a
permanent cappella, a professional musical ensemble
in residence within the castle walls. Gugliemo's successor,
the duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, at the turn of the 17th century,
brought music to an even more magnificent scale. The
composers Monteverdi, Gastoldi, Rossi, Wert and Viadana
provided the most fashionable new music for banquets,
wedding feasts, musical-theatre productions and chapel
services.
Jews were not only tolerated in the enlightened duchy
of Mantua, but they were often allowed to intermingle
freely with non-Jews. In this liberal atmosphere, Jews
were affected in an exceptional degree by the prevailing
literary, artistic and humanistic tendencies.
Some of Mantua's most famous dancers and choreographers
were Jews. Isabella's dancing instructor was the Jew,
Gugliemo Ebreo Pesaro, the author of one of the most
important treatises on choreography written in the 15th
century.
For
a one-hundred-year period, starting in the middle of
the 16th century, there was an active Jewish Theatre
troupe in Mantua, known as the Università Israelitica.
The citizens of Mantua were all aware of the Università's
unusual schedule: on Fridays performances would be held
in the afternoon rather than in the evening, so as not
to interfere with the festa del sabbato.
While
originally devised for the entertainment of Jews by
Jews, this troupe received frequent invitations from
the Gonzaga dukes to perform for Christian audiences
in the palace. In fact, their reputation was so great
that they travelled for run-out gigs to some of the
neighboring duchies. The success of this troupe at its
height can be attributed to three of its leaders: the
playwright Leone Sommo, the choreographer Isaaco Massarano,
and the Gonzagas' own theatre composer, Salamone Rossi.
In
Renaissance Mantua, Jews achieved a remarkably successful
synthesis between their ancestral Hebraic culture and
that of their secular environment. It was one of the
rare periods when absorption into the civilization had
no corrosive effect on Jewish intellectual life. Those
who achieved distinction in the general society as physicians,
astronomers, playwrights, dancers, musicians, and so
on, were, in almost every case, loyal Jews, conversant
with Hebrew, and devoted to traditional scholarship.
The Hebrew language was revived, and used in poetry,
literature, and even in spoken conversation.
The
Mantuan scholar Azaryah de Rossi published in 1573 Meor
Eynayyim, a collection of Hebrew essays, most of which
are devoted to Biblical scholarship. What made Azaryah's
work so controversial and so representative of this
period was the fact that in addition to drawing on Jewish
sources, he quoted some 100 non-Jewish authors, including
Homer, Virgil, Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, Hippocrates,
Plutarch, Julius Caesar, Dante, Petrarch, St. Thomas
Aquinas and St. Augustine.
In
this context it is not surprising to see Jews involved
in all areas of Renaissance humanism, including music.
Throughout the 16th century we find a series of Jewish
vocalists and instrumentalists in the service of the
dukes of Mantua, contributing greatly to the splendor
of the court of the House of Gonzaga. There was Abramo
dell' Arpa (Abraham the harp player) and his nephew,
Abramino dell' arpa; Isacchino Massarano-an excellent
singer, dancer, lutenist and composer; Madama Europa
(the stage name of Salamone Rossi's sister), one of
the most sought-after sopranos of Mantua (sought after
for her voice, and also, apparently, for her fair figure);
her son, Asher de Rossi, the composer; and Asher's sons
Giuseppe and Bonaiuto the guitar players; Allegro Porto,
composer of madrigals; and Benedetto Sessigli, lutenist.
But
standing head and shoulders above all other Jewish musicians
of the Renaissance period, and a considerable musical
figure in any context, was Salamone Rossi-singer, violinist
and composer at the court of Mantua from 1587 until
1628.
In Rossi we see the apex of the Jewish participation
in the Italian Renaissance. On the one hand he was a
gifted secular composer who collaborated with the musical
giants of the era, including Monteverdi and Gastoldi.
During the period of his employment at Mantua, he wrote
volumes of songs, dances and concert music for his Christian
patrons who, in gratitude, exempted Salamone from wearing
the stipulated Jewish badge of shame.
But
at the same time, here is the Jewish composer who proudly
appended to his name the word "Hebreo"-Salamone
Rossi the Jew. He was descendant from the illustrious
Italian-Jewish family "de Rossi" (which is
the Italian translation of the Hebrew family name, "Me-Ha'Adumim").
This proud family, which included the famous and controversial
Bible scholar, Azariyah de Rossi and a number of fine
musicians, traced Its ancestry back to the exiles from
Jerusalem, carried away to Rome by the Emperor Titus
in the year 70.
As a young man, Rossi made his reputation as a violinist.
In 1587 he was hired by Duke Vincenzo as a resident
musician at the court of Mantua. But, in addition to
his performing, Rossi was also composing music for violins
and for voices.
His
first published work (appearing in 1589) was a collection
of 19 canzonets, short compositions for three voices
with dance-like rhythms and amorous texts. Like his
colleague Monteverdi, Rossi also excelled in the composition
of serious madrigals. In these settings of the romantic
verses of the greatest poets of the day, Including Guarini,
Marino, Rinaldi and Celiano, we hear how successful
Rossi was in uniting the arts of poetry and music.
In
the field of Instrumental music Rossi was a bold innovator.
He was the first composer to apply to instrumental music
the principles of monodic song, in which one melody
dominates over secondary accompanying parts. His sonatas,
among the first in the literature, provided for the
development of an idiomatic and virtuoso violin technique.
But
it is undoubtedly in the field of synagogue music that
we find Rossi' s most daring innovations. Since the
beginning of the last diaspora, some 1900 years ago,
Jews have clung to an ancient and exotic musical tradition.
Instruments were banned from the synagogue as a sign
of mourning for the destruction of the ancient Bet HaMikdash.
New melodies of gentile origin were considered a deviation
from the pure Near-Eastern tradition, and, as such,
were forbidden. Change was frowned upon; prayer tunes
were kept in their original form; no harmonization was
allowed.
But
the times were changing. From within-The Jews of Mantua
and Venice and Ferrara had developed a taste for le
nuove musiche, the new music of the Renaissance. They
began to question why the music of their synagogues
should continue to sound so old-fashioned. And from
without- the counter-Reformation demanded enforcement
of the laws that separated the Jew from his neighbor.
The first strictly segregated Jewish neighborhood was
established in Venice in 1516. Named after the foundry
located nearby, it was called the "ghetto."
The enforced segregation in Mantua culminated in Duke
Vincenzo's establishment of a barricaded ghetto in 1612.
Now, at the peak of the Renaissance, Italian Jews were
forced to turn increasingly inward. Now their appetites
for le nuove musiche would have to be satisfied within
the confines of their own community. The synagogue would
provide the venue for this fine art.
In
Padua and Ferrara there were synagogue choirs at the
end of the 16th century. In Modena there was an organ,
in Venice a complete orchestra. Flaunting the centuries-old
tradition, these practices came under heavy criticism
from many conservative members of the community. Rabbi
Leone of Modena wrote about his experiences organizing
a choir in Ferrara:
| We
have among us some connoisseurs of the science of
singing, six or eight knowledgeable persons of our
community. We raise our voices on the festivals,
and sing songs of praise in the synagogue to honor
God with compositions of vocal harmony. A man stood
up to chase us away saying that it is not right
to do so, because it is forbidden to rejoice, and
that the singing of hymns and praises in harmony
is forbidden. Although the congregation clearly
enjoyed our singing this man rose against us and
condemned us publicly, saying that we had sinned
before God! |
Yet
so strong was the Renaissance spirit that a number of
enlightened Rabbis defended the new musical practice
in published responsa. Among them, Rabbi Leone who wrote:
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I do not see how anyone with a brain in his
skull could cast any doubt on the propriety of
praising God in song in the synagogue on special
Sabbaths and on festivals. Such music is as much
a religious obligation as that which is performed
to bring joy to bridegroom and bride whom it is
our duty to adorn and gladden with all manner
of rejoicing. No intelligent person, no scholar
ever thought of forbidding the use of the greatest
possible beauty of voice in praising the Lord,
blessed be He, nor the use of musical art which
awakens the soul to His glory. |
Most
significantly, Rossi is the first Jew ever to compose,
perform and publish polyphonic settings of the synagogue
liturgy for mixed choir. In the preface to the publication
of this synagogue music, Rossi acknowledged the spiritual
inspiration for his art:
From
the time that the Lord God first opened my ears
and granted me the power to understand and to
teach the science of music, I have used this
wisdom to compose many songs. Out of the many
ideas within me, my soul has delighted to take
the choicest of all as an offering of the voice
wherewith to give thanks to Him who rides upon
the Heavens with a sound of gladsome thanksgiving;
for we have been given voices so that we may
honor the Lord, each with the blessings of talent
that we were given to enjoy.
The
Lord has been my strength and He has put new
songs into my mouth. Inspired, I wove these
into an arrangement of sweet sounds, and I designated
them for items of rejoicing on the holy festivals.
I did not restrain my lips, but ever increased
my striving to enhance the Psalms of David,
King of Israel, until I set many of them and
shaped them into proper harmonic form, so that
they would have greater stature for discriminating
ears.
Since it was the Lord who granted me the artistic
spirit to recognize beauty, it is to Him that
I have raised my voice in service. I felt that
it would be proper to benefit the congregation
by publishing a selection of my motets, which
I composed not for my own glory, but for the
glory of my Father in Heaven, who created this
soul within me. Therefore I will give thanks
to Him evermore.
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In
the year 1630 the great city of Mantua was stormed by
invading Austrian troops. The Jewish ghetto was ravaged
and its inhabitants fled the town. The Renaissance was
over for the Jewish community. Choral music was no longer
heard in the synagogue. Salamone Rossi probably died
in that year and was all but forgotten.
In was some 200 years later that the Baron Edmond de
Rothschild, on a trip to Italy, stumbled on a strange
collection of old music books bearing the name Salamone
Rossi Hebreo. Intrigued by what he found, Rothschild
handed over the manuscripts to Samuel Naumbourg, Cantor
of the Great Synagogue of Paris. In 1876 the first modern
edition of Rossi's music was published. Once again the
voice of one of the sweetest singers of Israel, Salamone
Rossi Hebreo, was heard in the land.
-Joshua
R. Jacobson
Editor's
note: Last December, the Zamir Chorale of Boston performed
a multi-media presentation of Rossi's music. The program,
sponsored by Cantor Charles Osborne and Temple Emmanuel
of Newton, Massachusetts, featured the Zamir Chorale,
Mark Kroll and the Boston Baroque Ensemble, Ken Pierce
and the Boston Baroque dancers, the Rossi Chamber Singers,
slides, narrators and a script by Joshua Jacobson. A recording
of this program should be available in the Fall. For more
information on Rossi and his times, see these articles
and books:
Adler,
Israel. "The Rise of Art Music in the Italian Ghetto."
In Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies, ed. Alexander
Altman. 321-64. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967.
Bonfil, Robert. Jewish Life in Renaissance Italy (translated
by Anthony Oldcorn). Bekeley: University of California
Press, 1994.
Birnbaum, Edouard. Jewish Musicians at the Court of the
Mantuan Dukes. Translated and edited by Judith Cohen.
Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 1978. (Originally
published as "Juedische Musiker am Hofe zu Mantua
von 1542-1628." Kalendar für Israeliten für
das Jahr 5654. Vienna, 1893.)
Cohen, Mark (ed.). The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century
Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena's Life of Judah. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1988.
Einstein, Alfred. The Italian Madrigal. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1949.
_____. "Salamone Rossi As Madrigal Composer."
Hebrew Union College Annual 23 (1950-51): 383-96.
_____. "An Unknown Jewish Musician at the Court of
Mantua." In "The Madrigals of Salamon de' Rossi,"
pp. 315-25, by Joel Newman. Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia
University, 1962.
Gradenwitz, Peter. "An Early Instance of Copyright
-- Venice, 1622." Music and Letters 27 (1946): 185-86.
Harran, Don. "Cultural Fusions in Jewish Musical
Thought of the Later Renaissance." In Cantu et in
Sermone: For Nino Pirrotta on His 80th Birthday, ed. Fabrizio
Della Seta and Franco Piperno. 141-154. Florence: Leo
S. Olschki, 1989 (?).
Harran, Don. "Salamone Rossi as a Composer of Theatre
Music." Studi Musicali, 16 (1987a): 95-132.
Harran, Don. "Salamone Rossi, Jewish Musician in
Renaissance Italy." Acta Musicologica 59 (January
1987b): 46-64.
Harran, Don. "Tradition and Innovation in Jewish
Music of the Later Renaissance." The Journal of Musicology,
VII (1 1989): 107-130.
Jacobson, Joshua. "The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi."
American Choral Review XXX (4 1988):
Jacobson, Joshua. "A Possible Influence of Traditional
Chant on a Synagogue Motet of Salamone Rossi." Musica
Judaica X (1 1987-88): 52-58.
Jacobson, Joshua R. "Spazziam: A Balletto by Salamone
Rossi." American Choral Review, 22 (October 1980):
5-10.
Newman, Joel. "The Madrigals of Salamon de' Rossi."
Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1962.
Newman, Joel and Rikko, Fritz. A Thematic Index to the
Works of Salamon Rossi. Hackensack, N.J.: Joseph Boonin,
1972.
Rikko. Fritz. Hashirim Asher Lish'lomo: The Songs of Solomon
(three volumes). New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary,
1967.
Roth, Cecil. The Jews in the Renaissance. New York: Harper
and Row, 1959.
_____. "When We Remembered Zion: The Musical Academy
of the Venetian Ghetto." In Personalities and Events
in Jewish History, pp. 283-295. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society of America, 1953.
_____. The History of the Jews of Italy. Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1946.
_____. The History of the Jews of Venice. Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1930.
Sendrey, Alfred. The Music of the Jews in the Diaspora.
New York: T. Yoseloff, 1970.
Simonsohn, Shlomo. History of the Jews in the Duchy of
Mantua. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press, 1962. Translation
by the author. Jerusalem: Kiryath-Sepher Ltd., 1977. |
