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Revising perspectives on nineteenth-century Jewish composers: a case study comparison of Ignaz Brüll and Salomon Jadassohn

University of British Columbia

The influence of anti-Semitism on the lives and careers of Jewish musicians within the social climate of nineteenth-century Europe is well known. Pamela Potter, Sander Gilman, Philip Bohlman, and K. M. Knittel have thoroughly explored the anti-Semitic treatment of Jewish composers during this period. Definitions of the experience of Jewish composers have been crystallized on the basis of prominent cases, such as Gustav Mahler or Alexander Zemlinsky, who were actively discussed in the press or other publications. The goal of this study is to examine whether the general view of anti-Semitism, as shown in those studies, applies to other Jewish composers. To this aim, this thesis will introduce two lesser known Jewish composers, Ignaz Brüll (1846-1907) and Salomon Jadassohn (1831-1902) as case studies, consider closely their particular situations at the end of the nineteenth century, and assess their positions vis-à-vis the general views of how musician Jews were treated in these societies. Chapter One outlines the historical and political context in Germany and Austria, where these two composers resided, in order to understand where they fit into that context. Chapter Two focuses on Jewishness in music, the difficulties involved in defining Jewish music, along with the contributions of other Jewish composers to the wider European culture, and makes clear the important part anti-Semitism played in the process of identification during this period. Chapters Three and Four examine Brüll and Jadassohn’s biographical details, musical careers, and the musical genres and stylistic characteristics of these two composers within a broader milieu. The available evidence surrounding Brüll and Jadassohn ultimately demonstrates that at least on the surface they did not face the explicit public anti-Semitic treatment that other, more prominent, Jewish composers encountered, according to whose reception anti-Semitism during that period is typically defined. A more fine-tuned view of the musical and cultural scene in Vienna and Leipzig at the end of the nineteenth century illuminates the musical contribution of lesser known Jewish composers during that time and highlights the need for further individual case studies of other Jewish composers in order to revise current perspectives.

Text

2013-03-15

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/44030

Music

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/