Jewish Music

Jewish music is highly diverse, reflecting the societies, cultures, and places where Jews have lived. Influenced by various musical environments, it has also been shaped by the mobility of Jewish life due to exile, persecution, and migration. Conceptions of Jewish identity – whether as a religion, culture, ethnicity, or nationality – has often determined what qualifies as Jewish music. Historically, the Jewish background of musicians and composers has also impacted the reception of their music under the influence of theological dogmas as well as political and racial ideologies.

During the 20th century, the developments connected with political antisemitism and Zionism led to attempts to create a Jewish national style, with early Israeli composers blending Middle Eastern musical elements with European art music frameworks. In East Germany (GDR), Jewish music mirrored broader themes within Jewish culture, shaped by the ruling SED party’s insistence on a universal “anti-fascist” identity over the particularist national or religious aspects of Judaism.

Antifascist resistance was a common theme in East German musical works by composers of Jewish background, such as Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau. The collaborative cantata Jüdische Chronik created a unique meeting point for East and West German perspectives, focusing on the fate of Jews as Holocaust victims rather than antifascist resistance. Performances of Arnold Schoenberg’s works also necessitated ideological justification. Critics primarily objected to his “formalist” musical language but also his reclaiming of Jewish national identity in Moses und Aron.

At the height of the Cold War, the association between Jews and Israel became a central feature of the New Antisemitism. This, in turn, had a significant impact on Jewish life and culture in the GDR. Israeli music was rarely performed due to the GDR’s anti-Israel politics. Liturgical and diaspora folk music were less contentious as they seemed to align with the Soviet view that Judaism was merely a religion. Werner Sander contributed to reviving synagogue music in East Germany, while Lin Jaldati gained international fame as a Yiddish song interpreter. Despite political pressures, Jewish expression in music transcended official political expectations and highlighted its richness and distinctiveness within East German ideological uniformity.