Music, Jews in

From JudaismWiki

MUSIC, JEWS IN. Since the 19th century, Jews have made major contributions to Western music in general and to American music in particular. Perhaps the greatest composer of Jewish origin in the early 19th century was Felix Mendelssohn. Jacques Offenbach is another major example of that period. Gustav Mahler, a leading modern composer, represents the end of that century. In the 20th century the French Darius Milhuad, the Viennese Arnold Schoenberg, and the Americans George Gershwin and Aaron Copland set music trends.

Jews have also given the world some of the greatest violinists of the past hundred years, including the Europeans Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, and Nathan Milstein; the American Isaac Stern; and the Israelis Yitzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman. Among great Jewish pianists of our time are the Europeans Artur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Rudolf Serkin, and Vladimir Ashkenazy; and the Israelis David Bar-Ilan and Daniel Barenboim, who was born in Argentina.

Another area where Jews have made an enormous musical contribution is orchestra conducting. Many of the great Jewish conductors were born in Europe, but a good number pursued their careers in the U.S. where they conducted major orchestras: George Szell (Cleveland), Eugene Ormandy (Philadephia), Andre Previn (Los Angeles), William Steinberg (Pittsburgh), Max Rudolf (Cincinnati), José Serebrier (Cleveland), George Solti (Chicago), Fritz Reiner (Pittsburgh), Erich Leinsdorf (Rochester), and Serge Koussevitzky (Boston). The first prominent American-born conductor was Leonard Bernstein, a major figure in American music.

Some Jewish conductors became great popularizers of both classic and popular music. Besides Bernstein, Mitch Miller and his television program “Sing Along with Mitch” were enormously popular. Andre Kostelanez recorded a wide range of music, and Arthur Fiedler won fame with the Boston Pops.

Among great 20th century opera singers in the U.S. were Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, Roberta Peters, and Beverly Sills.

[edit] Jews in Popular Music

The Jewish contribution to music in the U.S. has not been limited to classical music. The American musical show, an original American art form, was greatly enriched by Jewish songwriters and composers, such as Jerome Kern (Show Boat), Gershwin (Porgy and Bess), and particularly Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein (Oklahoma!, South Pacific, Carousel). More recently, Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady (lyrics by Lerner) and the work of Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George) have gained great popularity.

American Jews have also written many of the popular songs of our time. Irving Berlin may hold the record for the number of songs written (God Bless America, White Christmas); Bob Dylan (Blowin’ in the Wind) and Paul Simon, with Art Garfunkel, (Bridge Over Troubled Water) won Grammys for their popular folk-rock music.

Al Jolson (Swanee), a cantor’s son, was one of the leading American entertainers before World War II. Sophie Tucker (Yiddishe Mamme) was a musical comedy singer. Another great comedienne and singer of the time was Fanny Brice (I’d Rather Be Blue). More recently, singers Bette Midler (The Rose) and Barbra Streisand (People, The Way We Were), as well as singer-songwriters Neil Diamond (You Don’t Bring Me Flowers) and Barry Manilow (Mandy) have become household names.