Amidah - תפילת העמידה – for soprano voice, clarinet, cello, and piano – is a liturgical work in three movements that uses common Jewish prayers as its text. These three movements focus on specific prayers that can be found in the Amidah, the central portion of a Jewish prayer service. This work uses prayers that can be performed on a Friday evening Shabbat service. The first movement focuses on accompanimental music to the Silent Amidah, a silent prayer. The prelude uses the traditional Jewish melody of the opening prayer of the Amidah, Adonai S’fatai Tiftach (אדני שפתי תפתח), leading directly into the first movement. This movement, while harkening to some Jewish melodies, takes ideas from classical Western harmony. While conveying both a sense of calmness and unease, the movement allows for the listener to silently reflect and meditate while absorbing the music. The second movement, Oseh Shalom (עושה שלום), takes its root in Freylach music, a traditional, fast-paced, upbeat style of Klezmer music. While keeping traditional elements, it also uses contemporary harmony and extensive ornamentation in a joyous, energetic fashion. The third movement, Mi Shebeirach (מי שברך), combines flowing lines, ornamental ancient Hebrew trope cantillation, liturgical elements, Middle-Eastern aspects, and spectral harmonies to create a slow, lamenting prayer for healing, a prayer that cries out in pain and suffering, begging for a restoration of mind, body, and soul. The movement closes in mournful sadness comforted by the presence of the Divine.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to examine how music teachers at Jewish day schools integrate both general music skills and repertoire with Jewish repertoire and themes in their curriculum. Research questions included: (1) How do music teachers at Jewish day schools integrate general music skills and repertoire with Jewish repertoire and themes? (2) What challenges do teachers face when implementing their curriculum in the Jewish day school environment? (3) How do teachers describe their decisions to integrate? (4) How do their beliefs and values impact integration? And (5) How do teachers understand their role as music educators in a Jewish day school? Research on music education in Jewish day schools is a rarity, and as of the completion of this study, no apparent research yet examined the integration of general and Jewish music. For this study, I selected three general music teachers at the lower school or elementary level from two Jewish day schools in the Northeastern United States that represented different Jewish communities. Data collection consisted of three semi-structured interviews, three-four observations of general music classes for kindergarten through fifth grade, and artifacts.Data analysis revealed the following findings, organized by the five research questions. Participants integrated general and Jewish music through music basics and deliberate curricular decisions. They faced the challenges of time, tensions between values and practical considerations, and on some occasions, support. Participants made decisions about integration by taking the repertoire-first or concept-first approach, and then checked to make sure that their lessons were multicentric. Participants’ beliefs and values fit the overarching theme of “feet in two different worlds.” Two participants, Shira and Tamar, derived their beliefs and values from the general music world, the Jewish music world, and from a combination of the two. One teacher, Kate, who is not Jewish, derived her beliefs and values from the general music world and showed a belief in being open to Jewish music. Shira saw her role as “The Connector,” Tamar viewed her role as “The Advocate/Connector,” and Kate viewed her role as “The Facilitator.” This research strives to shed light on the practicalities and thought processes involved in integrating Jewish and general music that will transfer to other Jewish day schools, other Jewish educational institutions, and other faith-based schools. / Music Education

Au vu des monographies récentes portant sur les sciences juives médiévales, Musique est la petite sœur oubliée. Elles sont héritées des sciences, de la méthode philosophique et de la partition du savoir arabes, qui constituent un enseignement où la musique est pourtant inscrite. Elle apparaît notamment dans des classifications arabes des sciences, et des traités lui ont été consacrés, dont certains sont fameux. À en juger par les textes hébreux médiévaux qui nous sont parvenus, les textes arabes ont influencé le discours juif sur la musique. Nous qualifions de « discours sur la musique » l’ensemble des parties textuelles relatives à la musique, dont nous fournissons une traduction française inédite. Il s'agit de textes hébreux produits dans le rayonnement de la culture juive andalouse entre le XIIe et le XVe siècle, traduits ou adaptés de l'arabe et, dans une moindre mesure, d'autres langues, et de textes originaux. Ces textes sont de nature pédagogique et de genres différents : classifications des sciences ou encyclopédies, dialogues, commentaires ou super-commentaires, traités, sermons et notes éparses. Dans cette étude, nous retraçons l'histoire des idées et notions musicales introduites dans les textes juifs, d'une part ; nous déterminons les raisons pour lesquelles leurs auteurs convoquent ces idées et notions, d'autre part. Cette thèse vise à montrer que la musique, considérée par les savants juifs des points de vue rationnel, psychologique ou éthique, est à la fois une des sciences et un des principes unificateurs des différents corps de la connaissance juive médiévale. / Music appears to be an overlooked subject in recent monographs focusing on medieval Jewish sciences. Medieval Jewish scholars are indebted to Arab-Muslim scholars : the former received the philosophical method and the branches of knowledge that the latter conceived. However, music was part of the Arab philosophical education. For instance, it appears in classifications of sciences ; scholars compiled treatises on that matter. Judging by medieval Hebrew texts that have been handed down to us, Arabic texts that circulated have influenced the way Jewish scholars speak about music. The corpus of texts upon which this study is based is constituted of texts or excerpts that can be related to music. They all constitute what will be called « discourse on music ». These Hebrew texts all account for the influence of Judaeo-Spanish culture on Provençal Judaism between the 12th and the 15th centuries. Some of them are original texts ; others are translations or adaptations from texts originally written in Arabic or, to a lesser extent, in other romance languages. These texts are essentially pedagogical and belong to various textual types. The first aim of this study is to trace musical ideas and concepts that are found in Jewish texts ; the second aim is to determine the reasons why Jewish scholars rely upon musical ideas and concepts in texts that are not devoted to the subject. This thesis shall prove that music, a subject that Jewish scholars considered alternatively in a rational, psychological, or ethical way, turns out to be one of the medieval Jewish sciences, and one of the unifying principles of the various bodies of Jewish medieval knowledge.

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Czech school's curriculum often omits Jewish music. Based on the proposal of concrete music classes, this thesis aims at evolving and enriching this topic. The thesis is divided into two parts. Theoretical part (chapters one and two) begins with description of Jewish culture, history, religion, habits and holidays, including Jewish languages and specifics between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, and follows with description of Jewish music, comprising particular modes and religious and secular music. The objective of this part is to present necessary broader information about Jewish culture for proposed concrete classes. Practical part (third chapter) proposes five thematically divided music classes based on three-phase model. Each music class includes staves extracts and texts; sheet music is annexed. The objective of music classes, which are based on music activities and methods of critical thinking and emphasise creativity of students and cooperation among them, is to build key competences and evolve multicultural behaviour. Nonetheless, this thesis is not a dogmatic proposal of plan of music classes, but primary serves as a source of inspiration for use and further development of concrete musical activities at school. KEY WORDS Jewish culture, Jewish music, music education, three-phase model,...

This diploma thesis, titled "Niggunim in the Hasidic Tradition" deals with the musical tradition of the Hasidic Jews and its role in their daily lives and religious praxis. In this first part the reader is introduced to the topic, such as a general definition of a niggun. Included in the introductory chapters is a new typology of Hasidic niggunim, based on contemporary theories and arranged according to their usage in Hasidic practice. The basic modes in Jewish music are also explored (alongside known major and minor scales), and examples of each type are given. The next four chapters explore four dynasties whose musical activity is significant for the Hasidic tradition (HaBaD, Modzhits, Karlin, and Bratslav). This pivotal section includes a theoretical and musical analysis of the niggunim in each individual tradition according to dynasty. This thesis offers a definition of niggunim that encompasses the entire Hasidic tradition: a communicative medium and tool for expressing emotions in the context of the mystical practices of devekut and tikun olam. The unique perception of music by each of the four dynasties is also explored. The text of this thesis includes appendix A, which contains notational examples to accompany the text, and appendix B, which contains audio recordings in mp3 format.

The purpose of this study is to show interrelationships between the thematic contents of those piano works by Alkan that are considered to be representative of his general style and the more commonly used melodic phrases taken from the Jewish Synagogue, mainly prayer chants and accents. An attempt will be made to point out the reason behind consequent unacceptable of Alkan's piano works, despite the efforts of Busoni, d'Albert, and Lewenthal to bring them to public attention. The results of this investigation are presented in a systematic analysis and discussion of Jewish prayer-chants and their structure traceable within Alkan's music and in a presentation in table form of the Jewish accents found among Alkan's melodies. After consideration of the outcome of analysis, elements which are known to be European are also presented. These are mainly keyboard virtuousity and harmony and secondarily, form and rhythm. In this section, Robert Schumann's opinions of Alkan's music are quoted and discussed. Because Schumann's ideas carried into the twentieth century, this gave opportunity for a re-evaluation of the lack of musical beauty inherent in Alkan's music.

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