World Centre for Jewish Music in Palestine, 1936-1940

Using the documents assembled by the World Centre for Jewish Music in Palestine (WCJMP) during the half decade of its activities in the late 1930s, this volume examines the history of European Jewish music on the eve of its destruction. The many voices of the musicians and intellectuals forced to flee from the growing spectre of Nazism speak in this book about the transformation of the Jewish communities of Europe, the difficulties faced before and during exile, and the growing human and cultural tragedy faced by European Jewish culture. Voices of hopefulness also emerge from the documents in the book, particularly as Jewish musicians throughout the world turned to the WCJMP, itself founded by exiles from Central Europe, and sought new outlets for the performance and study of Jewish music. Though the WCJMP itself succumbed to the destruction of European Jewish music, its history provides a new way to formulate and write the history of Jewish music, and furthermore of the complex postmodern history of European music. Philip V. Bohlman has translated selected documents from the correspondence and publications of the World Centre for Jewish Music, introduced their unique and compelling themes, and provided commentaries on all documents and their authors. The book begins and closes with essays in which the author situates the history of the WCJMP within its several historical contexts and the larger issues of Jewish music and music history that the book opens for the first time.Table of ContentDirectory to the Documents; Preface; List of Illustrations; List of Abbreviations; Glossary; Note on the Translations; Introduction; Part I: European Roots; 1. Organizing the WCJMP in the Diaspora; 2. Organizing the WCJMP Abroad; 3. Social Conditions for Jewish Musicians in Germany and Europe; Part II: The Search for Fertile Soil in the New Homeland; 4. History of the WCJMP; 5. Financial Endeavours of the WCJMP; 6.Musica Hebraica; Part III: Toward a New Musical Culture in Palestine and Israel; 7. Musical Life in Palestine during the 1930s; 8. Aesthetics of Jewish Music; Epilogue: The Music History of the WCJMP: 'Clues to a Puzzle, a Meaning to the Meaningless'; Appendix: Inventory of the Archives; Bibliography