This study examines Jewish-Israeli piano music through detailed analysis of six works composed af... more This study examines Jewish-Israeli piano music through detailed analysis of six works composed after 1985. The question investigated is whether, despite major social and political changes, there is still a stylistic line connecting Israeli music today with the ‘founding generation’ of the thirties and forties.
The first part of the study is a survey of musical styles in modern Israel between approximately 1900 and 1980. Topics covered are the Jewish School of St. Petersburg; the immigrant composers from central Europe; the ‘Mediterranean’ style; influences of Oriental Jewish traditions, the Middle Eastern environment and the Hebrew language; the Arab maqām; European and Western tendencies; and composers working in Israel today. Each subject is clarified through musical examples.
The analytical methods used for the six analyzed works vary according to the composer. Seter’s music is analyzed through application of Oriental aesthetics; Orgad’s by way of comparison to speech patterns of the Hebrew language; Zur’s demands analysis of serial techniques and equivalences; Bardanashvili’s music is studied in relation to the Soviet Avant-Garde; Jugend’s work is examined in reference to Berg and German romanticism; and Dorman’s in the context of Israeli popular song and jazz crossover.
The general conclusion is that local influences are composers’ natural inclination, and are usually avoided or altered only in the case of strong personal or ideological objection. Thus, much of the music composed in Israel today is local, or ‘Israeli’ in the natural sense that it reflects everyday life and sounds in this area of the world.
This study examines Jewish-Israeli piano music through detailed analysis of six works composed af... more This study examines Jewish-Israeli piano music through detailed analysis of six works composed after 1985. The question investigated is whether, despite major social and political changes, there is still a stylistic line connecting Israeli music today with the ‘founding generation’ of the thirties and forties.
The first part of the study is a survey of musical styles in modern Israel between approximately 1900 and 1980. Topics covered are the Jewish School of St. Petersburg; the immigrant composers from central Europe; the ‘Mediterranean’ style; influences of Oriental Jewish traditions, the Middle Eastern environment and the Hebrew language; the Arab maqām; European and Western tendencies; and composers working in Israel today. Each subject is clarified through musical examples.
The analytical methods used for the six analyzed works vary according to the composer. Seter’s music is analyzed through application of Oriental aesthetics; Orgad’s by way of comparison to speech patterns of the Hebrew language; Zur’s demands analysis of serial techniques and equivalences; Bardanashvili’s music is studied in relation to the Soviet Avant-Garde; Jugend’s work is examined in reference to Berg and German romanticism; and Dorman’s in the context of Israeli popular song and jazz crossover.
The general conclusion is that local influences are composers’ natural inclination, and are usually avoided or altered only in the case of strong personal or ideological objection. Thus, much of the music composed in Israel today is local, or ‘Israeli’ in the natural sense that it reflects everyday life and sounds in this area of the world.
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Papers by Ofra Yitzhaki
The first part of the study is a survey of musical styles in modern Israel between approximately 1900 and 1980. Topics covered are the Jewish School of St. Petersburg; the immigrant composers from central Europe; the ‘Mediterranean’ style; influences of Oriental Jewish traditions, the Middle Eastern environment and the Hebrew language; the Arab maqām; European and Western tendencies; and composers working in Israel today. Each subject is clarified through musical examples.
The analytical methods used for the six analyzed works vary according to the composer. Seter’s music is analyzed through application of Oriental aesthetics; Orgad’s by way of comparison to speech patterns of the Hebrew language; Zur’s demands analysis of serial techniques and equivalences; Bardanashvili’s music is studied in relation to the Soviet Avant-Garde; Jugend’s work is examined in reference to Berg and German romanticism; and Dorman’s in the context of Israeli popular song and jazz crossover.
The general conclusion is that local influences are composers’ natural inclination, and are usually avoided or altered only in the case of strong personal or ideological objection. Thus, much of the music composed in Israel today is local, or ‘Israeli’ in the natural sense that it reflects everyday life and sounds in this area of the world.
The first part of the study is a survey of musical styles in modern Israel between approximately 1900 and 1980. Topics covered are the Jewish School of St. Petersburg; the immigrant composers from central Europe; the ‘Mediterranean’ style; influences of Oriental Jewish traditions, the Middle Eastern environment and the Hebrew language; the Arab maqām; European and Western tendencies; and composers working in Israel today. Each subject is clarified through musical examples.
The analytical methods used for the six analyzed works vary according to the composer. Seter’s music is analyzed through application of Oriental aesthetics; Orgad’s by way of comparison to speech patterns of the Hebrew language; Zur’s demands analysis of serial techniques and equivalences; Bardanashvili’s music is studied in relation to the Soviet Avant-Garde; Jugend’s work is examined in reference to Berg and German romanticism; and Dorman’s in the context of Israeli popular song and jazz crossover.
The general conclusion is that local influences are composers’ natural inclination, and are usually avoided or altered only in the case of strong personal or ideological objection. Thus, much of the music composed in Israel today is local, or ‘Israeli’ in the natural sense that it reflects everyday life and sounds in this area of the world.