Hebrew Melodies

The revival of national styles throughout Europe, at the end of the nineteenth century, was paralleled by a growth of interest in the characteristic folk music of the Jewish people. The association of the violin with this tradition, its inherently ‘soulful’ character and the dominance of the concert stage by violinists of Jewish heritage in the first half of the 20th Century led to the creation of many original compositions based on Jewish folk materials as well as straight forward concert transcriptions of famous ‘composed’ melodies from that tradition. This collection features original compositions and editions by Joseph Achron, Leopold Auer, Ernest Bloch, MischaElman, Jascha Heifetz, George Perlman and Lazare Saminsky. Some of the famous melodies included are: Eli Zion, Kol Nidre, Rozhinkes mit Mandlen and Eli,Eli, as well as Ernest Bloch’s striking stylization of the tradition in his popular concert work Baal Shem (Three Pictures of Chassidic Life). This handsome book also includes an excellent essay by Eric Wen on the Jewish folk tradition and its impact on the development of violin playing and repertoire in the 20th Century.