Virtual Jewish Music

By Eva Heinstein
Hebrew University

One needn't walk farther than a few blocks in Jerusalem to get a taste of the rich fabric of Jewish cultures and music that this city holds. The Jerusalem soundscape is not only composed of honking and heated conversations, but also of liturgical and paraliturgical music of Jews from all over the world. For those who can't take a long walk through the streets of Jerusalem, a short walk to the nearest computer will suffice. Two exciting projects are being developed online, here in Jerusalem, that aim to provide resources for those interested in exploring the diverse genres and styles of Jewish music. The first is the piyyut website (http://www.piyut.org.il/english/), which supports an extensive searchable database of piyyutim (liturgical poems) texts and performances that reflect the variety of the repertoire as it has been developed over generations in Jewish communities situated throughout the world. The second is the Thesaurus of Jewish Music developed by the Centre for Jewish Music Research at Hebrew University (http://www.jewish-music.huji.ac.il). The Thesaurus includes an extensive listing of bibliographical information, artists’ biographies, recorded Sephardic music, Jewish and Israeli film music, and much more. I would like to offer a few short examples of how these resources can be used to facilitate your inquiries into Jewish music, and I invite you to explore these websites at greater length in the future.

The piyyut website has a number of features, the most basic and extensive of which is a searchable database of piyyut texts and sound clips. A simple search for the piyyut Adon Olam produces nearly fifty results, with recordings from a myriad of traditions ranging from Moroccan to Lithuanian to Yemenite. Each entry includes a copy of the text, a short explanation of its textual and musical origins, and a streaming recording. If you don't have a specific search item in mind, the website’s streaming piyyut radio station is an interesting way to begin learning about the rich piyyut repertoire. The website’s "Piyyut of the Week" feature is also a nice way to carve out a little time each week to learn about how this tradition has been expressed throughout the Jewish world, and how it is being rejuvenated today through modern study and composition.

In the last year, I have been personally involved in building the Thesaurus of Jewish music through the Center for Jewish Music Research. The goal of the Thesaurus is to create an open-source database for researchers in the field of Jewish music to make their expertise available to the public. Unlike most academic subscription databases, the Thesaurus is completely free and accessible to the general public. All the Thesaurus' entries are connected through a system of keywords, enabling a surfer to search through the website’s various databases for information on a particular topic, person or tradition. For example, a search using the keywords "Children" and "Holocaust" will produce matches from books, articles, biographies, recordings, scores and videos relating to the topic. In this way, the Thesaurus can be used as a jumping off point for a general inquiry or more involved research on a plethora of topics related to Jewish music. Like the piyyut website, the Jewish Music Research Centre website supports a "Song of the Month" feature for those looking to get a small taste of the most recent field recordings produced and released by the Research Centre.

Both of these websites are constantly being expanded and updated with new features, research and recordings. I strongly recommend that you take the time to visit these websites not only to utilize the resources they provide, but also to get a sense of the types of projects in the field of Jewish music that are being developed in Israel today.

Eva Heinstein is an alumna of NYU in Musicology and Hebrew Literature. She is currently living in Jerusalem, and is going into the second year of a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

[Posted 11/09/07]