Entertainment
Harriet and Jack Goldberg
Sheila and Barry Levine
and the staff of
STAGE
ErCe.
Pieces Of Classic Joy
The great composers have created a multitude of
works attuned to the "Jewish inner self."
Here's a look at four of the best.
very warmly extend
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WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
mong Judaism's great
virtues is its approach-
ability from any number
of different directions. Its
points of access — spiritual,
liturgical, cultural, intellectual
and inter-personal — are as
richly varied as the Jewish ex-
perience itself.
Great music — "classical mu-
sic," if you will — has been a
consuming passion in my life
since early childhood, so it is
hardly surprising that my own
most intimate connection with
Judaism has come via the
twists and turns of our unique-
ly expressive liturgy.
It belabors the obvious to say
that music and Judaism enjoy
a symbiotic relationship. Chant-
ed prayers, Torah and Haftorah
tropp, nigunim, Yiddish
melodies and Israeli songs col-
lectively embody the very
essence of the Jewish experi-
ence.
But I've wondered whether
my beloved classical repertoire
has something to say to us di-
rectly as Jews. Do the master-
works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, Mahler, Shosta-
kovich and the others work
only to "soothe our savage
breasts" in generally humaniz-
ing ways not necessarily
plugged into our Judaic cir-
cuitry? Or might a Jewish con-
sciousness provide a special
conduit for the aesthetic rich-
ness of great music?
Of course, music is uniquely
responsive to those general
metaphysical questions that en-
gage all of us as human beings.
"Music is a higher revelation
than all wisdom and philoso-
phy," said Beethoven, and when
the "Cavatina" from his B-flat
String Quartet (Opus 133) is
playing, it is hard to argue with
him. Brooding atheism is, after
an, impossible when one con-
curs wholeheartedly with the
poet W.H. Auden, who ob-
served, "Every high C accu-
rately struck demolishes the
theory that we are the irre-
sponsible puppets of fate or
chance."
But I must say that there are
some pieces of music that I feel
drawn to because they are at-
Phil Greenfield teaches at
Annapolis High School and is
the cantor at Greenbelt's
Mishkan Torah Synagogue.
He also is an award-winning
music and theater critic.
tuned not just to my "general
human self," but to my "specif-
ically Jewish self' as well.
In most cases, they are com-
positions created with explicit
Jewish content clearly on the
composer's mind. But in all cas-
es, these are the selections —
two created by Jews, two by
non-Jews, interestingly enough
— I would have with me as I re-
paired to my Jewish desert is-
land.
Die Schopfung:
Hayom Harat Olam — This
day the world was called into
being — is surely among the
most riveting phrases contained
in the High Holiday Machzor.
Rosh Hashanah. The birth-
day of the world. The anniver-
sary of creation. Perhaps the
purest expression of the spirit
of Hayom Harat Olam may be
found in one of the greatest
choral masterpieces ever com-
posed: Franz Joseph Haydn's
Die Schopfung (The Creation).
Beauty, awe, joy, wonder and
drama intermingle in each and
every bar of this miraculous or-
atorio, which has continued to
delight the music world since
its premiere in Vienna in March
of 1799.
Textually, Die Schopfung is
a wonder-by-wonder account of
the week of creation with a
quick musical visit to Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden
added on for good measure in
Part III. Quotations from Gen-
esis are interspersed with
commentary from Milton's Par-
adise Lost as well as the occa-
sional psalm. Haydn personally
handcrafted the music to fit
both a German and English li-
bretto.
The dramatic story unfolds
for us courtesy of three sources.
The orchestra sets the scene for
us in passages like the opening
"Representation of Chaos," a
tonally anarchic interlude that
depicts the randomness of the
void via a remarkably dexter-
ous clarinet, intentional "wrong
notes" in the horns, and more
assorted keys than you'd find
on a locksmith's belt.
Three angels, Gabriel, Uriel
and Raphael (a soprano, tenor
and bass, respectively), are on
hand to provide descriptive
commentaries on the
Almighty's handiwork.
And in Haydn's great cho-
ruses like "The Heavens are
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