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Historical foundation
According to K. Rupeikaitė, there is no single Jewish culture: there are many of them, because all the diasporas, although they maintain their own traditions and language, have adapted to the local society, at the same time that they have a great influence on the culture of the territories in which they lived. Lithuania is a clear example of this: Jews have lived here not only in large cities but also in small ones since the 14th century, at the same time forming a unique culture.
Then the Litvaks came to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) in search of safety: they were allowed to live and move freely here, own land, and freedom of religion was guaranteed, making it easy to adapt in the tolerant environment of the GDL. The name of the Litvaks came from the fact that Lithuania was called Lite and they spoke Yiddish, which was formed on the basis of the German language, like all Ashkenazis.
The situation changed dramatically when Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire: the Jews were subject to many restrictions: they were no longer able to live in the big cities, so they were unable to obtain the necessary education.
K.Rupeikaitė shared a somewhat comical story of Vilnius-born violinist Jasch Heifetz, who entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory at the age of nine. He was too young to live alone, so his father, Reuven Heifetz, also had to become a student. Fortunately, the teachers were understanding, so he was able to simulate learning at the conservatory. After Lithuania gained independence, the Litvaks were able to live more freely, but World War II soon began. The Nazis and the Soviets destroyed almost all of their cultural heritage, so we are still uncovering their history. According to K. Rupeikaitė, we learn more and more often that famous people in the world were (or are) of Litvak origin.
Very important liturgical music, which has always had an oriental tone: the melody is characterized by small intervals, there is no brilliant major-minor system.
Religious aspects
Wherever they lived, it was very important for Jews to integrate into local societies, but also not to give up their identity, so that science and education have a special place in their culture. In Lithuania, he is associated with two prominent personalities: Vilnius Gaon Elijus ben Solomon Zalman, whose 300th birthday is celebrated this year, and the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (grandfather of composer Felix Mendelssohn).
Both have developed distinctive educational systems that have long existed; the influence of these personalities on Ashkenazi culture is still felt today. Vilnius Gaon was a prominent student and commentator on the Torah and Talmud, and thus became a spiritual leader criticizing Hasidic (Jewish Ukrainian) religious teaching based on an emotional perception of God.
Mendelssohn was the pioneer of the Haskala, a Jewish educational movement based on secular thought. And although the teaching of haskala was also not acceptable to the Gaon of Vilnius, intertwined with his, it became the basis for the education of the Litvaks of future generations. Therefore, it is not surprising that many artists and scientists were born in Lithuania and later became famous around the world: Abraham Mapu, first writer of Hebrew tales, Abraham Sutzkever and Romain Garry, Nobel Prize winning writers, Lasar Segall, sculptor Boris Schatz and Benrad Lown. Nobel Peace Prize, and many others.
Liturgical tradition
According to K. Rupeikaitė, Jewish music has always been more connected to daily life, so liturgical music is very important in its traditions, it has always had an oriental tone: the melody is characterized by small intervals, there is no system Brilliant minority, the text is generally dedicated to traditional festivals. it’s funny and the melody is very sad.
Survived: The Klezmer tradition formed in Eastern Europe is still alive today, both in Israel and in the Jewish communities living abroad.
In Lithuania, traditional liturgical Jewish music lasted longer than in other countries, so naturally the characteristics of traditional music were preserved longer: the first choral synagogue began operating here only in the 19th century. In Jewish culture, liturgical music penetrates daily life, since the singer participates not only in liturgical rites, but also in other more daily events, and must articulate the text very well and be able to improvise in traditional harmonies.
According to K. Rupeikaitė, it has always been a great honor to be a singer in Vilnius, so some famous people who later became famous around the world lived here, and some of them chose a secular opera solo career. Yoelis David Lewensohn Strashunsky became the Vilnius singer at the age of fifteen. He studied with the famous Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko, who lived in Vilnius, so when the rumor about his wonderful voice spread, he was invited to sing classical music in Warsaw, where he admired even the spoiled nobility.
Unfortunately, his successful professional development was halted by World War II: many stories are told about the end of his life: he allegedly died in a mental hospital or wandered from town to town after losing his voice, and traveled forever singing in a synagogue.
The Holocaust also halted the career of “Jewish Carus” or Gershon Sirona, known as the Song King, who, famous in Vilnius and Warsaw, later sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera, and was the first to record Jewish liturgical music. Unfortunately, he died in the ghetto. In addition to these two, the name of Mikhail Alexandrovich, whose career was incredibly long, lasted about 75 years. After living in the Soviet Union, he could not be a singer, which is why he was known as a professional music performer.
They were hired not only by Jews, but also by locals or their surroundings, so their music was inspired by Lithuanian, Belarusian, or German folklore.
Secular melodies
Secular music in the life of the Litvaks was not just self-expression: according to K. Rupeikaitė, it is probably the most important chronicle of Jewish life, because social life often determines the form of musical life and its sound.
Klezmer is a singing instrument in Hebrew, so the violins, mandolins, and other instruments in the klezmer ensemble play as if crying, imitating a human voice, and the tradition of office singing, which is based on improvisation, often was used here.
The Klezmer ensembles were owned by almost all the cities where the Jews lived, and they were hired to perform at weddings or other celebrations not only by Jews, but also by locals or their surroundings, so Lithuanian, Belarusian or German folk motifs were incorporated in your music. Incidentally, Klezmer musicians often had other professions besides making music: Jascha Heifetz’s father was both a musician and a musician.
K.Rupeikaitė also shared the 20th century. The concert posters for the Klezmer ensembles, which were written in five languages, bear witness not only to Litvak’s ability to adapt to local culture, but also to Vilnius’ multiculturalism at the time.
Known composers
In addition to traditional klezmer and liturgical music, professional music was also prized in litvak culture. Today, the world knows many famous composers who were born in Lithuania but later migrated abroad, so many times they do not even know their origin. One of them is Leopold Godowsky (1870–1938).
Heights: Litvak’s musical traditions have also produced L. Godowsky, one of the greatest pianists of all time.
L.Godowsky was born in Žasļi and studied music himself: a family friend introduced him to the basics of music theory, but he did not attend a music school. He lived in Vilnius until he was 30, and then entered the Berlin Conservatory of Music, but he felt too free to commit to studying at the institution. Due to his excellent piano technique, he was called “Piano Buddha”, and his original compositions, in which he rethought the works of famous piano music creators, pose considerable technical challenges for pianists even now.
Vladas Perlemuteris (1904-2002), originally from Kaunas, was also a famous pianist. After entering the Paris Conservatory for ten years, he stayed in the city for everything, famous for his subtle and elegant acting style. Perlemuter paid a lot of attention to contemporary French music, collaborated a lot with Maurice Ravel, one of the first to interpret his entire repertoire.
Joseph Achron (1908-1943) was born in Lazdijai, in the cantor’s family. After immigrating to the United States, he became an important part of the Jewish community. Composer Arnold Schoenbegr believed that J. Achron was one of the most underrated modern composers, and the reason for this may be in the details of his musical language, in which Jewish intonations are intertwined with modern musical language: it may sound too much European for Jews and too Jewish for others.
In interwar Lithuania, the musical life of the Litvaks was enriched by the Institute of Jewish Music, founded on the example of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and which operated in 1924-1940. When cultural life moved to Kaunas, the Litvaks formed an orchestra here, performed Yiddish operas, and played jazz and popular music. The striking figure of the interwar period was the violinist Daniel Pomerantz (1904–1981), who played with his “rocking” orchestra in the famous café “Konrad”. His repertoire included the most fashionable popular music of the time: tango, waltzes, foxtrots, Spanish and gypsy melodies, which he not only performed perfectly, but also delighted the audience with his masterful improvisations.
At the end of the conference, K. Rupeikaitė paid special attention to the composer Anatolijus Šenderovas (1945–2019), and said that he was preparing the monograph. According to her, this songwriter is special because she is the only Lithuanian songwriter who has used the Jewish musical heritage in modern music: she intertwined ancient Hebrew, Ashkenazi, and Sephardic melodies with modern means of musical expression and compositional techniques.
A. Šenderovas was born in Russia, arrived in Lithuania only after the Second World War. Growing up in a family of klezmer musicians, his father often took him to the synagogue when he was little, and this experience later developed into his own work, and he discovered even more layers of Jewish music culture when he went to Israel: he received the Lithuanian National Prize for his oratory Shma Israel.
Destroy but survive
Litvak’s cultural heritage was erased from art history by the Nazis and the Soviets: almost all the teachers of the Institute of Jewish Music died in the Vilnius ghetto. Although the conditions were terrible there, the Jews did not stop living and creating: the instruments were secretly brought to the ghetto, two orchestras and three choirs gathered, the Vilna Ghetto Theater became the center of cultural life, where Not only was music played, but dramas and even tragedies were staged. Outside the ghetto, however, the Nazis and Soviets established special personnel to destroy books, buildings, and other Jewish cultural heritage sites.
At the end of World War II, the remains of Jewish cultural heritage were housed in a short-lived museum, but after its closure, they were scattered across the world. The State Jewish Museum was restored only in 1989, and the first exhibition was seen in the world only after the restoration of Lithuania’s independence in 1991, so the cultural heritage of Litvak had to be collected and rediscovered again.
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