From the Music of the Portuguese synagogue in the 19th
to the Rolf Lieberman Era in the 20th century
The presence of Jewish Culture in Europe is going back to the times of the Roman Empire. In 2021 Germany has celebrated 1700 years of Jewish live and culture. The city of Hamburg decided in 2020 to rebuild the large synagogue on Bornplatz, which had been destroyed 1938 during the Reichskristallnacht. On this occasion, the University of Music in Hamburg initiates an international conference on Jewish music in Hamburg past and present.

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Hervé Roten (Paris)

The introduction of Western musical notation
and the organ in the French Spanish-Portuguese communities in the 19th: changes and continuities

Since the middle of the 16th century, the South-West of France has sheltered Spanish-Portuguese communities. After a presentation of the musical practice of these ancient congregations of „Marranos“, this lecture will attempt to study the evolution of their oral traditions after the introduction of the organ and written music in the Western style, at the beginning of the 19th century. How did the Spanish-Por- tuguese Jews reorganize their musical liturgy? Who were the main actors (composers or arrangers) of that reform? What impact had those changes on the evolution of oral tradition and its transmission modalities?

We will also consider the relation between oral and written traditi- on and the degree of continuity or change of this liturgical music by comparing several versions of the same prayer (oral and written, monodic and polyphonic versions) over a period of over 100 years. Finally, we will focus on the role of the organ in the development of the new French synagogue worship and the controversy surrounding the introduction of this instrument.

Hervé Roten PHD in musicology of the University Paris Sorbonne is Director of the European Institute of Jewish Music since its creation in 2006. As a musicologist, he was very early interested in saving and digitizing archives. He taught this subject for several years at the universities of Reims and Marne-La-Vallée. Hervé Roten is the author of numerous articles, books and discs on Jewish music and is also a producer of radio programs.