Solomone Outline

THESIS: Revival of Synagogue Music was Spearheaded by Solomone de Rossi
I) HISTORY of SYNAGOGUE MUSIC
In 70 C.E., when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians forcing the
Jews into exile, the Jews turned to another place for public worship known as the
synagogue, the indefinite pro tem substitute for the Temple.1
After the Roman destruction of the Jewish kingdom in the first century
of the common era, a large portion of the population was forced into
exile. Surrounded by alien cultures, the Jews of the Diaspora
preserved as best they could the chants of their Middle Eastern
homeland. The use of musical instruments in the synagogue was
prohibited as a sign of mourning for the lost musical traditions of the
great Temple that once stood in Jerusalem. Further, lest the ancient
chanting modes become diluted, the rabbis zealously guarded against
the introduction of any gentile elements into the sacred music of the
synagogue.
-The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi Pg. 47 Joshua R. Jacobson
Most of the common practice utilized in the Second Temple was either
discontinued or banned due to rabbinic law. Music was of no exception to these
bans. Instrumental music was prohibited in synagogue services as a
symbol of national mourning.2 The views on what types of music, let alone
musical instruments, became even more strict over time based on rabbinic
interpretations of biblical verses. These laws were still in practice during the
1 Sholom Kalib, The Musical Tradition of the Eastern European Synagogue, Vol. 1 Part 1. (Syracuse
, NY: Syracuse University , 2005), 2
2 Kalib, The Musical Tradition of the Eastern European Synagogue, 2
renaissance (and still continue today for some of the Conservative and all
Orthodox Jewish movements.)
[After the destruction of the [second] Temple, the synagogue became
the focal point of public worship, the indefinite pro tem substitute for
the Temple, that is to say, until the time of Messianic Redemption, and
was viewed and termed the Mikdosh m'at (the lesser Temple, as it
were). Sacrifices were discontinued, and the functions of the Kohanim
and L'viyim ceased to exist. The only remnants in the synagogue of
their hierarchical heritage were the first and second aliyos (honor of
being called up to intone the blessings preceding and following a
portion chanted from the Torah during a public Torah reading)
reserved for a Kohen and Levi, respectively, and the Duchenen, the
intonation of the Birkas Kohanim (the threefold Priestly Blessing).
Formerly performed by the Kohanim at the conclusion of each sacrifice
offered at the Temple, it was now rendered by them at every morning
service, but only on Biblically ordained holidays occurring on
weekdays outside the Land of Israel.] Instrumental music was
prohibited in synagogue services as a symbol of national
mourning.
- The Musical Tradition of the Eastern European Synagogue (Vol.
1, Part 1) Pg. 2, Sholom Kalib
Of the various points they make or imply, several seem to sustain the
notion of a Jewish musical renascence. It was not the Greeks who

invented music, one reads, but the Hebrews. The Greeks attributed its
beginnings to Pythagoras, but for the Mantuan rabbi Judah Moscato
(d. circa 1594) they erred. Moscato referred, for a prooftext, to
Genesis 4:2122. There we read about Jubal as the father of
everyone holding a lyre [a metonym for string instruments] and an
aulos [the same for wind instruments] and his half-brother Tubalcain
as an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron [brass and
percussion instruments]. Art music may have flourished in the
Ancient Temple, but it had long since been forgotten. Samuel
Archivolti (d. 1611), a leading rabbi and scholar, lamented its loss and
yearned for its return.
Woe for us, he wrote,
for ever since we wandered from our
country because of our sins, the voice of
Jacob has diminished, and during our exile
songs and dances in Israel [viz. among the
Jews] have ceased. What good is it for me
to long for them if, among us, there is nobody
who knows something about the
music of Zion? Who will explain to us its
proportions and great charms? Who will
guide us in its paths? As it is, it has been
put to rest in our sleep and all its muses

are abandoned.
-Don Harran: on a Jewish musical Renaissance Pg. 97
The Hebrew writers claimed that the Christians had taken music, once
the glory of the Jews, to turn it to their own glory. Immanuel ha-Romi
(d. circa 1335) was even blunter: not taken, but stolen. What will the
science of music say to Christians? he asked in his Notebooks, then
answered (on musics behalf ): I was stolen, yes stolen from the land
of the Hebrews. In his own day, he acknowledged the complete
absence of this science from among [his] people.
For many centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple, there
was a moratorium on instrumental music, even for religious purposes.
(The ban on instruments in religious services still holds in the
twentieth century in some Conservative and all Orthodox
congregations.) Antagonism toward secular music already existed, as
it was considered to be profane and destructive to good character.
When the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., the use of
instruments was banned as a sign of mourning for its loss. This ban
was intended to be in effect until the building of a third Temple, when
the Levitical music would be revived. Those who were already
fervently opposed to the sacred use of all elements of secular music
seized the opportunity to extend the ban to its logical conclusion: no

instruments would be permitted in the synagogue and no secular
music whatsoever would be permitted.70
-Salamone Rossi's Synthesis of Jewish and Italian Modernisms in His
Sacred Music, pg 57 Judith Lenore Payne(THESIS)
II) WHAT WAS SYNAGOGUE MUSIC LIKE IN ITALY?
With these
Thus, while polyphony was developing in the western church, Jewish
worship music remained basically monophonic, modal, and improvised
from a set of basic melodic formulas, and closely bound to the natural
rhythms of the text. Cantors were most often laymen drawn from a
congregation that was generally well acquainted with the Hebrew
liturgy and its music. Example 9 is a transcription of a chant that may
have been sung in a seventeenth-century Italian synagogue. Thus
seen in its context, Salamone Rossi's collection of synagogue motets
represents a radical break from tradition.
-The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi Pg. 47 Joshua R. Jacobson
Strangely, the beginnings of Jewish sacred art music were based on
Christian models. The Jews appear to have followed these models in
their first, hesitant attempts to introduce polyphony into the

synagogue in 1604, in Ferrara.
Nothing about them was Renaissance or artistic; rather they
perpetuated a medieval oral practice. Nor were the works of art music
meant to replace them: their performance in the synagogue was
occasional.
While Christians excelled in the most sophisticated forms of musical
composition from the twelfth century on, the Jews were inactive.
...there was no art music among the Jews until the Mantuan Davide
Sacerdote ebreo, by profession a moneylender, published a collection
of Italian madrigals in 1575. A few others followed him, most notably
Salamone Rossi ebreo, who, employed by the Mantuan court mainly
as a violinist, published thirteen collections between 1589 and 1628.

III) BACKGROUND OF RABBI LEON MODENA
Many Rabbis lived in the Ghettos of Venice. Born in Venice, Rabbi Leon Yehudah
Aryeh Modena made his living teaching and preaching in synagogues, schools,
and private homes; composing poems on commission for various noblemen; and
as an assistant printer. -Defending Solomone Rossi: The Transformation and
Justification of Jewish Music in Renaissance Italy Pg. 1-2
Rabbi Leon (Yehudah Aryeh) Modena (1571-1648) was one of the most
colorful figures in the Jewish Renaissance. Born in Venice, he traveled
extensively among the various cities in the region. He made his living
teaching and preaching in synagogues, schools, and private homes;
composing poems on commission for various noblemen; and as an assistant
printer. In addition, he acquired and lost considerable sums in various
games of chance. He was an accomplished musician, and served as cantor
in the Italian Synagogue in Venice. He was also a talented composer and
conductor of concerted music. In 1628 he became director of Venices
Academia degl Impediti, an ensemble of musicians in the Jewish ghetto.
-Defending Solomone Rossi: The Transformation and Justification of
Jewish Music in Renaissance Italy Pg. 1-2 Joshua R. Jacobson
Leon Modena was born in Venice in 1571, about the same time that
Salamone Rossi was born in Mantua.
-Rabbis, Politics, and Music: Leon Modena and Salamone Rossi Prof.
Howard Tzvi Adelman

In around 1628 in the Venetian ghetto, an academy of music was
organized with Modena serving as the Maestro di Caeppella. It was
called the Accademia degli Impediti, the Academy of the Hampered,
named in derision of the traditional Jewish reluctance to perform
music because of "the unhappy state of captivity which hampers
every act of competence." In this spirit, especially in light of Modena's
responsum on music in 1605, the Accademia took the Latin motto
Cum Recordaremur Sion, and in Hebrew, Bezokhrenu et Tzion, when
we remembered Zion, based paradoxically on Psalm 137, one of the
texts invoked against Jewish music: "We hung up our harps.... How
shall we sing the Lords song in a strange land?" The Accademia met
twice a week in the evenings under the sponsorship of the communal
leaders and the wealthy Jews.
Howard Tzvi Adelman
IV) BACKGROUND OF SOLOMONE DE ROSSI
Living in the shadow of such great figures as Monteverdi and Gastoldi, Rossi has
generally been overlooked by historians and performers. -The Choral Music of

Salamone Rossi (Jacobson) Pg. 7
The exact years that Salamone Rossi was born until his death are unclear to this
day. There is a general consensus among many scholars that he lived around
1570 and died around 1628. (insert various quotes on Rossi birth and death dates
citing their evidence [if it exists])
Very little is known about the details of Rossis life, but we may
surmise that he was born about 1570 and died about 1630.
-Rossi-Monograph: The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi Joshua R. Jacobson
By the 1640s Rossi had died... -Rabbis, Politics, and Music: Leon
Modena and Salamone Rossi Prof. Howard Tzvi Adelman
While many scholars state these dates, Rossi scholar Don Harran answers the
question of why these are the supposed birth and death dates of the Jewish-
Mantuan composer.
Rossi may have been born around 1570, probably in Mantua; he is
assumed to have died around 1628, in Mantua or possibly in Venice.
-Salamone Rossi, The Mystery Man of Jewish Art Music Composers
Don Harran
Professor Don Harran is very careful with his wording by implying that these are
not concluded facts, but have credibility due to the provided evidence. Harran
cites 1570 as the possible birth year, backing his approximation with the
possibility that the composer may have alluded to his date of birth in certain
numerical references in his first publication. -Salamone Rossi, The Mystery Man
of Jewish Art Music Composers Don Harran
Harran writes that Mantua was Rossi's possible birthplace Because, as far as
known, there is no evidence to the contrary. -Salamone Rossi, The Mystery Man
of Jewish Art Music Composers Don Harran Harran concludes his claims citing
Venice as a possible location for Rossi's death proposing that it is Perhaps
because Rossi signed his last collection with the inscription "From Venice, 3
January 1628," after which date he disappears from the literature. In short, the
years and places at the extremities of his biography are indeterminate.
-Salamone Rossi, The Mystery Man of Jewish Art Music Composers Don Harran
Except for the name of his father (Bonaiuto, or in Hebrew Azariah, not
to be confused, by the way, with the eminent sixteenth-century
historian Azariah de Rossi) and piecemeal information on a sister
(Europa) and brother (Emanuele, or in Hebrew Menahem), we know
nothing about his family and relations. One wonders: was he married?
did he have children? who are the heirs to whom he refers in the
copyright notice appended to his Hebrew collection?
Don Harran
Rossi composed 313 or more works, of which 307 are preserved in
thirteen collections printed between 1589 and 1628.
Don Harran
Rossi provided music for productions of the non-Jewish theater, for
instance, a vocal-instrumental balletto for the sacred play La
Maddalena, staged in 1617 as part of the celebrations for Duke
Ferdinandos marriage to Caterina de Medici. It may be assumed that
his contribution to these productions was more extensive than is
known. Why? Because the court sponsored a sizeable number of
theatrical entertainments for which Rossis and his fellow musicians
services would have been needed to meet the heavy demand for
vocal or instrumental music and its performance.
Don Harran
Rossi had no predecessors of comparable celebrity among Jewish
musicians in the fifteen hundred or more years that separate him from
the legendary "sweet psalmist of Israel" King David; and, as a Jewish
composer of art music for multiple voices and instruments, including a
premier collection of Hebrew "songs," he remains unchallenged by
other Jews, in both the quantity and the quality of his works, until the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Don Harran
Salamone Rossi was active at the court of the Gonzaga family in

Mantua at the turn of the seventeenth century as violinist and
composer. Very little is known about the details of Rossis life, but we
may surmise that he was born about 1570 and died about 1630.
The composer was a descendant of the illustrious Italian-Jewish family
de Rossiwhich is the Italian translation of the Hebrew family name
Me-Ha-Adumim. This proud family, which included the famous and
controversial Bible scholar Azariah de Rossi and a number of fine
musicians, traced its ancestry back to the exiles from Jerusalem,
carried away to Rome by Titus in the year 70 of the Christian era.
We know very little about Rossis life. He was born circa 1570 and died
some time after 1628, possibly in 1630. He is listed as a violinist and
composer on the payroll of the Gonzaga dukes, rulers of Mantua. His
numerous madrigals, canzonets, trio sonatas, and dances were
published and frequently reprinted in his lifetime. The Mantuan
archives also reveal that he was associated with a Jewish theater
company, as composer or performer or both. In addition Rossi was
also writing motets for the synagogue using contemporary Italian
styles.
-Defending Solomone Rossi: The Transformation and Justification of Jewish
Music in Renaissance Italy Pg. 2 Joshua R. Jacobson

His employers thought so highly of him that they even exempted him
from wearing the yellow badge of shame that was required to mark
the attire of all Jews at that time.Yet, on the other hand, Rossi was
never totally assimilated into the Christian community. On the title
pages of his published compositions his name appears as Salamon(e)
Rossi Hebreo.
These collections include madrigals, madrigaletti, canzonette,
instrumental works (dances, sinfonie, sonatas), and his Hebrew
Songs of Solomon (1623), the first known publication of its kind.
(1) Italian vocal works, mainly madrigals for five or, in one collection,
four voices, yet sometimes lighter types (madrigaletti, canzonette) for
two or three.
(2) Instrumental works, largely in three parts (two violins and a
chitarrone, or bass lute), yet sometimes in four or five; in all, 130
items published in four collections. They comprise dances (gagliarde,
correnti, brandi), executed alone or possibly in pairs or larger
groupings; relatively short sinfonie that may have introduced vocal or

other instrumental compositions; and lengthy, autonomous sonate.
(3) Hebrew works, thirty-three in all, for three to eight voices, in a
single collection, entitled the "Songs of Solomon" (1623). To judge
from the ample introductory comments of the composer and others to
the collection, they were meant to be performed in the synagogue on
festivals and special Sabbaths and, where suitable, in confraternities
or for private and communal events. Yet when did the idea for the
collection originate? Who initiated it, the composer, the sponsor, his
rabbi friend Leon Modena? How did the congregation react to these
new pieces of art music, so different from the traditional chants of the
prayer services: with reticence? indifference? enthusiasm? hostility?
What kind of discussions or arguments or altercations were there, if at
all, for or against the "Songs"?
-Salamone Rossi, The Mystery Man of Jewish Art Music Composers Don
Harran
Why did the composer choose the prayers and piyyutim he did? On
what level do the "Songs of Solomon" connect with the "Song of
Songs," to which the composer facetiously refers as a paradigm:
metaphorically, metaphysically? Could there be hidden prayer
melodies lurking behind the counterpoint of his polyphonic works?
One wonders how the composer related to the fabled music in the
Ancient Temple: did he conceive himself as a new David or Solomon,
renewing its practice, as he was described in his collection ("he

restored the crown [of song] to its original state in the days of the
Levites")?
Harran
Eventually, the Jews became more proficient in writing art music, and
there emerged a composer, Salamone Rossi, who was so outstanding
that Modena, his greatest supporter, said of him: He alone is exalted
nowadays in this science.
Born in or around 1570, Rossi appears to have served the Mantuan
court, as instrumentalist and composer, from 1589 until his death
around 1628 (there no firm dates or places for his birth or death, nor
are the court records complete.)
- A Tale as Yet Untold: Salamone Rossi in Venice, 1622 Pg. 1092 Don Harran
IV a) HOW DID THEY MEET/KNOW EACH OTHER?

Rossi collaborated, in his Hebrew works, with the renowned Venetian
rabbi and cantor Leon Modena: it was Modena who, on his own
testimony, strengthened and supported the composer in their
preparation and who oversaw their printing and undertook their
proofreading.
Harran
He [Rossi] was encouraged in this endeavor by Rabbi Modena, who urged
the composer to have this music published so that it could have an even
greater impact.
From the time I first became his close friend, I too urged him strongly
with many words of persuasion until we were successful. Thanks to
the Creator of all, that which I hoped for has been realized and he has
agreed to fulfill his pledge and bring his music to print as he had
promised.
Music in Renaissance Italy Pg.3 Joshua R. Jacobson
Rossi was in Venice, where at that time he had two other books of
music in press. While in Venice he and Modena met and became
friends. Modena claims that he pleaded with Rossi to publish his

choral music for the synagogue, written for religious festivals, special
Sabbaths, and weddings. Modena notes that he had no model for a
Hebrew music book and had to solve the problem of how to print
Hebrew and music, which are read in opposite directions. He decided
to print both from left to right because he felt that most singers knew
the Psalms and liturgical pieces by heart and did not read the words
carefully when they sang.
Howard Tzvi Adelman
[He expanded on Rossis achievement in an encomiastic poem
(in nineteen distiches, of which I quote three):
6) After the glory of the [Hebrew] people
was dimmed
completely for many days and many
years,
7) he [Salamone] restored its crown
[viz. music] to its original state
as in the days of Levis sons [officiating]
on the platforms [of the Temple].
8) He set the words of Davids psalms to
musika [art music]

with cheerful tunes, then saw to having
the works printed.
The Christians of Italy saw their Renaissance as a re-awakening of culture
after the Dark Ages of the previous centuries. For Rabbi Leon Modena, his
young friend, the musician Salamone Rossi, would herald the Jewish re-
awakening.
For there has arisen in Israel (thank God) a very talented man,
accustomed to performing with singers before princes, dukes and
nobles. After the splendor of the people had been dimmed by the
passage of days and years, he restored their crown to its ancient state
as in the days of the Levites on their platforms. He set the words of
the Psalms to music that was published, joyous songs before the Ark
on Sabbaths, feasts and festivals. No longer will arrogant opponents
utter bitter words about the Hebrew folk. They will see that it too
possesses talent, the equal of the best endowed.
V) MODENA'S CONCERN FOR SYNAGOGUE MUSIC REACTING TO GENTILE
CRITICISM
We have an interesting source that describes Italian synagogue
music from this period. In 1608 the Englishman Thomas Coryat set out
on a tour across the European continent. After his return he published
his impressions of the countries in which he had traveled. The
following is an excerpt from the chapter, Observations of Venice, in
which he describes the music of the synagogue.
an exceeding loud yaling, undecent roaring, and as it were a
beastly bellowing of it forth. And that after such a confused and
hudling manner, that I thinke the hearers can very hardly
understand him: sometimes he cries out alone, and sometimes
againe some others serving as it were his Clerkes hard without
his seate, and within, do roare with him, but so that his voyce
(which he straineth so high as if he sung for a wager) drowneth
all the rest.1
Jewish Music in Renaissance Italy Pg.1 Joshua R. Jacobson
The implied antonym was disorderly, which appears to have been
what the Christians thought about synagogue song. One of them
remarked on the extreme discordance in the confusion
of so many voices of every variety of ages, namely, adults down to
the smallest children, singing together.

In 1622 Modena wrote, Shall the prayers and praises of our
musicians become objects of scorn among the nations? Shall they say
that we are no longer masters of the art of music and that we cry out
to the God of our fathers like dogs and ravens?3 Modena
acknowledged the degraded state of synagogue music in his own
time, but indicates that it was not always so. In the same essay he
quotes Emanuel of Rome, a Jewish poet from the early fourteenth
century, who wrote, What does the science of music say to the
Christians? Indeed I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews.
Using the words of Joseph from the book of Genesis, Modena was
hinting that the rituals and the music of the Catholic church had been
derived from those of ancient Israel, an assertion that has been
echoed by many scholars, both ancient and modern.4
VI) JOURNEY TO CREATE THE NEW SOUND OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC
VI a) OBJECTION TO POLYPHONIC MUSIC IN SYNAGOGUE
There was bound to be a conflict between the modern Jews who had
been influenced by the Italian Renaissance and who supported this
innovation, and those with a more conservative theology and praxis.
In 1605 there was an incident in a synagogue in Ferrara. Lets hear
about it in the words of Rabbi Modena.
We have six or eight knowledgeable men, who know something
about the science of song, i.e. [polyphonic] music, men of our
congregation (may their Rock keep and save them), who on
holidays and festivals raise their voices in the synagogue and
joyfully sing songs, praises, hymns and melodies such as Ein
Keloheinu, Aleinu Leshabeah, Yigdal, Adon Olam etc. to the
glory of the Lord in an orderly relationship of the voices
according to this science [polyphonic music]. Now a man5
stood up to drive them out with the utterance of his lips,
answering [those who enjoyed the music], saying that it is not
proper to do this, for rejoicing is forbidden, and song is
forbidden, and hymns set to artful music have been forbidden
since the Temple was destroyed.
Jewish Music in Renaissance Italy Pg.3-4 Joshua R. Jacobson
Throughout the European Diaspora Jews constituted only a tiny
minority; they were subject to the temptations of acculturation and to
pressure from their Christian hosts to abandon their religion. For the
rabbis, maintaining a unique identity meant, inter alia, that Jews
would refrain from singing songs of their non-Jewish neighbors.

Furthermore, the rabbis forbade almost all joyous music. Musical
instruments were associated with partying, and Jews were told that as
long as they were in exile they were in a state of mourning. Rabbi
Yohanan (third century Palestine) wrote, Whoever drinks while
listening to four singers with musical instruments brings five
punishments to the world.6 Jews were expected to emulate the
Levite musicians exiled in Babylon in the sixth century b.c.e
Jewish Music in Renaissance Italy Pg.4 Joshua R. Jacobson
The great philosopher Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) stressed the
historical reasons for Jews refraining from music. [The rabbis at the
time of the destruction of the Second Temple] prohibited playing
musical instruments, singing songs and making any sound resembling
song. It is forbidden to have any pleasure therein, and it is forbidden
to listen to them because of the destruction [of the Temple].7
However there were exceptions to this ban on music. Music was
allowed, even required, to enhance a religious imperative (mitzvah)
such as the imperative to rejoice at a wedding. The medieval Rabbis
known as the Tosafists clarified that there are no restrictions on
singing at a wedding. Singing which is associated with a mitzvah is
permitted, for example, rejoicing with bride and groom at the wedding
feast.8 The other major exception was for the sacred service. The
rabbis cited a verse from Proverbs as a reason to beautify the liturgy

with music. If you have a pleasant voice, chant the liturgy and stand
before the Ark [as leader], for it is written, Honor the Lord with your
wealth (Proverbs 3:9) [wealth means the talent] with which God has
endowed you.9
VI b) LEON MODENA'S DEFENSE
Anticipating objections over Rossis musical innovations, and perhaps
reflecting discussions that were already going on in Venice or Mantua, Rabbi
Modena wrote a lengthy preface in which he refuted the arguments against
polyphony in the synagogue.
To remove all criticism from misguided hearts, should there be among
our exiles some over-pious soul (of the kind who reject everything new
and seek to forbid all knowledge which they cannot share) who may
declare this [style of sacred music] forbidden because of things he has
learned without understanding, I have found it advisable to include in
this book a responsum that I wrote eighteen years ago when I taught
the Torah in the Holy Congregation of Ferrara (may He protect them,
Amen) to silence one who made confused statements about the same
matter.
He immediately cites the liturgical exception to the ban on music.

Who does not know that all authorities agree that all forms of singing
are completely permissible in connection with the observance of the
ritual commandments? I do not see how anyone with a brain in his
skull could cast any doubt on the propriety of praising God in song in
the synagogue on special Sabbaths and on festivals. The cantor is
urged to intone his prayers in a pleasant voice. If he were able to
make his one voice sound like ten singers, would this not be
desirable? and if it happens that they harmonize well with him,
should this be considered a sin? Are these individuals on whom the
Lord has bestowed the talent to master the technique of music to be
condemned if they use it for His glory? For if they are, then cantors
should bray like asses and refrain from singing sweetly lest we invoke
the prohibition against vocal music.
Once again, he [Modena} had to counter that Rossis intent to praise
God qualified as a mitzvah, and therefore overrode the ban. The
sixteenth century code of Jewish law, the Shulhan Arukh, poses the
question, What about a cantor who stretches out the prayers to show
off his pleasant voice? The answer is given as follows, If his
motivation is to praise God with a beautiful melody, then let him be
blessed, and let him chant with dignity and awe. But if his motivation
is merely to show off, then this is a waste of the congregations
time.12 Accordingly, Rossi wrote in the preface to his published
music, I composed these songs not for my own honor but for the
honor of my Father in heaven who created this soul within me. For
this, I will give thanks to Him evermore.13
Thus Modena had to defend Jewish music not just on one front, but on
two. Modena and Rossi were battling the conservative elements in the
Jewish community. The main thrust of Modenas preface was to silence
the criticisms of the over-pious souls and misguided hearts. Most
studies of Rossis music have focused on this defense. But a closer
reading reveals that Modena was also sensitive to the criticisms heard
from non-Jewish sources. His goal in promoting Rossis synagogue
polyphony, perhaps his primary goal, was to counter the impression
that Jewish music was second-rate. He worked not only to create a
renaissance of Jewish music, but also to raise the status of the Jew in
the eyes of the Christian community.
VI c) WHAT WAS ROSSI'S COMPOSITIONAL PROCESS?

The second kind of information contained in the introductory "Songs
of Solomon" concerns Rossi as a musician. It allows us to part, his
approach to composition. At least three points should be emphasized.
(1) Rossi described his talents as a divine gift. He tells us that God has
endowed him with unusual insights into music, which he utilized "to
compose many songs. All his ideas derive from the Almighty, to
quote him: "the Lord... has put new songs into my mouth" (by "new
songs" he means the "Songs of Solomon"); His spirit rested on me...
"; "the Lord has granted that I behold pleasantness and that I send
forth my voice for His purpose"; and so forth. Pure rhetoric, you might
say. But the fact is that the subject of godly inspiration, of furor
divinus, made its way, via Neoplatonism, into writings of the
sixteenth-century literary critics and from there, into writings of the
music theorists.48 Rossi thus echoes a notion of considerable
currency in the humanist literature.
In accord with his belief in supernal influences, Rossi acknowledged a
certain compositional priority whereby sacred music for voices alone
ranked on a higher level than secular music for voices or instruments.
Rossi approached the task of preparing works of religious content as
one that demanded special motivation, special dedication. "Man has
been given his voice so that he may honor the Lord, each with the
blessing he was given to enjoy."49 In his hierarchical view of the
modes of expression, Rossi may have been influenced by antique and
Renaissance attitudes regarding the order of the different literary

genres, from epic to comedy, and of the different styles of speech, or
"genera dicendi," from high low. For the rhetoricians, the highest level
of the latter is occupied by stilus gravis or sublimus, that is, a style
weighty in its content and impressive in its presentation. (3) As his
goal in composition, Rossi set the creation of sweet sounds.
VI d) WHAT WAS INNOVATIVE/HOW DID IT SOUND?
The chief innovation of Rossi's collection is its polyphonic treatment
of Hebrew texts, breaking with established traditions of musical song
in the synagogue as music for a single voice patterned after the
accents for cantillating various portions of the Bible (ta'amei ha-
miqra) or the modal or melodic formulae for performing other prayer
readings. -Don Harrn, Tradition and Innovation in Jewish Music of
the Later Renaissance. pg 111
Hashirim Asher Lish'lomo (The Songs of Solomon) is a play on words
referring to both the title of the biblical book of love songs and the
first name of the composer. While this work represented a bold
innovation for the synagogue, it did not differ greatly from the
conventions of early Baroque music. Like contemporary collections of
sacred music, it contained a variety of liturgical forms. The thirty-
three motets, set for from three to eight voice parts, include psalms,
hymns and prayers for the Sabbath and holiday services (or for
concerts of sacred music) and one wedding ode.
Having virtually no precedent in the polyphonic setting of the

synagogue liturgy, Rossi was free to borrow, alter or reject a wide
variety of styles, Middle-Eastern and Western. Wisely, he did not
attempt to employ any of the musical characteristics of the ancient
Jewish chants. Their oriental modality, rhythmic freedom and
improvisatory nature would not have blended well with contemporary
techniques of European polyphony. The synagogue could not
accomplish overnight what had taken centuries to develop in the
church. Instead, Rossi had availed himself of the current styles of
European art-music sacred and secular from stile antico polyphony
to the nascent trends in monody, cori spezzati, and seconda practica
chromaticism.
Salamone Rossi's collection of synagogue motets represents a radical
break from tradition. While in the church polyphonic music had been
evolving for more than four centuries, in the synagogue it was
suddenly grafted onto a tradition that had maintained its monophonic
nature for more than sixteen centuries. -Choral music of Salamone
Rossi. Jacobson Pg 47
And yet the Hebrew songs were authentically Hebrew. Why? Because
the Jews reappropriated from the Christians what they believed was
theirs to start with. In a massive treatise on the Ancient Temple,
Abraham Portaleone (d. 1612)otherwise renowned as a physician
and medical scholarconceived of its music, which he called rational

song (ha-shir ha-mah. shavi), as a science of varying pitches that,
woven together
[to form intervals], appear in succession and are so properly
calculated in their
combination as to offer the ear a pleasant and clear song with a good
and sweet
melody.
Rossi described his Hebrew songswhich he composed according to
the science of song and art music [musika] for three, four, five, six,
seven, and eight voices for the one purpose of thanking God and
singing to His exalted name on all sacred occasions as a new thing
in the land. So did his spokesman Modena, who said that, by
publishing them, the composer is beginning something that [ever
since the Ancient Temple] did not exist as such in Israel [viz. among
the Jews]. Until then, Jewish song had been practiced in the
synagogue. But it was not art music. The big difference between them
is that the former was monophonic while the latter was contrived as
rational song for multiple voices. Rossi characterized his Hebrew
works as orderlyI made them through seder. Seder is literally
order, though a better translation is counterpoint, meaning the
coordination of different voice parts to form a harmonious complex.

The term was complemented by others, to indicate that the music was
not casual in its content, but calculated, ergo rational. Moscato,
Portaleone, and
Modena spoke variously of yakhas (relationship),erekh (regulation),
khibbur (composition), haskamah (agreement, viz. consonance),
sheur (proportion), derekh (procedure), or more specifcally darkhei
ha-musika (the conventions of art music).
To our knowledge, it was the first time the Hebrew synagogue liturgy
had ever been set as polyphonic choral music. Polyphony in the
Christian church had begun centuries earlier, and had been evolving
from the early organum of the Notre Dame cathedral, but polyphony
in the synagogue began with one bold move, basically appropriating
the late Renaissance style of the church. We can infer that in a few
Italian synagogues, while most of the service was still chanted in the
old manner, at a few points the cantor, joined by several men from
the congregation, would perform this radical new music.
The notation style is typical for music of this period, but the lyrics
have been printed in Hebrew characters, creating a conflict between
two orthographies, one left-to-right and the other right-to-left. Rabbi
Modena explained, It will be seen that the author has found it
preferable to have the reader follow the words of the Psalms, which
are in any case familiar to all, as if backwards, rather than to reverse
the customary order of the notes and have his eyes turn to the right
to begin (after the Hebrew manner of writing) for this would confuse
them.
He worked and labored to add from his secular to his sacred works,
for he did not think it unworthy to honor the One who favored him
[with musical talents] by using that [knowledge of music] with which
he had been favored. So, except for their Hebrew text, Rossis sacred
songs were outwardly Italian.
VII) WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO MODENA
Exile and wanderings had taken their toll. The events of our foreign
habitation and restless running, we are told by Archivoltis pupil, the
Venetian rabbi Leon Modena (d. 1648), are dispersed over the lands
and the vicissitudes of life abroad were enough to make the Hebrews
forget all knowledge and lose all intellect.
Modena clearly hoped that others would continue this new beginning
for art music among the Jews. You should teach them [Rossis
Songs] to your children, he writes,
for them to understand the science of music, with the
knowledgeable man passing
it on to the student, as was said of the Levites [who originally
were instructed
in music by David]. I am convinced that from the day these
works are published,
those who learn it [the science of music] will multiply in Israel
[viz. among the
Jews] in order to sing to the magnificence of our God by using
them and others like them.
VIII) WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO ROSSI/WHY ROSSI AND NOT SOMEONE
ELSE??
But the biggest question to challenge the imagination and beg an
explanation is: how did it happen that, almost "out of the blue," there
appeared a fully-formed Jewish musician who won the favor of the
court rulers as both an instrumentalist and a composer and who,
building on this favor, produced an incredibly large repertory of over
three hundred compositions printed in a total of thirteen collections?
True, there were various attempts, from the early seventeenth century
on, to introduce art music into the synagogue. But no remnants of
these earlier works have survived nor do we know their composers
names. True, again, there were a few other Jewish composers at the
time (David Sacerdote, David Civita, Allegro Porto). But their works
all in Italian and secular in characterare sparse and fragmentary.
Rossi burst onto the scene as if a comet in the heavens, leaving a long
and luminous trail of compositions that, all at once, renewed art music
of Jewish authorship after centuries of its neglect: with the destruction
of the Second Temple and the Exile and Dispersion, the Jews forgot
their musical heritage, or so Leon Modena argued. Yet no sooner did
the "renascence" of Jewish art music composition begin than it
abruptly ended. There were some occasional works to Hebrew texts
from the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but their
composers were usually Christians under commission to prepare them
for special occasions in the community. Where are the Jewish
composers, though?
Harran
IX) AFTERMATH
Then, all of a sudden, the flurry of Jewish composing activity came to
a halt. One may have heard art music in Italian synagogues
thereafter, but its composers were usually not Jews. Rather, they were
Christians commissioned by Jews to write music for special
events.Italy had no Jewish composers to speak of until the nineteenth
century
By the 1640s Rossi had died and Modena was aged and limited in his
activities, but synagogue music continued in Italy and so did
opposition to it. In places like Pesaro and Senegallia dual choirs
continued to perform on Shemini Atzeret, which produced opposition,
interruptions of the service, extensive rabbinic responsa, and
involvement by the secular authorities. Some rabbis continued to rely
on the same passages to oppose music, to overlook the passages
which allowed it, and to insist on an absolute ban against it. To resolve
these conflicts, proponents of synagogue music invoked Modena's
responsum of 1605. This work continued to circulate in manuscript
and was republished a few times. The issue of synagogue music again
erupted in the 19th century, especially around the question of the use
of the organ in early Reform temples. One of the authorities invoked
at this time was Hayyim Ventura, the name of the man who served as
Leon Modena's assistant cantor. The communal politics in Venice that
prevented Modena from entering the rabbinate in Venice at a younger
age put him in a position where his work in music and publishing
enabled him to preserve the legacy of Salamone Rossi both as an
advocate of Jewish music and as an editor of his Hebrew music books,
music that still lives today.
Howard Tzvi Adelman
According to Giulio Morosini (who, as Samuel Nachmias, had studied
with Modena and who later converted to Christianity, changed his
name, and wrote a massive tome, Via della Fede, to vindicate his
decision) for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in October 1628, a
spectacular musical performance was held in the Spanish synagogue,
which had been decorated with silver and jewels. Two choirs sang
artistic Hebrew renderings of the afternoon service, the evening
service, and some Psalms. Their extensive repertoire lasted a few
hours. A throng of Christian noblemen and ladies attended the
Simchat Torah service. The applause was great and police had to
guard the gates to ensure order. Among the instruments brought into
the synagogue was also an organ, which Morossini notes was not
permitted by the rabbis because it was played in churches. In a similar

vein, at about the same time, Rabbi Abraham Joseph Solomon
Graziano of Modena (d. 1683) wrote, "Jewish musicians should not be
prevented from playing on the organ [to accompany] songs and
praises performed [in honor of] God...." Echoing the concerns heard in
Morosini, Graziano dismissed the idea that Jews playing the organ
constituted an imitation of non-Jewish practices and that only
ignoramuses would oppose it.
Howard Tzvi Adelman
By the 1640s Rossi had died and Modena was aged and limited in his
activities, but synagogue music continued in Italy and so did
opposition to it. In places like Pesaro and Senegallia dual choirs
continued to perform on Shemini Atzeret, which produced opposition,
interruptions of the service, extensive rabbinic responsa, and
involvement by the secular authorities. Some rabbis continued to rely
on the same passages to oppose music, to overlook the passages
which allowed it, and to insist on an absolute ban against it. To resolve
these conflicts, proponents of synagogue music invoked Modena's
responsum of 1605. This work continued to circulate in manuscript
and was republished a few times.
The issue of synagogue music again erupted in the 19th century,
especially around the question of the use of the organ in early Reform
temples. One of the authorities invoked at this time was Hayyim

Ventura, the name of the man who served as Leon Modena's assistant
cantor. The communal politics in Venice that prevented Modena from
entering the rabbinate in Venice at a younger age put him in a
position where his work in music and publishing enabled him to
preserve the legacy of Salamone Rossi both as an advocate of Jewish
music and as an editor of his Hebrew music books, music that still
lives today.
Howard Tzvi Adelman
X) CONCLUSION:
Rossi succeeded in a difficult balancing act; he was able to remain
active in two conflicting worlds without having to compromise his
artistic goals or his religious conviction.
The Jews had no other way to revive their sonic heritage than to work
back through Christian examples to what they considered rightfully
theirs in its historical primacy and admirably theirs in its artistic
distinction.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Don Harrn, A Tale as Yet Untold: Salamone Rossi in Venice, 1622, The Sixteenth
Century Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter, 2009) pp. 1091-1107
Don Harrn, Salamone Rossi: A Jewish Musician in Late Renaissance Mantua.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Don Harrn, Salamone Rossi, Jewish Musician in Renaissance Italy. Acta
Musicologica 59 (January 1987b) 46-64.
Don Harrn, Salamone Rossi, the Mystery Man of Jewish Art Music Composers.
Notes from Zamir (Spring, 2003). http://zamir.org/enotes.html
Don Harrn, Tradition and Innovation in Jewish Music of the Later Renaissance.
The Journal of Musicology 7 (1989) 107-130.
Don Harrn, The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi. American Choral Review 30/4
(1988) 1-71.
Howard Tzvi Adelman, Rabbis, Politics, and Music: Leon Modena and Salamone
Rossi. Notes from Zamir (Spring, 2003) 8-11. http://zamir.org/enotes.ahtml
Joshua R. Jacobson, Defending Salamone Rossi : the transformation and

justification of Jewish music in Renaissance Italy Yale University Press, October
01, 2008 [Colloquium Journal, v. 5 (Autumn 2008), pp.85-92. ]
Paul Nettl, Some Early Jewish Musicians. Musical Quarterly 17 (1931) 40-46.

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THESIS: Revival of Synagogue Music was Spearheaded by Solomone de Rossi

I) HISTORY of SYNAGOGUE MUSIC

synagogue, the indefinite pro tem substitute for the Temple.1

exile. Surrounded by alien cultures, the Jews of the Diaspora

preserved as best they could the chants of their Middle Eastern

homeland. The use of musical instruments in the synagogue was

prohibited as a sign of mourning for the lost musical traditions of the

chanting modes become diluted, the rabbis zealously guarded against

-The Choral Music of Salamone Rossi Pg. 47 Joshua R. Jacobson

discontinued or banned due to rabbinic law. Music was of no exception to these

bans. Instrumental music was prohibited in synagogue services as a

Orthodox Jewish movements.)

[After the destruction of the [second] Temple, the synagogue became

were). Sacrifices were discontinued, and the functions of the Kohanim

and L'viyim ceased to exist. The only remnants in the synagogue of

being called up to intone the blessings preceding and following a

portion chanted from the Torah during a public Torah reading)

intonation of the Birkas Kohanim (the threefold Priestly Blessing).

Formerly performed by the Kohanim at the conclusion of each sacrifice

offered at the Temple, it was now rendered by them at every morning

service, but only on Biblically ordained holidays occurring on

weekdays outside the Land of Israel.] Instrumental music was

prohibited in synagogue services as a symbol of national

- The Musical Tradition of the Eastern European Synagogue (Vol.

1, Part 1) Pg. 2, Sholom Kalib

notion of a Jewish musical renascence. It was not the Greeks who

beginnings to Pythagoras, but for the Mantuan rabbi Judah Moscato

(d. circa 1594) they erred. Moscato referred, for a prooftext, to

Genesis 4:2122. There we read about Jubal as the father of

everyone holding a lyre [a metonym for string instruments] and an

as an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron [brass and

percussion instruments]. Art music may have flourished in the

Ancient Temple, but it had long since been forgotten. Samuel

yearned for its return.

Woe for us, he wrote,

for ever since we wandered from our

country because of our sins, the voice of

Jacob has diminished, and during our exile

songs and dances in Israel [viz. among the

Jews] have ceased. What good is it for me

to long for them if, among us, there is nobody

who knows something about the

music of Zion? Who will explain to us its

proportions and great charms? Who will

guide us in its paths? As it is, it has been

put to rest in our sleep and all its muses

-Don Harran: on a Jewish musical Renaissance Pg. 97

science of music say to Christians? he asked in his Notebooks, then

of the Hebrews. In his own day, he acknowledged the complete

absence of this science from among [his] people.

-Don Harran: on a Jewish musical Renaissance Pg. 98

was a moratorium on instrumental music, even for religious purposes.

(The ban on instruments in religious services still holds in the

twentieth century in some Conservative and all Orthodox

congregations.) Antagonism toward secular music already existed, as

it was considered to be profane and destructive to good character.

When the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., the use of

was intended to be in effect until the building of a third Temple, when

the Levitical music would be revived. Those who were already

fervently opposed to the sacred use of all elements of secular music

seized the opportunity to extend the ban to its logical conclusion: no

music whatsoever would be permitted.70

-Salamone Rossi's Synthesis of Jewish and Italian Modernisms in His

Sacred Music, pg 57 Judith Lenore Payne(THESIS)