Salomone Rossi and his innovations

For the footnotes and other extra information see the following link:
www.earlymusicsources.com/you...
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Created by Elam Rotem, February 2021.
Singing: Doron Schleifer, Jacob Lawrence, Elam Rotem
Chitarrone: Ori Harmelin
www.earlymusicsources.com
Special thanks to Stefano Patuzzi and Anne Smith.
Support us on PATREON: / earlymusicsources
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[@tvanbast]

Move over, Netflix. When I see a video by Elam, I open a good bottle of wine, I sit back in my favorite chair, and I prepare to be both educated and entertained. I have never been disappointed.

[@bifeldman]

Only Elam Rotem could present this exalted material.

[@paulsmith5752]

Have just given a nudge about Rossi to my friend who sings in a very famous English a cappella ensemble that is set up very similarly to Elam's group PDQ (2 countertenors, tenor, 2 baritones, bass) - let's see what happens...

[@paulsmith5752]

Also really interesting to see he was helped out by the brilliant polymath Rabbi Aryeh mi-Modena (Leon of Modena).

[@SoleaGalilei]

Fascinating to see how Rossi used cutting edge music of his time to express the ancient holy words of his people. I would love to learn more about him.

[@michaelsiedner4011]

Many thanks for this and the other lectures.You opened a new magical,wonderful world You are a wonderful teacher and musician.God blessed you

[@johncampbell3940]

This channel is one of the jewels of the internet.

[@lorenzorossi7468]

Special episode for me: my last name is Rossi and I'm from northern Italy. "Rossi" is the most common Italian surname, but still I felt called upon.

[@paulsmith5752]

There's also Luigi Rossi, who is a Christian composer from about 20 years later.

[@josephzaarour6649]

Hey Elam, hey guys. First I want to thank Elam Rotem and co. for his very nice job and fun content.Then I want to say: I am a 2nd year bachelor student in harpsichord from Lebanon (the first one ever) and my country quickly got really really poor last year. So I would ask: what can I do related to music to earn money? What do you think is a good idea for me as a solo concertist in Vienna? I thought that I could invite tourists to the same concert that I will repeat once a week, because obviously tourists in Austria come for the historical music.

[@amyprotscherjazz]

Thanks for the Salomone Rossi feature. A few years ago, when I was choir leader at our synagogue, I tried to spice up the usual fare of Louis Lewandowski and Debbie Friedman with some Rossi. It was not met with much favor, though. It can't have been the quality of his music, which is gorgeous. I'd be more than happy to see a group/choir dedicated to Rossi's work, and am available as an alto and/or keyboardist.

[@Nooticus]

Synagogue choirs never seem to sing amazing stuff like this! I’d love to see something like that too!!

[@NenadStefanovicbach]

Refreshing like always!!! Morning coffee and Early music video!!! Love from Serbia!!!

[@elenin.3228]

More about Jewish music in Medieval and Rennaissance Europe,please. Both religious and secular.It wasn't even mentioned during my studies. I would like to know more about Rossi, too.

[@AidanMmusic96]

Nor mine. I studied several Monteverdi pieces in my first year, but Rossi never got mentioned, and percussionists were discouraged from studying music we weren't likely to play, so I took other classes instead.

[@georgerichardson7560]

Thanks you so much for this video and channel! I watched Profeti Della Quinta's collaboration with the Jewish Music Institute on Rossi's music, it was heart warming and inspiring. Also Cor Mio was my favourite piece that was performed and it was lovely to see it in it's different forms with an analysis. Keep up the amazing work, best wishes and hope to see this music live and face to face soon!!

[@Oceananswer]

Omg, I bought Il Mantovano Hebreo, I had no idea Elam was one of the singers/instrumentalists.

[@TonyLeva]

😍this channel breathes life into my blood! A channel on early music!! 😍😍

[@jacekzajac8356]

Very educational. High level as always. Thank you

[@rorshack23]

Note to self: Audio examples 3:15 (Rossi - vocal accompaniment) 3:40 (Rossi - chitarrone accompaniment) 4:21 (Caccini - chitarrone accompaniment) 4:32 (Rossi - chitarrone accompaniment)

[@TheProms]

I am so glad I found your channel.

[@grahamrankin4725]

Please present more of his music.

[@namets]

Mirabile

[@MaHa-um5sv]

Amazing and crucial history, thank you!

[@stevehutchesson1321]

I don't claim to understand the depth of your music but I hear great beauty in what you have done. Also compliments on your production of Emma-Lisa Roux.

[@SalonSanctuaryConcerts]

How great to hear the same repertoire covered in our 2020 film Babylon explored in such analytical depth here!

[@SalonSanctuaryConcerts]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZ6Zi3WCpdGHjLM

[@ultraparadoxical7610]

Wonderful video essay. Thanks

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

I’m interested to learn more ancient Hebrew music. It’s gorgeous.

[@amyprotscherjazz]

We don't know exactly how _ancient_ Hebrew music sounded. As Elam mentioned, Rossi's is the earliest printed edition we have, and it's much rather the exception than the rule of how music in the synagogue sounded. Also, Jewish prayer books, unlike Christian hymnals, are printed text-only, without notes. To make things more complicated, the melodies vary by minhag hamakom, i.e. local custom. Most of the transcriptions of chasanut (the cantorial art) are from the 19th and 20th centuries, although some of the traditional melodies are much older than that.

[@turnipsociety706]

Not exactly 'ancient'; it would be Renaissance Hebrew (i.e jewish liturgical) music.

[@amyprotscherjazz]

@@turnipsociety706 The prayers in the siddur (the Jewish prayerbook) are in ancient Hebrew, since most of them are direct Bible quotes or writings by early rabbis from Talmudic times (their Hebrew, different in some respects from Biblical Hebrew, is called Mishnaic Hebrew). Some parts (like the Kaddish) are Aramaic. Since Hebrew had fallen out of use as a spoken language in the Middle Ages, there is no such thing as Medieval Hebrew. The writers who composed the prayers that have been added in Medieval times (such as the Lecha dodi or the Unetane tokef on Yom Kippur) wrote in ancient Hebrew. Modern Hebrew only developed when a sizeable number of people began using Hebrew as a spoken language again, i.e. in the late 19th century.

[@simpl51]

This topic is like the rose garden of the Sleeping Beauty, it seems there were many localised traditions. I once stumbled on this CD - La musique de la Bible revélée (LP), 1976 (Harmonia Mundi France HMU 989. which was the result of Suzanne Haik--Vantoura's life's work, interpreting the notation from the margin of 24 books of a Hrebrew old testament. She encyphered the melodies but not the accompaniment; to me, they could be compared to Gregorian chant. I have no idea of date, acceptance or spread, I'm afraid.

[@lduc63]

encore une vidéo riche, intéressante, instructive. C'est ma "cerise sur le gâteau" de ma semaine, quand j'en vois une nouvelle ! Merci à vous++

[@patrickcunningham618]

thank you very much!

[@austreneland]

Finally get to hear more about him! Thanks!

[@Nooticus]

Absolutely exceptional video Elam 👏

[@thormusique]

This was brilliant, thank you! I knew relatively little about Rossi, but this certainly lit a fire for me to dig into his life and music more deeply. Cheers!

[@SalonSanctuaryConcerts]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZ6Zi3WCpdGHjLM

[@jdanielcramer]

So nice to learn more about this fascinating composer, some years ago I recorded an album of his works on a modular synthesizer. 🤓

[@contrapunctus3817]

Very interesting! Thank you!

[@hansmartin828]

Thank you for this content that never fails to interest me. I would love to see an episode on the enigmatic canons in the Renaissance!

[@louiskatzclay]

Thank you!

[@respectfulremastersbymetal8336]

Another fantastic video! Thanks!

[@lorabourla8994]

Wonderful!

[@chiaramarena2119]

Very interesting. Thank you very much🥀🌿

[@violjohn]

Thank you; fascinating as always.

[@videosdehistoriadelamusica4484]

Great video! Thank you for your contribution to music education!

[@joalexsg9741]

Thank you so much for this truly educational video enriching our cultural horizons!

[@jorgeabatocab]

The Holy Word of God: Psalm 150 _"1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord."_

[@baileymontgomerie9586]

This music is beautiful. Are there typeset versions available for singing?

[@hrizonsdebbie]

Loved this one.

[@philipsolomonick6891]

Madhim! Kol kach meanyen. Hamon toda!

[@victotronics]

Utterly fascinating.

[@GoodSneakers]

A great episode! Gorgeous music.

[@fredhoupt4078]

Wonderful.

[@marcduhamel-guitar1985]

Keep up the amazing research and performances. I love this channel!

[@estudiomonteverdi]

sensational as always

[@Wermen]

Gracias Laura Mingo Pérez por la traducción.

[@soubass16]

Bravo! Saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱

[@florentino21212]

Merci beaucoup pour votre travail !

[@GabrielLeni]

Indredible

[@matteogarzetti]

Fantastico!

[@mrJohnDesiderio]

very cool

[@danielwaitzman2118]

Bravissimo!

[@paulanaori8619]

The beginning on 3:15 reminds me of Rovetta's "O Maria"

[@ludustestudinis]

Great episode! Dear Elam, when I first herad your own music based on ancient Hebrew texts, I thought: "Wow, Salomone Rossi resurrected!". As your music requires skilful performers, too, I fear that your music will share the same fate like Rossi's Hebrew music.

[@DiegoCantalupi]

Strange: the chitarrone here sounds as an archlute. It seems now quite clear that the Rossi chitarrone is a bass lute with reentrant tuning.

[@magnusandersson4044]

It sounds here like a single strung archlute with single metal basses. I would love to hear it on the instrument you mention.

[@NigelSequeira-py3kq]

Great!!!!!

[@LaTablatura]

Great !

[@artie360]

Very interesting

[@marcosPRATA918]

Aprecio com ânimo essa aula tão bem demonstrada!

[@havokmusicinc]

I would be interested to learn more about Jewish music in antiquity, including traditional and folk musics

[@ErikaM683]

Yes, sefardie music, pls!

[@kiren3168]

This channel mainly focuses on Renaissance era European music. Ancient Jewish music would be just Middle Eastern music which is different from European music

[@DavidSdeLis]

That was very interesting, thanks! I found that cadence to E very ingenuous and quite melodic. It's amazing to see how complex where ancient pieces and how they managed to deal with it in so many ingenious ways, which also set a precedent for the later music we all love...

[@noahkaufman2013]

Thank you for this! I just discovered Rossi last week and have been enjoying learning & listening. Really enjoyed the explanation of his word painting in the piece from Songs of Solomon towards the end of the video. Have any other knowledge of early Jewish polyphony?!

[@tyr3798]

Yeaaaah, New episoooode!!! 😁😁😁

[@liquensrollant]

Thoroughly interesting, on several levels. I do have a question: what was this music of Rossi intended to supplant? What was Jewish liturgical music of the time like? (Indeed, I don't even know what it is like now!)

[@EarlyMusicSources]

We don't know exactly, but it was probably monodic and unmeasured (as opposed to "musica figurata" - which is polyphonic and measured).

[@liquensrollant]

@@EarlyMusicSources Thanks! I hope you continue to explore this theme and other similar ones in the future.

[@KorKhan89]

@@EarlyMusicSources Interesting! By monodic, do you mean it was already usual at this point to have instrumental accompaniment, or would the music have been more similar to Christian plainchant?

[@EarlyMusicSources]

@@KorKhan89 You are right, this is confusing! I meant "monodic" in it's original and more common meaning: made of one voice.

[@subjectline]

On what it is like now, there is a magnificent example in Ben Levin's essay on here "my first musical influence ". It's mostly a single voice with instrumental accompaniment (they go into the rules of melody a bit) but also powerful choral singing.

[@cafiarelli]

Please, a chapter about the jewish music in Amsterdam and the Psalmi of Marcello!

Shalom!

[@KorKhan89]

Today is a good day!

[@miguelykaris7869]

Super video,thanks a lot,I wish you Pessach sameach!

[@danyelnicholas]

Extremely moving and appreciated when great contrapunctal music is set to a truly dignified text. Hebrew sounds particularly good for this kind of music and I am glad that finally someone has picked up the thread. Thank you once again!

[@gradwhan]

I would love to hear analysis by you of even more ancient music. For example Machaut. :)

[@ornleifs]

I really would like to see a video from you about what interesting books you recommend about early music.

[@kuroimusic]

Great ep! I didn't know there were ghettos in Italian cities. I presume the harsh progression and the text, at that time of hardship, would be very emotive to listen in the synagogue.

[@amyprotscherjazz]

The word ghetto is actually _from_ the Italian language. Although that shouldn't make you think that the Italians invented the ghetto as a concept. In Spain and Portugal, before the Inquisition enforced their convert-or-leave policy in 1492 and 1496, respectively, the town quarters where Jews had to settle were called Judería. In Italy, ghetto. The same concept existed north of the Alps, too. In many German towns, there's a Juden- oder Jüdenstrasse, usually the main street of the former ghetto.

[@padrepatta5535]

By the way: this is not "ancient Hebrew music" and definitely not "jewish music". This is Italian renaissance / early baroque music composed by a jew, like other music was composed by catholics.

[@kiren3168]

Yeah I agree. While the fact that the composer was Jewish definitely influenced his music, it is still European Renaissance music. The style and techniques are heavily European. Ancient Hebrew music would sound Middle Eastern and very different.

[@sapiensfromterra5103]

Exactly and very derivative, like other jewish composers were in later periods, like Mendelson and Mahler...

[@juanpablovelez7656]

I was expecting this since I heard your Rossi's album with Profeti Della Quinta.

[@matteogarzetti]

Un chitarrone "o altro strumento simile", leggo.

[@francescoborghini7669]

Molto interessante e sinceramente emozionante, questo racconto! È bene comunque tener presente che, assai prima del 1600, era invalso l'uso, accompagnandosi con liuto o simili, di cantare solo il tenor di madrigali polifonici. Ne fa un cenno Michelangelo che forse solo in questa versione mutila ebbe ad ascoltare quei suoi Sonetti intonati con tanta maestria e sensibilità polifonica per lui dall'Arcadelt...

[@Jebembti]

Very interesting. Thanks a lot!. Maybe can you make a video on Spanish American Baroque “white” music notation and problems of mensuration.

[@lubbertdas3797]

Great video. I've had a record by Joel Cohen's Boston Camerata with Jewish baroque music for a long time, I've heard it a couple of times, but never paying too much attention. With your explanation maybe I can appreciate it a little more.

[@irislangford6320]

It was one of my favourite albums for years. Now on KZbin. I hadn't heard a rendering of Rossi to match it until the Profeti.

[@kaloarepo288]

The great Anglo-German composer George Frederick Handel wrote many oratorios based on Old Testament stories and a substantial part of his audiences was Jewish -he wrote an oratorio on the Jewish hero "Judas Maccabaeus" and it contains the very famous chorus "See the Conquering hero comes" -I found out fairly recently that this piece is based on the rhythms of Hebrew music.Later on Handel wrote an oratorio (one of his most sublime works)on the early Christian martyr Theodora -it was a failure -one critic at the time observed that it failed because the Jews stayed away because it was on a Christian subject and the ladies stayed away because the subject was about a chaste maiden who preferred martyrdom to "the fate worse than death" -i.e.being forced to work in a Roman brothel!

[@elchatismiquin6445]

Debería ser 'cuarta bitono'... Great!

[@yeah8598]

In the next video can you talk about the virtuoso stilo of dario castello and fontana? (Sonate concertate in stilo moderno)

[@alsatusmd1A13]

Calling the diminished fourth “Quarta Tritona” is something of a misnomer: dividing the interval in question (32:25) into whole tones will only give a bisection rather than the nominal trisection.

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

Francesco Aron Presley.

[@andreamundt]

Turtle and Crocodile having a chat :D

[@lorenzocasati2881]

I'd love if you made an episode about Josquin's "Nymphes des bois"!

[@hucbald37]

Yes, please think about this, Elam! I think, it's a good idea! Perhaps in comparison to Andrieu's Armes amours...?

[@nitairiello1534]

In this subject of non european early music in the european style please make a video about early music in the new world!! There's some very interesting stuffs in the Spanish colonies. For example sacred pieces in the native languages and etc.

[@liquensrollant]

Weirdly I was also almost going to ask about exactly this, as well as music from other less usual European cultures, like Occitan, Basque, Welsh, Cornish, Hungarian, Albanian... (does early music even exist from them?)

[@elinathanferlay1013]

This isn't exactly "non-european" early music since Salomone Rossi was an Italian Jew.

[@elinathanferlay1013]

@@liquensrollant Occitan early music? Yes, indeed that thing exists since all Troubadours are Occitan.

[@liquensrollant]

@@elinathanferlay1013 Right on both counts. Though there are a handful of troubadours who perhaps weren't native Occitan speakers ;-) But what about baroque music in Occitan for instance? I believe it exists, though I doubt it is as culturally significant - not in the way that the troubadours were, nor this Jewish music.

[@nitairiello1534]

@@elinathanferlay1013 what I'm referring to is that this kind of music have another origins that aren't European, Hebrew is a Asian language that reads in the Eastern manner (right to left) and etc. Of course European Jews are part of European culture, but is not that simple. Like they said in the piece showed in this video "In a Foreign land" they doesn't seem themselves as European.

[@ErikaM683]

❤ 9:35 that's a really interesting fact!! I had never thought of it. How are editions of music printed in those languages nowadays?

[@EarlyMusicSources]

Nowadays, it is normally printed using Latin letters. Or if it is printed with Hebrew letters, it is divided per syllable.

[@jcortese3300]

I just found Naumbourg's collection at IMSLP -- thank you so much for highlighting this!!! Do you recommend any particular recordings of Rossi's work? (She said, hopiong you'll tell me that your group has made one.)

[@TheVelvetIris]

Definitely check out both cds by profeti della Quinta (Elam Rotems group). I think they're both on Spotify.

[@jcortese3300]

@@TheVelvetIris Awesome -- I'll go grab them someplace. I'd prefer a physical CD, though. :-( I hate buying electrons. ETA: Got it -- thanks!

[@erwincorioflores1017]

Enlightening Elam, and wonderfully presented as ever. I would be curious to read the following page of Morosini's commentary as he seems to go on to say how "we Christians, who live in perpetual, and real, happiness..." relative to the music returning to its 'statu quo ante'

[@EarlyMusicSources]

There is a link to the source in the footnote, check it out!

[@erwincorioflores1017]

@@EarlyMusicSources thank you

[@yuvalne]

How the heck did I only just hear about him??

[@Ottavio_Farnese]

First! Great video as always

[@Ottavio_Farnese]

I love the 'Jews' part 😊

[@marcvcivsnoveboracensis]

Elam, you may very well be Rossi's reincarnation...

[@jcortese3300]

One more question -- do you guys have a reddit or anything? I've looked through the groups on reddit that are supposed to be for early music, but they seem dead. I wonder if we can't grab one as an Early Music Sources group for discussion?

[@zachheilman784]

This reminds me of the video I saw about a handful of people of Chinese descent who live in the Mississippi Delta and have perfect Delta accents. I'm blown away by the combination of two cultures I would never have expected. Rossi's music is a bit like that. Super cool stuff!

[@TheVelvetIris]

I'm not sure Rossi was a total revolutionary when it came to polyphonic music in the synagogue, since there is a responsum from Leon de Modena at the beginning of "HaShirim", refering to a choir at the synagogue of Ferara at 1604. His main contribution in that regard is probably *new* music, as in music composed especially for the words in Hebrew, as apposed to adapting well known tunes of the time (as we sometimes see in synagogues to this day)

[@EarlyMusicSources]

It is true, Modena describe some sort of polyphonic singing - but it's not clear at all what kind of singing it was. Based on the description it might be also improvised accompaniment to a melody, similar to the Christian practice of "cantare super librum", and not written polyphony). Regardless, Rossi is revolutionary by printing and publishing his music in the hope that communities around Europe will adopt his music as a new kind of liturgy.

[@TheVelvetIris]

@@EarlyMusicSources that makes sense... would live to watch an episode about cantare super librum one day :)

[@dmitrysofronov8624]

That's brilliant - it's the first time I heard about Rossi and written Jewish music. Thank you so much - I wish we could hear more about it! ...I always found that calling the early Baroque innovation "monodic" is a bit off the point, though. (Please note - I'm not arguing your knowledge which is in all respects superior to mine, but fighting the term!) Even though it's written as voice and accompaniment, it's not "voice and accompaniment" in the way we know it to be in the music closer to our times. The basso continuo line is of course not a strict prescription of three or four voices, but it was supposed to be re-composed by the performer - in a way most suitable to them - so that the accompaniment along with the singing would constitute a full-blooded polyphony piece. That's why I think the word "monodic" is fairly misleading.

[@EarlyMusicSources]

You are of course right. I think that the reason that the term "monodic" became standard despite of its apparent lack of logic is since the sources refer to pieces "for one voice" being for one voice + continuo, and pieces "for two voices" being for two voices + continuo, etc.

[@dmitrysofronov8624]

@@EarlyMusicSources The voice of reason... Thank you, Sir!

[@drsofty8486]

So "Boney M." did borrow their text of "Rivers of Babylon" from a Rossi composition? Or is the text a well know Jewish one, i.e. Rossi and Boney M. were citing the same common source?

[@Tubomiro]

Myself as a Jew (yes, I know don't let the Spanish last name fool you) this was deeply moving. Thank you Early Music Sources! However, now I'm wondering about the music of Shabtai Tzvi. Not sure if he would count as a person worthy of mention in Early Music Sources. I hardly know anything about his music.

[@amyprotscherjazz]

Shabbatai Tzvi doesn't exactly occupy a honorable place in Jewish history :-/

[@Tubomiro]

@@amyprotscherjazz I agree. But History is History. One can’t ignore the fact that Shabtai Tzvi was a musician too. Let me give you a name to bridge that connection: Carlo Gesualdo.