Feature articles

by Hervé Roten A Jewish story tells that when two Jews speak together, there are at least three different opinions ! In the same way, when we talk of "Jewish musical traditions", it is good to (…) Read more

A historic, liturgic and musicologic analysis of the music of the Beta Israel, inspired from the works by Simha Arom, Frank Alvarez-Pereyre, Shoshana Ben-Dor and Olivier (…) Read more

At first, they look like very different musical styles, but when you look deeper, you can find several similarities which can allow fusion, and even a “transe-fusion”… Musical excerpts (…) Read more

A dance from the pioneers, which is today emblematic of bar-mitsvas, weddings and other Jewish celebrations of the diaspora.Originally, the hora was a slow dance often practiced in Romania, by (…) Read more

The Purim Shpil - etymologically "Purim play" in Yiddish - is a satirical performance that blends theater, music, dance, songs, mimes and disguises. The origin of this custom is intimately (…) Read more

Traditionally attributed to King David, the 150 poetic texts that make up the book of Psalms, however, have a more uncertain origin: it would probably be a set of poems written during the 4 to 5 (…) Read more

The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia, generally called The Bund, was a secular Jewish socialist party in the Russian Empire, active between 1897 and (…) Read more

An overview of medieval Jewish music Read more

translated from Hervé Roten’s article. Klezmer is an instrumental music for celebrations which was once performed in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe at weddings or joyous religious (…) Read more

An introductive article about the singing of Sefardi Jews Read more