Jewish Music Matters

Catalog description

Taught by GTU. Music offers a unique means of engaging individual emotion and spirituality, social solidarity and socio-cultural affirmation. It also demonstrates the mutual influences experienced by cultures living in proximity to one another over time. Jewish music, specifically, reflects the historical and contemporary, sacred and secular dimensions of the Jewish people. Spread throughout much of the world over a history of two millennia, this music has evolved into a rich variety of traditions as well as innovative composition. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, we will explore highlights of this musical legacy touching on theories of culture to help us understand the power of music to create meaning. We will focus on the modern era, through lecture and discussion, multimedia, recorded and live music, as well as student presentations.