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Folk Song versus High Modernism: Stefan Wolpe's Song of Songs Settings in the Context of the ‘New Palestine'

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 27; Issue: 2-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07494460801951371

1477-2256

Heidy Zimmermann,

Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

Abstract Wolpe's stay in Palestine was marked by deep-seated ambivalence shared with many German emigrés who had come there in the 1930s and been cast back on their Jewishness by the National Socialists. It was only with reservations and reluctance that these assimilated Europeans could accept the Oriental land of the forefathers as their own. The way stations of Wolpe's years in Palestine (1934–1938) can be reconstructed from his correspondence, lectures and diary entries, not to mention concert reviews and the oral reports of his friends and pupils. These sources also shed light on the many and varied reasons for his subsequent departure, which included his quite personal and individual cast of mind, fervid enthusiasm for the socialist idea of the kibbutz, a ruthless final reckoning with the musical establishment and an artistic urge to set himself apart from his colleagues as a ‘professional maximalist’. Historian Sinai Leichter introduced him to Hebrew language and literature and the Jewish tradition. In the Bible he discovered not only a muscular and original language, but texts that timelessly captured his sense of social and political commitment. Wolpe did not limit himself to a naive encounter with the music of the Middle East. Rather, he sought to acquire a practical and theoretical knowledge of it. He made several settings of texts from the Song of Songs. Analysis of ‘Smolo tahat roshi’ illustrates his approach to transforming elements of folklore into modernist material. Keywords: FolkloreHebrew LanguageModernismNational Jewish Folk MusicPalestineSong of SongsWolpeStefan Acknowledgements An initial version of this article was presented at the Centenary Conference on Stefan Wolpe at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, on 14–15 March 2003. The text published here is based on an expanded version delivered at the Basle chapter of the Swiss Musicological Society on 3 November 2004. Notes [1] See the second note on Songs from the Hebrew (1936–1938) in Wolpe's Program Notes elsewhere in this issue. [2] ‘It has even been suggested that I remain here, organizing choruses, composing, forming orchestras, exploring a thousand possibilities for working among many, many splendid and strong-minded people – but with what prospects?!’ (Wolpe, 1935). [3] The impetus to move to Palestine came from Irma Schönberg, who had given a successful concert there in May 1931 (see Hirshberg, 1995, p. 160; and Wolpe's letter to Else Schlomann from the mid-1930s [ES 1–30], SWC). [4] See Wolpe (2002 [1935], pp. 24–29, 243), and the program booklet in SWC; see also Von der Lühe (1999, p. 86). [5] Leichter translated several songs from German to Hebrew for Wolpe's benefit, e.g., Olam chadash and Ten li chaver. [6] Lines from the prophet Micah (Micah, 2:1–2, 7:3–4) and Isaiah (Isaiah, 65), published in Wolpe (1961–1962). [7] ‘Zror amor dodi li’ (Song of Songs 1:13–16) for alto, B-flat clarinet and piano (1938), published by the Stefan Wolpe Society (2003); ‘Simeni kaotam’ (Song of Songs 8:6) and ‘Smolo taat roshi’ (Song of Songs 8:3) (1937), published as Two Songs for Alto and Piano (Wolpe, 1948; reprinted by Peermusic); and ‘My beloved is white and ruddy’ (Song of Songs 5:10–16, 2:5), composed in English in 1949 and published in Six Songs from the Hebrew (Wolpe, 1961–1962). [8] Stefan Wolpe: ‘Ali be'er’ for three-voice chorus, published by Hotsa'at merkaz hatarbut (1951); Stefan Wolpe: ‘Haseh hato'eh’ for four-voice chorus, published in Sharet (1939, pp. 7–9). [9] The fourth title was never published (see Figure 1). [10] See the second note on Songs from the Hebrew (1936–1938) in Wolpe's Program Notes elsewhere in this issue. [11] The premiere was given by Irma Schönberg-Wolpe and the singer Anne Hirsch-Fellheimer. Wolpe himself took the piano part in another performance given in February 1958. This concert included five further songs: Simeni kahotam, Rekhot, Epitaph, My Beloved is White and Im tsav gorali. A live recording of it can be found in the sound archive of the Jewish Music Research Center, National and University Library, Jerusalem. I wish to thank David Bloch for kindly alerting me to this rare document. [12] The allegorical readings are discussed in Zimmermann (2004, pp. 32–46). [13] Wolpe commented on a different song in Wolpe (1938e): ‘The song [probably Im tsav gorali] is for a single voice; the emphases correspond to those of asymmetrical relations in oriental el-loud [recte: ‘ūd] players, whose delicate and imaginative handling of dynamics is so deeply satisfying to me.' [14] Sephardic pronunciation officially took hold in 1903 (see Harshav, 1993, pp. 154–155). It differs from Ashkenazy pronunciation by basically stressing the final syllable, with shifts depending on the form of the word and the position in the sentence. [15] See the lecture notes with parallel thoughts on his works, the musical material and his treatment of it in SWC. [16] This text has eluded identification to date. [17] See the second note on Songs from the Hebrew (1936–1938) in Wolpe's Program Notes elsewhere in this issue. [18] See Salli Levi's bulky correspondence with Jewish composers abroad, documented in Bohlman (1992). [19] Letter to Else Schlomann, n.d. [ES 1–30], p. 2. [20] See Wolpe's invitation to Zweig, dated 26 February 1938 (Arnold Zweig Archive, Akademie der Künste, Berlin), and the report on the concert in Wolpe (1938d, p. 3). The conductor William Steinberg also tried in vain to have a larger orchestral work (probably the Passacaglia) performed in a radio broadcast. [21] Abilea (Leo Nisvitzky) and Yellin are discussed in Hirshberg (1995, pp. 80–81, 101–104). [22] A copy of this mimeographed program is located in Wolpe (1938e); see also Benno Balan's letter of 1939 to Wolpe (SWC); Von der Lühe (1999, pp. 86ff); Wolpe's speech, ‘On the occasion of this concert’ in Remarks before Concerts, elsewhere in this issue. [23] The autmobile accident Wolpe suffered in 1937 belongs in this context. Some 4,000 deaths were recorded between 1936 and 1940 (see Wasserstein, 2001, pp. 108–116). [24] See the diary entry (‘dangerous news from all sides’) in Wolpe (1937, p. 18). [25] See the two cited reviews in Hirshberg (1995, pp. 179–183), and Wolpe's diatribe against the ‘reactionary and opportunistic role of criticism in this country’ (Wolpe, 1938b). [26] See the biographies of, e.g., Lutz Salinger, Robert Starer, Hans Helmuth Bock and Walter Leonard documented in Von der Lühe (1999). [27] At least the loss was immediately noted; see the review of the farewell concert in the Palestine Post (28 October 1938) quoted in Hirshberg (1995, p. 92) and the comments of his pupils in letters and interviews.