We need different songs! New Hebrew songs and dances on the stages of interwar Europe (PL/EN)

26.06.2024 - 18:00 / Festival tent, ul. Józefa 36

Jewish settlers in Palestine, coming from almost all parts of the world, brought their own musical traditions with them to their new homeland. “Everyone here sings what is in their hearts,” wrote M. Rabinowicz, a correspondent of the Lwów daily “Chwila”, in the early 1930s.

As melancholic Eastern Jewish tunes or American Yiddish songs with a foxtrot rhythm did not correspond to the mood of the Middle East, a new tradition was started, known today as “New Hebrew“. It quickly spread to Europe and the USA, in the form presented by travelling entertainers. Illustrated with numerous musical examples, the lecture will tell the story of extraordinary meetings between Jewish singers and dancers, who make an effort to popularize New Hebrew folklore, and European audiences craving exoticism.

Michał Jaczyński, PhD

Michał Jaczyński – musicologist, PhD in arts. He works as a research assistant at the Centre for the Documentation of Polish Music of the 19th and 20th Centuries at I.J. Paderewski Institute of Musicology of the Jagiellonian University. He is interested in the history of musical culture in the late 19th century and early 20th century and issues in the field of music psychology. He has recently been focusing on the presence of Jewish music in the popular culture of Central Europe in the interwar period. He is the author of the book “Recepcja twórczości Władysława Żeleńskiego w latach 1857–1939” (Reception of Władysław Żeleński’s work in the years 1857–1939 published in Kraków in 2017) and several articles published in Polish and foreign musicological periodicals.