Two Chassidic Dances by Zikmund Schul

May 20, 2017 | Author: Ronit Abdu | Category: Jewish Mysticism, Holocaust Studies, Terezin, Theresienstadt (Terezin), Music in the Holocaust
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Tel Aviv University
The Faculty of Arts
Musicology Department







Two Chassidic Dances by Zikmund Schul
Lights and Vessels – A Kabalistic Interpretation






Seminar: Music in Terezin
Prof. David Bloch
Student: Ronit Bishko
ID: 027768696
Date: February 21, 2007
Table of Contents

Introduction _____________________________________________ 2
Chapter 1: Historic Background _____________________________ 3
1.1 Jewish Life in Prague in the 1930's ____________________ 3
1.2 Jewish life in Terezin _______________________________ 4
1.3 Jewish Music in Terezin _____________________________ 5
1.4 The life of Zikmund Schul ____________________________ 5
Chapter 2 – Vessels and Lights ______________________________ 7
Chapter 3 – Zikmund Schul's Two Chassidic Dances ____________ 10
3.1 Chassidic Dance I __________________________________ 10
3.2 Chassidic Dance II __________________________________ 13
Summary _________________________________________________ 15
Bibliography ______________________________________________ 19



Introduction
This paper will discuss the Two Chassidic Dances (Op. 15) by Zigmund Schul,
a Jewish composer, originally from an assimilated German family, who
because of the course of history found his way to Jewish music. I will try
to follow Schul's tragically curtailed life and ask what led him from an
assimilated background, to writing music that could be identified as
Jewish. In this analysis I will also try to see what expressions of Jewish
life existed in Prague and Terezin. Although the Terezin residents came
from a predominantly assimilated and secular background, it seems as though
there was a Jewish life and many different Jewish activities did take place
in Terezin. I will try to see how all this influenced Schul and my main
question will be is what makes Schul's Chassidic Dances Jewish?
To answer these questions and after depicting the historical context,
I will discuss the two dances, with an attempt to try and find the soul
(נשמה) of this music. This I will do by using the Kabalistic idea of lights
(אורות) and vessels (כלים) and applying these ideas to Schul's Chassidic
dances. These kabalistic ideas will help me examine the different
influences on Schul's music. On the one hand, he has a sound western
musical background; on the other hand he uses Jewish motifs in his music,
creating a unique style. According to Kabala the form or structure is the
vessel and the the light is the inner quality. In my analysis I will ask
what does each culture and tradition contribute to Schul's music. The
vessel or form could naturally be attributed to the Western culture and the
melody perhaps are the lights that could be attributed to the Jewish
culture. But, as I will try to show, this distinction in not as clear cut
as first suggested. My thesis is that more often the form or structure, the
vessel, is western and the light is Jewish. I will therefore try to
investigate Schul's Chassidic dances as an expression of Schul's mixed
identity, the first being western and the latter being Jewish.
Chapter 1 - Historic Background
In this introductory chapter I will follow Schul's journey, from Prague to
Terezin and try to reveal the main influences and circumstances in Schul's
life that led him to write the two Chassidic dances. First I will examine
the life in Prague, in the late 1930's, which is when Schul was in Prague.
Then I will try to find out about the character of the Jewish life that
existed in Terezin, Schul's final residence.
1.1 Jewish Life in Prague in the Late 1930's
It is not clear when Jews first arrived to the city of Prague, some
say it is as early as the 10th century. The Altneushul was built in the
year 1270. There is a legend that the cornerstone was laid with stones from
the ruins of the second temple on the condition that they would be returned
when the third temple is built. The idea of old that becomes new, also
inspired Theodor Herzl to write his utopian book Altneuland (Rothkirchen, 2-
4).
By 1935 there were over 35,000 Jews living in Prague. 50% were
engaged in trade, 22% were lawyers and 8% doctors. After world war I and
the foundation of the Czech Republic, the process of secularization become
intense and Prague had one of the highest percentages of mixed marriages in
Europe (30% by 1930). The community maintained several Jewish schools. Some
synagogues modernized their liturgy, but not necessarily in accordance with
the Reform Movement.
In 1935, the year Schul arrived to Prague, there was a constant
influx of refugees from Germany. By 1939 the Jewish population in Prague
had risen to 56,000. The Nazis tried to annihilate the Jews but they did
attempt to build a Jewish museum, therefore they stored Jewish objects in
11 Synagogues (Encyclopedia of Jewish Life, 1020 – 1023).
1.2 Jewish life in Terezin
The Terezin inhabitants were predominantly assimilated Jews, others were
first or second generation converts, therefore Jewish religious observance
was less evident. There were, however, activities led by Zionistic youth
groups. Nevertheless Jewish weddings often took place in Terezin and some
form of observance of Shabbat and holidays did exist. This included
synagogue services that were followed by choral works.(Bloch, Viktor
Ulman's Yiddish and Hebrew Vocal Arrangements, 79).
The Czech Jewish inmates didn't always get along too well with the
German Jewish inmates. Of the Jews of Terezin, the largest group were the
Czech assimilationists, but there were different groups, for example the
Zionists,. The Orthodox Jews were a minority in Terezin, mostly older
people originally from Germany and Austria (Rothkirchen, 241-243).
The famous inmate Leo Strauss coined the term "Life as If", pointing
towards the absurdity of Terezin as if real life continued in the camp.
Terezin was the only camp where religious life was permitted. Rabbi Richard
Feder points out that prayer was not officially permitted, but Nazis looked
on when the Jews arranged prayers (Feder, 53). Many Moravian Jews had
brought with them their Menorahs, Torahs, Siddurim and other religious
articles. There was even a woman Rabbi! (Feder, 54). As expected in these
unusual circumstances, many of the inmates went through an identity crisis.
Rothkirchen states that "Spiritual resistance seeks expression in the
religious sphere" (Rothkirchen, 268). In the context of Schul's artistic
expression, his work which deals with Jewish themes could be understood as
artistic resistance to the Nazis. In the camp all in all over the years
there were over 2,300 lectures, over 400 of them were on Jewish topics. The
Jewish holidays were observed in Terezin, though the emphasis was on the
national-historic level (Rothkirchen, 281).
1.3 Jewish Music in Terezin
Music is perhaps the only art form that was not heavily censored by the
Germans in Terezin. Bloch points to the painful irony that existed in
Terezin. The musicians "enjoyed" the relative freedom to write music, a
"privilege" that other Jews in occupied Europe did not have (Bloch, Jewish
Music, 105). These were not the ideal conditions for creating art (a lack
of instruments, manuscript paper and musical scores and deportation of
musicians) (Bloch, Jewish Music, 106), but it seems as though there was a
flourishing of great music, whether of Jewish influence or not, despite the
harsh conditions. Perhaps because of these unusual conditions music could
help the inhabitants of Terezin to transcend the realities of the Ghetto.
1.4 The life of Zikmund Schul
Zikmung Schul was born in Kassel, Germany in 1916. He studied composition
with Paul Hindemith and Alois Haba in Berlin. In 1935 he came to Prague,
seeking a refuge from Nazi persecution. In addition to Schul's Western
musical education, his music was influenced from his friendship with the
Lieben family in Prague, who led him to a collection of medieval Jewish
musical manuscripts. Rabbi Lieben also encouraged Schul to study Kabala[1].
The community gave him a stipend to work with this material and this
brought him closer to Jewish music.
In November 1941 he was among those rounded up and sent to the
Terezin concentration camp. (Bloch, Jewish Music in Terezin, 111). Karas
claims that Schul's compositions reveal his interest in Hebraic Thematic
and religious mysticism. Rothkirchen asserts that "Artistic effort in such
conditions, particularly composing music in a concentration camp, demanded
immense intellectual and spiritual strength" (Rothkirchen , 268) Indeed the
conditions for Schul became more difficult and nearly all creative musical
activity ceased a year before his death in 1944. He died of tuberculosis at
the age of 28 (Karas, 123).
As Bloch asserts, the music of Zigmund Schul has been neglected until
now. His music did possess a high compositional quality, "the 'Chassidic
Dances' are gems of passion and joy of playing" (Bloch, intro to Magen
Avos). Schul also wrote the Divermento Ibraico for string orchestra as well
as liturgical songs for a boys choir and cantorial melodies. Another string
quartet composition by Schul is an accompaniment for a cantorial melody,
V'l'Yerushalaim (Bloch, Intro to Magen Avos).
In this section of the paper I attempted to give a brief
historiographic account of the Jewish life in Prague and in Terezin during
those years that Schul was in Prague and Terezin. The circumstances of Nazi
persecution have exposed Schul to his Jewish identity.
Chapter 2 – Vessels and Lights
In this chapter I will briefly outline two Kabalistic/Chassidic approaches
to music. The first is the Kabalistic concept of light and vessels and the
second is the redeeming of sparks – an approach to the Chassidic folk
Niggun .
The image 'light and vessels' comes from the kabalistic literature.
The beginning of Eitz Chaim (from the teachings of the holy Ari), for
example, uses this imagery. To understand music according to Jewish
Kabalistic thought, it might be appropriate to tie it with the ideas of
Light and Vessel. Reality has two dimensions: substance and form. According
to Kabala there can be no substance without form and no form without
substance. The vessel contains the form. Light exists in each vessel and
acts through it. Light and vessels are synonyms to form and substance. The
vessel reveals and expresses the character of the light through its
actions. For example, to make an idea manifest and to connect it to others
depends on the vessel chosen. The light is inwardness. The vessel turns
outward, it is the medium. The light is the essence which takes control of
and directs the actions of the vessel. Through the action the light is
revealed, the inner self is revealed (Barlev, 35-38).
In Kabbala, it is explained how Ein Sof creates the universe, that is
how Unity develops a multiplicity or, how infinity unfolds a manifold of
finite beings; at the same time, it should be explained how the appearance
of multiplicity and finitude does not refute the existence of Ein Sof. So,
one could say that in the beginning, there was only The Light, and then The
Light developed into relatively dense light and relatively fine light. But
there's still only light. When the relatively dense light and the
relatively fine light interact with each other, the relatively fine light
envelopes, fills, and flows into the areas molded by the relatively dense
light. The relatively fine light, can be called 'light' and the relatively
dense light, can be called 'vessels' (כלים). The vessels catch the light.
The light is a masculine force, and the vessel feminine. As in conception
and pregnancy, the wife typically picks up the direction of her husband and
then works out details. This relationship is expressed well in Aryeh
Kaplan's writing about Chokhmah (masculine) and Binah (feminine) (Kaplan,
57-60).
Applying these Kabalistic terms to the world of music would perhaps
identify the 'light' of a piece of music as the initiating energy, the
inspiration, and the 'vessel' of a piece of music as the means of musical
development. Schul, as the titles of his pieces suggest, was inspired by
Chassidic dance. That inspiration was then expressed through him, according
to his musical training, in typical forms of contemporary, European art
music.
The melodies 'sound' Chassidish. Why? Well, it is difficult to quantify.
Why? If it were quoting a melody sung by Chassidim, that'd be one thing.
But we're talking about a quality of the sound, not the history of the
sound. To rigorously identify the melody as 'Chassidic', we need to show
either that he's quoting Chassidic music or we need to show that the melody
is theoretically possible within correct practice in Chassidic music.
The melody, however, is not known to be a quote of a specific
Chassidic Niggun (Bloch, Jewish Music, 111). But even if the melody were
quoted from a Chassidic source, does that make it a Chassidic melody?
Chabad, for instance, took a melody that came from the French. If he had
arranged that melody, would we be discussing Chassidic influence? Maybe if
he had emphasized the unique features of Chabad performances of the melody.
So, what is correct practice of Chassidic music? Chassidic musical concerns
include: Did I sing it like the rebbe sang it? Did I sing it from the
heart? Etc (Shalit, 30). Now, when a new melody is composed, what
determines if it's Chassidic? If a Chassid composed it? If the chassidim
sing it? Are Shelomo Carlebach's melodies Chassidic? Was he a Chassid? Are
the people who sing them Chassidim? What is a Chassid? The musical question
quickly turns into a sociological question[2]. Chassidic is a social
category, not a musical category. In that way, it makes sense that the
pieces are dances. Dances are danced in groups, or performed before groups.
Dances are basically social. A dance is more apt to be Chassidic than a
concerto.
One reason it may be difficult to say what's Chassidic in Chassidic
music is that Jewish music uses the music of the nations of the world. This
is discussed explicitly in the chassidut of Chabad and Breslov. What's the
light? What's the vessel? When asked how mundane folk and love songs from
non-Jewish origin could be sung on the holy Shabbat table, the Chassidic
Rabbis would say that a Niggun cannot receive impurity (טומאה). Kabbala
teaches us that all reality is concealed and is in a husk or shell (קליפה)
that separates between it and the divine. But the Niggun has higher
spiritual qualities. A Niggun expresses the inner (unconscious) longing
for the transcendent. This gave the Chassidim the legitimacy to adopt the
songs of the nations. The Chassidic Rebbe would take a simple folk tune and
add subtle changes, in rhythm, a sigh from the heart or melismas. A new
soul would be put in the body of the song, even though it is possible that
the musicologist would write almost the exact same notes. The soul of the
song, however, cannot be written down in notes (Shalit, 30-31). In the next
chapters of my paper, I will show that Schul might have done something
similar, taking Western structure and pouring into it, Jewish content.
Chapter 3 – Zikmund Schul's Two Chassidic Dances
The two Chassidic dances were performed in Ullmann's concert of young
Terezin composers and exist in two manuscripts (Bloch, Jewish Music in
Terezin, 111). Schul's Chassidic dances combine Chassidic-style melodic
writing with considerable harmonic chromaticism. David Bloch describes
Schul's Chassidic dances:
Although the principal thematic ideas project a strongly
Chassidic stylistic profile, they seem to be by Schul himself
rather than quotations of existing melodies. The dances are
extremely idiomatic in their writing for the string melodies. To
the clarity of their minor tonalities, textual dialogue and
rhapsodic melismas (especially in the second), the occasional
employment of dissonant harmonies intensifies this music of high
quality and effectiveness. (Block, Jewish Music in Terezin, 111)
In this chapter I will examine Schul's Chassidic dances. After the analysis
I will draw the conclusions borrowing from the idea of the Chassidic Niggun
and the Kabalistic 'Light and Vessels'[3].
3.1 Chassidic Dance I
The two main motifs are introduced immediately in the first bar of the
piece: the upward motion in fourths (E-A) and the downward motion of
semitones (E-D#). The "fourths" motif occurs in the accompaniment, although
with an added G# (the leading tone); the chromatic, motif occurs in the
melody.
The melody uses a "Jewish" mode a minor scale but with the fourth
degree raised (D# instead of D). Therefore, by starting the melody with the
sequence of notes E-D#, in other words, 5-4 in this scale, a motion in
semitones, Schul is establishing two things: the fact that we are in a
Jewish world of music, and that chromaticism is going to play an important
role in this piece. This way, when the composer makes an extensive use of
chromaticism later on, it's a natural development of the Niggun itself.
This idea is strengthened in bar 5, where the melody again starts
with a chromatic descent, but this time from the tonic (A) to the leading
tone (the raised 7--G#). The melody in bars 6 and 7 is essentially the same
as in bars 1 and 2, only with this change of the first two notes from
degrees 5-4 (as it was in bar 1) to degrees 1-7 (as it appears in bar 5).
The interval between the E-D# progression on the one hand, and the A-G#
progression on the other, is the interval of a fourth, which brings us to
the other principle motif.
The accompaniment that runs through much of this piece is that of an
interrupted fourth. It's basically a note sequence E-A, that is, dominant
(5th degree of the scale) tonic (first degree of the scale); but with the
leading tone (raised 7th degree--G#) thrown in quickly in the middle. Of
course, the G#-A which is the "interruption" of the "fourths" motif, is a
Chromatic motion, once again linking the elements of chromaticism and
fourths.
It is this motif's appearance in the first bar that establishes our
key as being A minor (that is, by having this E-A accompany the melody
which begins on a high E, we establish the chord-skeleton of A; we don't
really understand it as A MINOR until the second bar, where the note C
appears in the melody). In this motif there is something Jewish as well,
but perhaps it is the Rhythmic movement here of dotted 16th note followed
by a 32nd note followed by an 8th note. Something about that rhythm sounds
like a very Chassidic "oooy-oy-oooooy" kind of singing.
So we see that two very Jewish motifs, that of the melodic motion E-
D# and that of the dotted-16th/32nd/8th rhythmic motion have opened the
doors to the possibility of chromatic writing and the very modal melodic
tool of using fourths. Henceforth, any chromatic movement of movement in
fourths in this piece can be seen as a natural development from the Niggun
itself[4].
In bar 3, Schul takes the Niggun out of the scale that he started
with (that is, A minor with a raised 4th degree) and makes what is
essentially a chromatic descending scale with "interruptions". (G-F#-F-E-Eb
etc. is the descending chromatic scale; the "interruptions" are a lower,
shorter chromatic descent D-C#-C). At the same time, he takes us out of the
comfortable 4/4 rhythm and into, first 5/4 for one bar, and then 3/4 for
one bar. Then in bar 5 he comes back both to the scale and to 4/4 time.
Perhaps bars 3 and 4 are showing either the Niggun being developed
naturally (as we already explained, the chromaticism comes naturally out of
the melody) or alternatively as the Niggun "falling apart" (perhaps we can
connect this second option with the sense that the composer might have felt
that Judaism and even the world at that point were in total chaos).
Right at the end of bar 4 (leading into bar 5), and again in the
OTHER 3/4 time bar, that is bar 8, the composer makes use of the fourth
motif. In bar 4 it's only to reestablish our key, by giving us B (secondary
dominant [the dominant-of-the-dominant])-E (dominant)-A (tonic). In bar 8,
by starting with the motion Eb-Bb, he shows us that he's using the "fourth"
not only as a key-establishing device, but as a melodic tool in itself.
Then in the lower voice he has the motion A-D-E-A, which can be interpreted
as tonic-subdominant-dominant-tonic, and thus again as simply a key-
indicator, but because of the "melodic" sound of it here, we are tempted to
hear it more as a modal melodic motion, that is, as melody but without the
passing-tones of the conventional western scales.
To summarize, the first Chassidic Dance comes out of two motifs that
started out in a Jewish context, but are then developed according to
Western compositional techniques.
3.2 Chassidic Dance II
At first listening, the opening motif of the melody (bar 5) sounds
incredibly simple: rising from the tonic (D) to the fifth degree (A) and
then an interrupted descent back to the tonic; all of this over a simple
descending tetrachord in the accompaniment. But then we notice that the
rhythm doesn't "work". The measures (and thus the melody) don't end when we
think they should.
The accompanying rhythm is a hemiola. The "simple" groups of 4 notes
in the accompaniment are actually written in the context of 3/8 time,
resulting in a "contradiction" between the phrases and the measures. So the
phrases in the accompaniment are grouped thus: D-C-Bb-A; D-C-Bb-A; D-C-Bb-
A. The MEASURES, on the other hand, divide those notes thus: D-C-Bb; A-D-C;
Bb-A-D; C-Bb-A.
In this second Niggun , the main elements are the rhythmic (hemiola
and otherwise) elemnts, and the use of the interval of the "fifth". The
fact that the melodic line then comes down from the fifth degree by using
our old "raised-fourth-degree" minor scale, is in this Niggun much less
central to the composition than in the first Niggun .
In this piece, unlike in the first Niggun , there's no sense of
established clear scales, modes and meter, which are then broken sometimes,
but rather on constantly changing elements. For example, in bar 13, the
fourth degree is not raised, and in bar 14 the 7th degree is first raised
(thus producing the "leading tone") and then afterwards played "natural"
(not raised). This admittedly does give here a feeling of chromaticism
(especially [in bar 14 as mentioned] the raised 7th [C#] followed two notes
later by the natural 7th [C] but the predominant feel here is of an ever-
changing mode.
In some ways, it looks as if the composer here was trying to write
another Niggun like the first one. We see that fact in the way that the
scale of the melody here starts using a minor scale with a raised 4th
degree and then in bar 14 he has the scale "break" with a chromatic
descent, as mentioned in the last paragraph. Also in the way that the
accompaniment at least seems to start out with a very simple figure that
establishes the key (however complex that accompaniment really is when we
realize that it's actually a hemiola). But this piece is entirely
different: because the composer here begins the melody with a "fifth"
interval, and only uses the raised-fourth-degree "on his way back home" (in
bar 8), he establishes the conventional (non-Jewish) "fifth" interval as
being far more integral than any Jewish mode.
To sum up, this second Niggun uses Jewish elements either as a point
of departure or simply as an excuse to go on and write chromatic and modal
music. I wouldn't go as far as to say that here the development does not
"come out" of the Jewish elements that are presented in the melody. There
definitely is "honesty" in the composition. The Chassidic elements here do
imply the chromaticism and modality that the composer develops later on.
But whereas in the first Niggun , I find that the Chassidic melody was in
fact a Chassidic melody but one that "cried out" for chromatic and modal
development, here the melody is a melody that has in it some Chassidic
elements as well as some other elements. The development of the Niggun in
this second piece doesn't necessarily evolve from the Chassidic elements of
the theme.
Summary
As I tried to demonstrate, the pieces waver between tonal, modal, and
atonal melody; Schul makes a lot of use of canonic writing and he made a
very good blend of the Chassidic elements on the one hand with "serious"
compositional techniques of the time on the other hand: the chromatic
movement of the notes somehow manages to sound idiomatic both from the
Chassidic Nigun point of view and from the early-modern compositional point
of view.
Another interesting speculation about these pieces is why did he choose to
write a piece for four instruments (a string quartet) while there are only
two different voices going on? In other words, two instruments play exactly
the same line (though sometimes an octave apart) while the other two
instruments play (though sometimes an octave apart) the same thing as each
other, resulting in two doubled voices! Perhaps he was trying to maintain
the "Shabbos-table" atmosphere of people singing in unison rather than in
complex harmony, so that even while he is introducing complex harmony and
counterpoint, the fact that it's only two voices, both of which are double,
maintains a certain aspect of unison, simple singing.
It seems as though Schul might have been inspired from the 'light' of
post-Baal-Shem-Tov Chassidism. He himself acknowledges this in the title of
his compositions. What precisely inspired him is hard and maybe impossible
to say. This initial inspiration was put into form, and came out in the
language of the European art music tradition. We hear in his Chassidic
Dances counterpoint, motion of the tonal center of gravity, and contrasting
sections that are typical of European art music from the early modern
periods. Schul caught a whiff of something Chassidish and decided to use
the cultural tag in the title of his piece. But that isn't too interesting.
European and American composers of art music have been taking up folk
themes and putting them to work in this way, for at least a century.
So what is interesting? Schul's pieces employ European devices, in
other words Vessels that match up very nicely with the Chassidic tradition
that inspired him. The piece is a patchwork of folk themes that rarely
sound folksy (He probably didn't mean for them to sound folksy). Schul was
presenting what he heard according to his education and biases. He, uses
fugal and cadenza forms in one piece, and thereby evokes call-and-response
and chazzanuth or the Chassidic Niggun. He uses the instruments like
voices, more than like instruments. Therefore, Schul's Chassidic Dances are
Jewish light in Western vessels.
Furthermore, Schul could have written music unbounded by a tone
center, the precedent existed and had been developed. He could have used
instruments more as music machines than as voices, again the precedent
existed and had been established. But he didn't, at least not in these
pieces. Schul's pieces in a way are "Neo-Classical", or to use American
youth slang "retro", or in Jewish terms "traditional". On one hand, the Jew
is a rebel, on another hand, the Jew is maximally conservative, both at the
same time. I don't see rebel in Schul's music, but I do see a kind of happy
conservativism. So, the rubber-band conservativism after Schoenberg and
Stravinsky was typical of the European art music world, but in Schul's
life, the same pattern could maybe be construed as Jewish. Again, a Jewish
light in the Western Vessels.
To summarize, Schul wrote idiomatic niggunim. They're several notches
above your usual Chassidic Niggun, and yet they're still niggunim. They
aren't "spoofs" or ironic satires on the niggun. They're in the authentic
style. He harmonized them without trying to "stuff" them into a different
style. The harmonies stem from looking at the niggunim and finding the
appropriate harmonies. If one listens to the contemporary Chassidic singer,
Mordechai Ben David or the Mizrahi singer, Eyal Golan one can hear how
certain elements of folk-style are sometimes "stuffed" into a pop-rock
style. But the arrangements of Schul's niggunim stem from the songs
themselves, and not from some ulterior motive, from the form or the vessel.
In other words, these are respectful to the original style, even while
adding elements from another style.
In this paper I have tried to follow Schul's short biography, the
different social conditions and influences he faced and show in what way
the Two Chassidic Dances are Jewish lights in Western vessels. Ironically,
this unique blend would have perhaps never come to life if Schul was not
forced to face his Jewish identity, by Nazi persecution. As Viktor Ulman
wrote in Zikmund Schul's eulogy "Your life was just a brief stretto", the
promise of this young composer abruptly came to a standstill. I hope that
this paper serves as a positive memory of this young and unique artist.
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During the Holocaust. New Yourk: NYU Press

Musical Bibliography
Schul, Zikmund Two Chassidischer Tanze (Op. 15) Al S'fod – Do not lament –
Terezin Music Anthology – Volume IV
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[1] >BEHk} Ϣ
çÓ­ }e ÓçQ=%/hêPJhg-5?B*
CJ OJ[2]QJ[3]\?^J[4]aJ ph 3'hêPJh§-–5?B*
OJ[5]QJ[6]\?^J[7]ph 3'hêPJhøK5?B*
OJ[8]QJ[9]\?^J[10]ph 3/hL!"hL!"5?B*
CJOJ[11]QJ[12]\?^J[13]aJph 3/hL!"hA "`5?B*
CJOJ[14]QJ[15]\?^J[16]aJph 3/hêPJhA "`5?B*
CJ$OJ[17]QJ[18]\?^J[19]aJ$ph 3)hÍ6?5?B*
CJ$OJ[20]QJ[21]\?^J[22]I spoke to Shlomo Schmidt, an observant Jew who was
born in Prague, and deported to Terezin. His father was the Chazan of the
AltNeu Schul and he knew with Lieben family, a prominent Orthodox family in
Prague of those years. Mr. Schmidt claims that there were no Rabbis in the
Leiben family and that the Lieben family had their own Schul and did not
attend the Altneu Schul. He named the Rabbi of the Schul. Perhaps the facts
of Schul's stay in Prague should be re-examined.
[23] On the different definitions of Chassidic Music see: "The Hasidic
Dance-Niggun" (136).
[24] For the analysis I was assisted by Mr. Shlomo Schnall a music teacher
from Jerusalem, who, due to my limited musical background, could help me
put my undefined thoughts in to musical terminology.
[25] It would have been interesting to know whether Schul first wrote the
Niggun as a Niggun and then found that it lead to chromaticism and fourths,
or whether he decided on the use of chromaticism and fourths and then wrote
a Niggun that would allow those elments to develop from it.


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