“The Soul Seeks Its Melodies”: Music in Jewish Thought

Dov Schwartz

Published by Academic Studies Press 2022

“The Soul Seeks Its Melodies”

Music in Jewish Thought

Dov Schwartz
Translated by: Batya Stein

In the series Emunot: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah

https://doi.org/10.1515/9798887190716

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book is the first comprehensive research project on the encounter of music and Judaism in the theological and philosophical realms, tracing the historical evolution of the music motif in Jewish thought.

Author / Editor information

Dov Schwartz, a former Dean of Humanities and former chair of the departments of Music and Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, currently teaches at the department of Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University and is a senior researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem.

Reviews

“Schwartz’s book is an invaluable and distinctive resource for those interested in the role of music in Jewish thought. It presents an intriguing assertion and is commendably well-written and extensively researched, offering a comprehensive overview and analysis of the subject. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking insight into the significance of music in Jewish life and thought.”

— Guy Shaked, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies

“Dov Schwartz’s “The Soul Seeks its Melodies”... is perhaps the first comprehensive analysis of the place of music in Jewish thought. Whereas Jewish musicology focuses largely on sounds, practices, and/or cultural boundaries, Schwartz’s formidable volume tracks the evolution of music as an idea which shaped, and was shaped by, the writings of great Jewish thinkers, including philosophers, theologians, and mystics. Transcending the historical soundscape of the Jewish people (though not without rich reference to it), Schwartz instead maps the Jewish musical mindscape of the past two millennia. As former head of both the Philosophy and Music Departments at Bar-Ilan University, he stands uniquely positioned to offer this wide-ranging and groundbreaking perspective. … Like a musicological superfood, Schwartz’s volume provides prodigiously rich intellectual nutrients in an incredibly concentrated form. … [T]he book is deceivingly light, yet with precise organization and scholarly girth that make it punch far above its physical weight.”

— Matt Austerklein, Beyond the Music

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Methodological Aspects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
2 Assessing the Role of Music Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
3 Music and the Jewish People Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
4 Music as a Tool Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
5 Toward Music as an Independent Field: Representation, Language, Dialogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
6 Music, Zionism, Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
7 Summing Up Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	284
By Way of an Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
Index of Subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Index of Names and Works Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	311

Language: English
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 250
Keywords: Jewish thought; music; musicology; ethnomusicology; Judaism; Jewish Studies

eBook

Published: December 27, 2022
ISBN: 9798887190716