Synopses & Reviews
Review
and#8220;With this solid, savvy, and satisfying book, Loeffler advances Jewish studies, music history, and Russian studies by shedding new light on the stage of a twentieth-century social and musical drama.and#8221;and#8212;Mark Slobin, author of Fiddler on the Move: Exploring the Klezmer World
Review
and#8220;The Jewsand#8217; remarkable place in the modern history of music and#8211; classical, popular and folk and#8211; is well known, but rarely subjected to serious analysis.andnbsp;Loefflerand#8217;sandnbsp;sophisticated and deeply researched book casts new light both on the Jewish contribution to music in general and to the emergence of specifically and#8216;Jewish musicand#8217; in the Russian Empire, home to the largest and most vital Jewish community in the world."and#8212;Ezra Mendelsohn, The Hebrew University
Review
and#8220;James Loefflerand#8217;s new book is both fascinating and pathbreaking. This important and original contribution to scholarship must be read by students of music, Russian culture, and Jewish history.and#8221;and#8212;Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, and Music Director and Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
Synopsis
Drawing on a mass of unpublished writings and archival sources from prerevolutionary Russian conservatories, this book offers an insightful account of the Jewish search for a modern identity in Russia through music, rather than politics or religion.
About the Author
James Loeffler is associate professor of history at the University of Virginia.