Hebrew Melodies – 15 Minutes of Fame for Issac Nathan
But by the Grace of Lord Byron
“Hebrew Melodies”
If one were to ask a random assortment of people’s to name the first three “Classical” composers that come to mind, the responses would likely include such names as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. If one were to ask a classically educated musician to name several composers within the Classical-Romantic Eras – because there were in fact distinct eras within the layperson’s concept of “classical music” – the list of names increases significantly, including the likes of Schumann, Haydn, Rossini, Schubert, von Weber, and Strauss just to name a few. The name Isaac Nathan appears only on the most detailed and extensive lists of composers during those eras, as he was significantly out shadowed by the established and emerging musical titans of the time. How then, did he achieve any notoriety at the time? By riding the coattails of a celebrity of course!
The Hebrew Melodies were an ambitious project of Isaac Nathan’s. He wished to adapt Ancient Hebrew music, allowing his music to perhaps gain a foothold in the “popular” music of the day. A grand idea really, but poorly conceived if the music is anything to go by. When analyzing the music itself, it is very square, and written in a heavily contrapuntal style often seen in sacred music of that time, and even yet today. When examined closely, it is possible to see slight variations or “mistakes” if looking through a Bach style lens. The voice leading in particular is terrible by western standards, but make much more sense in the context of traditional Yiddish music, in which “odd” intervals, like sevenths, can be more often observed. Additionally, if one takes into account that the music most likely originated in Israel, the oddities are further explained, because the Eastern concept of modality/tonality are quite different from western music.
However, during Nathan’s time, music was undergoing massive changes. The “rules” of counterpoint and voice leading were becoming more and more obsolete, and composers like Mozart and Beethoven continually strived to create new and different musical styles. The Opera was also coming into high style, as secular music began to really blossom under the patronage of the aristocracy. Music was no longer dominated by the church, and indeed, the churches influence was fast waning. Therefore, Nathan’s adaptations were mediocre at best for the time, and although an interesting project, it appears to have been rather poorly executed.
Lord Byron, a celebrity on par with composers like Mozart, played a large part in Nathan’s “fifteen-minutes-of-fame”. If not for Byron’s friendship and patronage for this project, Hebrew Melodies likely would not have made it off the ground. Byron’s interest however was a good bit different from Nathan’s, as “For Nathan, the project was a means to revisit the melodies ‘performed by the Ancient Hebrews before the destruction of the temple’. For Byron … it was a passing interest, allowing him to read the East yet again as a fetish object.” (Ben-Merre, David; Reading Hebrew Melodies). Byron possibly looked on the project as merely a way to “reconnect” with his memories and travels in the East. It may also be possible that Byron enjoyed the subtle jab at English culture these Melodies gave him the opportunity for. England after all was predominantly Christian at this time and so the idea of adapting the writings of a popular English composer to Hebrew Melodies? How scandalous!
Overall, I personally feel that Byron’s writings for Hebrew Melodies are certainly worth setting to music and using as verse. Using Nathan’s versions however, is not at all my idea of an interesting concert outside a historical or academic setting.