Musique et poésie des Juifs en Italie à la Renaissance Music and ...

de rénover le répertoire, ne voulurent pas oublier toutà fait la grande histoire de cette musique composite. Ilest facile de s’en rendre compte en écoutant des chantsqui, sous une apparence «moderne», gardent des échostrès marqués des musiques du XVIII e ou du XVII e siècleet même plus anciennes. En fait, si nous écoutons leschants de Shabbat et de toutes les fêtes juives quirésonnent aujourd’hui dans les synagogues italiennes,ou qui résonnaient il y a quelques décennies, avant quela tentative de suppression de l’hébraïsme en Europeréalisée par le nazisme et le fascisme mette à dureépreuve aussi la survie des communautés italiennes,surtout celles des centres mineurs. Si nous écoutonsces chants qui, par miracle, sont encore vifs et trèssouvent exécutés et non pas comme pour beaucoupd’autres traditions anciennes, l’apanage exclusif deschercheurs, c’est comme si nous écoutions un concentréde l’histoire de la musique des Juifs d’Italie et desItaliens. La mémoire de la musique que, pendant laRenaissance, les Juifs échangeaient avec les Italiens estencore très présente. Cet échange, cet enchevêtrement,c’est ce que notre travail essaye de raconter.Enrico Fink(traduction Lucette Barattini Biggi)the Jews in Italy is above all a history of interaction,and its primary interaction has always been with thesurrounding world: decade after decade, century aftercentury with the contemporary trends of Italian music– the belcanto style used in the nineteenth centuryis just one of many examples. The same nineteenthcenturycomposers who were called upon to modernizeand aggrandize had no desire to completely forgetthe entire history of this composite music: there are somany instances of this, with ‘modern’ tunes carryingstrong echoes of melodies from the eighteenth century,the seventeenth century, and, sometimes, earlier still.If we listen to the melodies that fill the synagogues ofItaly every Shabbes and Jewish Holiday – although, insome cases, filled would perhaps be a more accurateterm, referring to the situation before the Nazi-Fascist attempt to erase Italian and European Jewrymade it very difficult for the communities themselves,especially in the smaller towns, to survive; if we listento this repertoire that is miraculously still vibrant, andregularly sung, unlike so many other old traditionswhich have become limited to material for study byacademics and researchers; If we listen to the melodiesthat fill the synagogues of Italy every Shabbes andJewish Holiday – although ‘filled’ would, in somecases, perhaps be a more accurate term, referring tothe situation before the nazi-fascist attempt to eraseItalian and European Jewry made it very difficult forthe communities themselves, especially in the smallertowns, to survive - if we listen to this repertoire that ismiraculously still vibrant, and regularly sung, unlike somany other old traditions, that have become limited tomaterial for study by academics and researchers; if welisten closely, it is like listening to a condensed historyof Italian Jews and of Italians in general. The memoryof the music that the Jews in Renaissance Italy sharedwith their Italian neighbors is still there. This exchange,this interdependence, is the ‘Istoria’ that this programtries to tell.Enrico Fink6