Musical Life of the Jewish Community in Interwar Galicia. The Problem of Identity of Jewish Musicians
Musical Life of the Jewish Community in Interwar Galicia. The Problem of Identity of Jewish Musicians

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the issue of Jewish musicians’ identity by the example of prewar Galician artists. It emphasizes the role of social and political divisions within Jewish community and the impact of assimilation, liberalism, socialism and Zionism on the musical life of Jews in Galicia. Then, it discusses their influence on individual musicians like: Bronisław Gimpel, Bronisław Huberman, Józef Koffler, Stanisław Lipski, Wilhelm Mantel, Paweł Anhalt, Stefan Schleichkorn, Henryk Guensberg, Józef Neger, Henryk Apte, Izaak Lust, Zofia Lissa, Mordechaj Gebirtig, Nachum Sternheim and musicians active on the stage of popular music. Its aim is to encourage musicologists to reconsider the issue of prewar Jewish musicians’ identity and to use findings of historians and sociologists in musicological literature. They indicate rather complexity, not unilaterality, of the self-identification of Jews in diaspora. Understanding of the Jewish musicians’ work conditions allows to discover the hidden meaning of their actions.

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